(Sanji x reader +18) 🍋🍋

~

almost immediately after dinner that evening, everyone in the crew drifts from the galley, intending to spend the rest of the evening wherever they please aboard the Thousand Sunny. usually, you tag along with Nami and Robin as they head down to the aquarium lounge, but tonight, you tell Nami that you’ll be heading to bed early, after you have some special tea Sanji prepares for you. 

despite pouting at your response, Nami sighs and lets you go—“You better join us tomorrow night, hun! You owe me a drink, after all.”—and although you already feel your wallet sobbing, you can’t help but giggle and promise to do so.

towards him, Nami coos sweetly, “Make sure to bring Robin and I some dessert when you’re done, Sanji-kun!”

he spins to her instantly, his eyes glowing with all the love and affection that arises from him whenever she, you, and Robin—or any woman—are around him.

“As you wish, Nami-swan~! Just let me finish these dishes and take care of my Princess here, and I’ll be right with you!” Sanji declares, throwing you a pointed look that sends heat searing down your spine.

letting out a giggle, Nami exits the galley, leaving you alone with him.

he goes back to doing the dinner dishes. there’s a bit of a bounce in his movements now, as he’s likely looking forward to meeting up with Nami and Robin to give them their dessert later—when he’s finished with you, of course. 

you stare at the expanse of his back, heat rising to your neck and your mouth suddenly dry as you take in the line of his shoulders, how his almost gold hair settles at the nape of his neck. you recall how, just a few minutes ago when you spoke to Nami, his blue eyes darkened knowingly when you mentioned wanting tea, how his warm, lovesick smile widened into a ghost of a smirk.

he already knows, you think, heart hammering against ribs. the two of you have been doing this off and on for a month now, already have a system in place when it comes to this sort of play, but you never fail to feel the thrill of it all. just confirm it with him.

but Sanji breaks the silence first.

“You really wanna turn in early, Princess?” he asks, his tone casual—like he’s talking about the weather—but the bass he puts into his voice hints otherwise.

again, that infernal blush that floods your face, you just can’t help it. by now, this dance is familiar to the both of you; and yet he still insists on hearing you voice your desires. it’s embarrassing and frustrating, but it also makes desire simmer in your blood.

so, you nod while saying softly, “Yes.”

he pauses for a second, right in the middle of drying a plate. then, he turns his face the slightest—still not facing you, but enough to see the curve of his cheek, the slope of his nose, a hint of his smile. (a smirk?)

he still asks, just to make sure you’re both on the same page: “Which kind do you want tonight?”

And you make sure to give the correct answer, so he understands what you’re asking for: “The passionflower blend, please.”

again, he pauses, revealing nothing of what he feels for a moment. then, with a slightly shaky exhale, he places the plate he’s dried atop the pile that’s already clean and ready to be placed back in the cabinets. you watch him then dip his hands in the sink again, his movements almost too meticulous, too slow. it feels like a tease, like the very string of sanity within your mind is being pulled to its limit. slowly, as your gaze takes in his beautiful hands, you swallow hard.

“Just let me finish this last one and I’ll get you your tea,” he tells you.

“…Okay.”

your hands clench together in your lap, palms pressed together and fingers twisting around each other. your teeth catch your bottom lip as you watch him. how he acts with you right now, as he’s acted during the other nights, is such a contrast that it steals the breath from your lungs. after sailing with the crew for two years, you are already quite used to Sanji being flamboyant in his affections; seeing him spin and cry out those nicknames at you and the other women have started becoming a comfort, even. those early days of him getting you flustered from his constant praises, and embarrassing flirting, are dead and gone. but these moments? when he’s in control of your reactions and he knows it—it’s different. it’s new, every time. it should be embarrassing, and to some degree it is; but it also offers a whole other layer of comfort.