TENDER EMBRACE — sanji
sfw alphabet inspired: ‘C’ IS FOR CUDDLES. gn!reader, fluff, cuddling. wc; 642.
Something stirs you from your slumber. The gentle hum of sound that was slipping through the open door is now gone, replaced with the rustling of clothes and a few thumps and curses as the man you love attempts to navigate his way through the small quarters in the dark.
"Sanji? Is that you?" You call out into the darkness.
The small cry of your name that answers you tells you that yes, it is Sanji.
"What are you doing?" You whisper into the room, eyes heavy and voice laiden with sleep.
You hear him curse once more, clearly exasperated by the time it's taking him to fall into bed beside you. But one final thump jolts your bed and you hear him sigh with relief at finally finding his way back to you.
"I was… trying–hmph–to find you… I missed you," he says, words punctuated by him trying to get comfortable behind you.
He slides an arm beneath your head and wraps his other around your waist, pulling you tight to his chest before taking a deep breath.
"I missed you," he repeats, breathing the words more to himself than to you, "so much…"
You smile, eyes fluttering closed once again as the familiar warmth of your favourite person begins to seep into your body.
He smells like the outside. Sea air and cooking oil are baked into his clothes and even though those are now strewn about the room, the smell permeates your senses nonetheless.
But there's something else… that distinct smell that is entirely him. Maybe it's a blend of the herbs from the kitchen, or it could be from the citrus fruits he cuts up delicately for you every morning.
It sooths you, lulls you back to sleep as easily as breathing.
"–issed you… t-too," you sigh, voice so quiet that Sanji would have missed it had he been any further away from you.
He feels your body change the moment you fall back to sleep, you soften, hand loosening on his. You must have been tired, he thinks, you barely finished speaking before you drifted off again.
He hadn't noticed you disappear after dinner, too distracted by the constant blur of noise and movement that comes from meal time. But, the second he had realised you'd slipped away his entire demeanour had changed, all he had wanted to do was find you—he knew where you'd be of course, you'd been quiet all day and the bags under your eyes were impossible for him to ignore—and pull you into his arms.
And, eventually, he did just that.
The earlier hubbub is a distant memory to Sanji as he holds you in his arms. Very carefully he hooks his foot into the blanket at the bottom of the bed and hikes it towards his free hand. He catches it swiftly and pulls it over you before the cold air has a chance to find you, before it can settle on your skin, like snowflakes on a winter day.
As he settles properly behind you he feels you shift next to him, pushing further against his chest like you can't get close enough. He smiles, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of your head before laying his head down next to yours.
There's a pang in his chest as Sanji lies there with you, not one of pain, but one caused by the reminder that you weren't always here. That you weren't always his, safe in his arms, beloved by your friends and cherished beyond words.
He's lucky to have you, to be this close to you. To be the one you let hold you.
And as he shuts his eyes, your legs tangled together and the blanket already beginning to warm you through to your heart, he whispers into the night:
I love you.
