Warmth

Warmth

Sanji glared at the brown fuzz that had collected in the corners of his galley. Every few weeks, the fur Chopper had shed would drift into the corners, wrap around the legs of chairs, and pile along the edges over every wall and appliance in the room. No, not just in that one room, on the whole ship, but Sanji wasn’t responsible for cleaning the whole ship, just the galley. So every few weeks, he got the unpleasant task of sweeping up all the fur and try not to choke to death on it whenever he breathed it in.

It probably wouldn’t be so bad if he cleaned it up every day, but…if he did that, then he’d feel obligated to clean the entire galley every day, and he just didn’t have the time, energy, or desire to do that. Washing dishes and wiping up his cooking area everyday was one thing, but scrubbing the entire galley? That was a ridiculous amount of work to do in one day, especially when most of it wouldn’t even need the cleaning. And he just didn’t have time when he had to cook and clean up three meals a day. Usually he only got a chance to deep clean when they were in port and everyone was eating somewhere in town.

Unfortunately they weren’t in port at the moment though, nor had they been for nearly a month, so the galley’s deep clean was already long overdue. But it couldn’t be helped, because they were in the middle of a frozen ocean, stuck in the ice until the damned weather decided to warm up again and free them. It was bitter cold outside, snow falling lazily from the dark clouds above in messy clumps. But the cold and snow hadn’t stopped most of the crew from enjoying themselves.

Chopper was running all around the deck like a madman with Luffy’s hat on top of his own, the Captain hot on his heels, both of them laughing like maniacs. Franky was laughing at their antics as he danced around to avoid blocking the little reindeer’s path. The idiot swordsman was leaning against the mast, asleep like always. And Sanji’s delicate flowers were seated opposite each other at a table on deck, sipping at the hot chocolate he’d brought them earlier.

They were all dressed for the weather in coats, gloves, scarves, and hats, happy as could be. All except Usopp. Usopp sat up in the crow’s nest, unnecessarily keeping watch and shivering like he was being embraced by Aokiji.

Well, it was no wonder, Sanji thought; he wasn’t wearing gloves, a scarf, or a hat. And his coat didn’t even have a hood to pull up. Sanji shook his head with disapproval as he watched the younger boy through the galley window, momentarily forgetting the fur.

“He really should buy better winter gear,” Sanji muttered to himself, pulling out a cigarette. He was sure Usopp knew that too, and the only reason he didn’t buy it was because every time they went into port, he always ended up spending all his money on gunpowder or some other junk he planned to use to invent something. He always said he’d get warmer clothes in the next town they visited, but he never did.

Watching him shiver up there, Sanji resolved to force the sharpshooter to buy winter clothes next time they docked. Of course, that wouldn’t help him now, but there wasn’t anything else he could do for the man.

Reluctantly, Sanji turned away from the window and glared down at the fur again. He wanted to get started on making dinner, but the fur was irritating him more than usual, so he stayed to try and send the damned fuzz to another dimension with the intensity of his gaze. It wasn’t working very well.

Something slammed in the window and Sanji jumped slightly, turning to see what it was.

Chopper. Luffy was behind him on the other side of the deck, stretching his arms out to steal his hat back. Chopper slid down the window dramatically and out of Sanji’s view.

As annoying as the interruption was, it had given Sanji an idea. Chopper was the only one of the crew who didn’t need to wear winter clothes, because he already had his fur to keep him warm. He wore a scarf sometimes, but it was mostly because he knew everyone thought it was adorable—not that Chopper cared about that…

Sanji glanced down at the fur on the floor, back up at the reindeer making a snow angel with antlers outside, up to Usopp in the crow’s nest, and then back down at the fur.

The idea filtering through his head was brilliant if he did say so himself. Not only would it fix the fur-clogging-his-galley problem, but it would also benefit the Usopp-freezing-to-death problem. It would be tedious, time-consuming, and monotonous…but this was nakama we were talking about, not to mention Sanji’s own comfort.

Sanji took a drag from his cigarette and let it out slowly, almost sighing. “Me and my bright ideas…” he mumbled. His self-appointed task would be troublesome, but it would be worth it in the end, like so many of his brilliant plans—though those plans usually stayed in the culinary area, but that was beside the point.

Balancing his cigarette on the edge of an ashtray, Sanji squatted down to collect the fur from the floor.

---

Usopp’s uncontrollable shivering doubled when a gust of wind blew in from the north, tossing his hair all around his shoulders. His bandana provided a small amount of warmth, so he’d kept it on, but he was starting to wonder if taking it off and letting his hair free would be better. It would cover his ears at least a little bit.

Going inside would probably be the best idea, but it was his turn to keep watch, and even though there was no need to keep watch while they were stuck in such a way that no one could ever sneak up on them, if he skipped out on his look-out time now, Nami would force him to make up for it later. Last time he’d forgone his duties, she’d made him keep watch during all the ungodly hours of the night while everyone else slept soundly in their hammocks.

Sighing unhappily at his bad luck, Usopp looked down at everyone having fun and keeping warm on the deck, green with envy—or was it purple with frostbite? He really needed to get himself a hat in the next port. And some gloves. And a scarf. And maybe even some leggings. Thicker socks sounded good too.

Luffy and Chopper were still running around chasing each other, Franky joining in after giving up trying to stay out of the way. He couldn’t see Zoro, so the swordsman must have been in his usual spot. And the girls…Usopp didn’t want to even look at them. Watching them drink whatever warm liquid Sanji had given them was almost physically painful.

He would have given anything right then to get Sanji to bring him something hot—anything. It didn’t even matter what he brought him. Coffee, hot chocolate, chicken soup, even plain hot water would have done splendidly. But Sanji was probably too busy at the moment to cater to anyone’s needs—other than the girls’ of course.

He thought about asking Robin to ask Sanji to bring him something, but not only did he figure it’d be futile to get Sanji to do it, even with Robin asking, but he’d also have to move from his relatively comfortable spot that had warmed up after him sitting there for so long. As soon as he’d move, the cold would erase all the warmth his body had collected, and without a guarantee of something hot, it just wasn’t worth it to move.

Whining to himself as another gust of wind hit him in the face, Usopp prayed the sun would come out soon.

---

It had been three days since Sanji had had his brilliant idea, and in a few hours, the idea would come to fruition.

Just as Sanji had predicted, his little project had been mind-numbing and more than a little frustrating, but now Usopp’s new hat, scarf, and mittens were finished and just needed to dry. He’d washed them after he’d finished knitting them. The yarn had been made from Chopper’s fur, which had been on the ground, mixed in with dust and dirt and Kami only knew what else, so obviously he’d had to wash the clothing before giving it to Usopp to wear. He figured by the time dinner was ready, they would all be nice and dry, just in time for Usopp’s turn on watch.

Sanji was a little surprised to realize how nervous he was about giving Usopp the clothes. He was more than a little proud of the fact that he’d spun the yarn himself from Chopper’s fur, made himself some knitting needles from left over fish bones, and knit all the items, but it hadn’t occurred to him how it would look to everyone until it was almost time to show off his hard work.

What if Usopp took it the wrong way? What if anyone took it the wrong way? Normally he’d only go through so much trouble for Nami and Robin, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to assume Sanji had done all this to catch Usopp’s attentions like he did all the time for the girls.

What the hell was he supposed to say if anyone came to that conclusion? That very, very wrong conclusion. He’d only done it for his own selfish reasons. If Chopper’s excess fur hadn’t been driving him nuts, he probably would have let Usopp freeze half to death and let that be a lesson to him. But the rest of the crew didn’t know that. And if he tried to explain it, it would look like he was trying to come up with excuses.

Suddenly Sanji wasn’t too keen on giving the garments to Usopp.

But then Chopper came into the room and it was too late to hide them.

Sanji froze over his steaming pot of soup when the reindeer came in. He should have hung them up somewhere else to dry, or just forgone washing them altogether. The damned long-nosed bastard didn’t deserve them to be clean anyway.

He heard Chopper take in a breath to speak, but then held the breath when he laid eyes on the scarf and other things. After a moment, he said, “Is that my fur?”

“No, Chopper. It’s that Marimo’s hair, but I managed to dye it the same exact color of your fur,” Sanji said sarcastically, stirring his soup a little faster than was good for the fragile vegetables.

“Really?!” Chopper asked, astounded.

Sanji rolled his eyes and didn’t answer.

“But it smells just like my fur! And—“ he kept going, but Sanji tuned him out, a steady tick starting in his right eye. “It feels like my fur, too!”

“It is your fur, Chopper! I was kidding!” he finally said to shut the reindeer up. Being caught had left the blond feeling less than patient.

“Oh…” Chopper said, sounding disappointed. “How did you make all this? And why?”

Sanji sighed, taking his wooden spoon out of the pot and setting it down carefully. He turned around to look at the doctor. “Did you need something, Chopper? Because you know I don’t like people in here when I’m cooking,” he said pointedly.

“Oh, um, I was wondering if you had something warm I could give Usopp. So he doesn’t freeze to death during his watch later.”

“Don’t worry about it, Chopper,” he said, turning back to his soup to watch it boil because he knew the reindeer was going to ask why he shouldn’t worry, and then he’d have to explain, and Sanji was just a little bit worried he might blush.

“But he doesn’t have proper…” Chopper trailed off into silence. Sanji didn’t need to see him to know he was looking at the almost dry clothing. “Sanji…are these for Usopp?”

Sanji gripped the edge of the counter hard enough to turn his knuckles white. He wasn’t sure exactly why he was so upset about Chopper finding out he’d done something nice for one of his nakama. Well, he knew why, but he didn’t understand why it should be that way. It wasn’t like he really was trying to draw Usopp’s attentions, so there really wasn’t anything he should be embarrassed about. They all did nice things for each other all the time; why couldn’t he do that too?

“Sanji?” Chopper prompted.

Sanji opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Luffy was screaming for Chopper outside. Something about a bet with Nami and his tongue being stuck to something…One glance out the window and Chopper was out the door, waving his arms frantically around Luffy and screaming for a doctor.

Relaxing slightly when he was alone again, Sanji went to check on the clothes. Nice and dry.

---

Reluctantly, Usopp climbed up on deck from below, ready to take over his shift on watch. He was delighted to find it was slightly warmer outside, but it was still much too cold for his limited wardrobe. He glared up at the clouds, cursing them for hiding the sun and keeping them stuck in this ice block.

He would have just gone up to the crow’s nest to start warming up the spot he’d be sitting in for the next several hours, but his way was blocked by Luffy and Chopper. The Captain had gone and struck a bet with Nami—always a bad idea—and managed to not only lose his allowance at the next port, but get his tongue stuck to one of the metal ladder rungs on the main mast.

So without a way to get up to the crow’s nest, Usopp was stuck with being out in the open on the deck, twice as cold. AND Nami was going to say he hadn’t done his watch if he wasn’t up there, so he was going to have to take the horrible night watch despite his suffering to keep from having to do that.

Debating on whether he should just go back down below since he couldn’t take his watch, Usopp’s gaze fell on Zoro, still asleep against the mast.

He looked warm. He looked really warm.

Usopp wondered if the swordsman would wake up if he crawled into his lap and leeched some of his warmth. All of Luffy and Chopper’s screaming and carrying on hadn’t woken him…and then when Chopper finally extracted Luffy, he could go up to the crow’s nest and he wouldn’t have to face the torture Nami would impose on him.

Then again, if the man did wake up, there’d be hell to pay.

After a particularly loud snore from Zoro, Usopp made up his mind. He tip-toed over to the green-haired man and stared down at him for a moment, reassuring himself that he was indeed dead asleep. As stealthily as possible, Usopp lifted Zoro’s crossed arms just enough to fit his head under them and get comfortable before lowering them again around himself.

He’d been right. Zoro was very warm, like a blanket with a pulse. He smelled kinda odd, probably from training and then not showering or even changing his clothes when he was done, but he didn’t care. It was a small price to pay. As was Nami and Franky staring at him with that weird look on their faces, quietly discussing a bet with each other…but they were pretty easy to ignore over the ruckus behind them.

Usopp grinned, pleased with himself, and relaxed against Zoro, resting his head on his shoulder. The man really was quite cuddly when he was unconscious. He reached down to slide his arms around the swordsman’s waist and get closer, but his hand accidentally nudged one of his swords, making it chink slightly, and Zoro’s eyes flew open.

Usopp froze under the burning gaze of the large, powerful, angry man like a deer in the headlights.

“Usopp…What. Are. You. Doing?” he ground out, accenting the words with a menacing growl at the end.

The sharpshooter couldn’t speak. He was too afraid. He felt he should run—he knew he should run—but he couldn’t move either.

“Heh. I win,” he heard Nami say behind him, followed by a groan from Franky. Looked like both Luffy and Franky would be going without allowances in the next port.

But, really, Usopp had more important things to think about at the moment. Like the furious man about to cut him to pieces if he didn’t do something soon.

“Uh…w-well…” Usopp stuttered, remembering how to speak. “I was, um…cold. And…you’re warm,” he finally squeezed out with a nervous, fearful laugh. “S-Sorry if I woke you,” he added after a moment of terrifying silence from the man.

He never did say anything. He just let out a low growl as warning before pulling out two of his swords and attacking.

Usopp was already halfway across the deck by the time the swords were unsheathed, fear making him sweat and ironically keeping him warm.

“I’ll teach you to use me as a blanket!” Zoro yelled, striding confidently after his retreating nakama.

Usopp whimpered and screamed, “I’M SORRY!”

---

Sanji looked up from his inspection of the hat when he heard Zoro roar with anger. He rolled his eyes at the marimo’s idiocy and was about to turn back to his task when he heard Usopp’s screams follow the roar.

Alarmed more than he would have cared to admit, Sanji threw on his suit jacket and scooped up the rest of the winter clothes—wouldn’t anyone to see them—before pushing his way out into the cold, shoving the clothes inside his jacket.

Outside, he watched as Usopp tripped on something—probably his own feet—and fall flat on his face, Zoro only a few steps away. He rolled over onto his back and crab-walked backwards until he hit the ship’s railing. Cowering in Zoro’s shadow, he desperately started trying to placate the other’s anger.

Sanji had had enough. He strode over to the pair and brought the heel of his right foot down on the damned marimo’s head, yelling, “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size, fuckface!”

Zoro turned with another roar and a few curses and did just that.

The battle was loud, but short-lived, Zoro eventually burning off his excess grumpiness from being woken before he was ready to be and stomped off to resume his nap.

Sanji sniffed at his back indignantly, ready to throw a few parting insults, but was interrupted by a very grateful Usopp glomping him from behind, almost knocking him off his feet.

“Sanji! My hero! Thank you!” Usopp cried, hugging the cook tightly around the neck.

A smile half formed on his face, but Sanji squashed it with a frown before anyone saw. He elbowed Usopp in the ribs, shoving him off, and turned to face him with a glare. Usopp shied away, face full of worry and body tensed, ready to bolt at any second.

“What the hell did you do, Usopp? I thought you were the only person on this ship smart enough not to go looking for trouble!” he scolded him.

Usopp relaxed a little when he realized Sanji wasn’t going to physically attack him. He sheepishly looked down at the ground while he explained what had happened.

Sanji winced with jealousy as Usopp told his tale. He wouldn’t admit it, but his stomach turned at the thought of Usopp in that damned swordsman’s arms.

“What the hell were you thinking, Usopp?”

“I was cold?” he answered, smiling anxiously up at the cook.

Sanji just glared at him, not amused in the slightest.

The smile stayed, but Usopp looked away, shame-faced.

Sanji glared at the younger man for a few more moments for good measure before letting up. He sighed and relaxed his threatening pose, pulling out the newly dried scarf, hat, and mittens, warm from being in his clothes. He tossed the ensemble at Usopp and turned to go back to the galley.

“Maybe if you’d bought some freaking clothes at the last port, or the one before, or the one before that…you wouldn’t have had that problem,” he said over his shoulder, speeding up his pace as he felt his face heat up slightly.

He was back in the galley before Usopp could say anything.

---

Usopp stared down at the mittens and things for a long moment, shocked. Had Sanji bought these for him? He knew they weren’t the blonde. Sanji’s winter things were much more stylish and black—definitely not this brown color that looked just like…

“So they were for you!” Chopper said cheerfully, finally finished saving Luffy’s tongue from the ladder. It hadn’t helped when Franky burned the metal with his fire breath after Chopper’s thoughtful comment to himself about having to heat it up in order to un-stick his tongue…

“Eh?” Usopp said curiously, picking up one of the mittens to try it on.

Chopper explained.

“You mean he made these?!” he exclaimed incredulously when the reindeer was finished. “For me?”

“Isn’t that nice of him?” Chopper said with a grin.

Usopp didn’t answer. He just stared down at his now mitten-ed hands in wonder. They were awfully warm…as were the scarf and hat. Soft too, and he could still smell the soap from their recent washing. Had Sanji really done all that for him? Sanji? He hadn’t even known the man cared. He knew he cared enough to save him when he was in mortal peril and feed him when he was hungry—though that latter one doesn’t really count, because Sanji would feed anyone who was hungry—but to go through that much trouble just because he was cold?

Usopp smiled and snuggled his face down into the scarf as far as his nose would let him.

---

Sanji stood nervously over his almost finished soup, tensely waiting for one of his crewmates to walk into the galley and start teasing him. Or worse, Usopp to come in and start questioning him. He wasn’t sure he had answers for him anyway.

After fifteen minutes of no one showing up, Sanji was actually starting to hope someone would just come in already. He was tired of waiting, and the longer he waited, the more tense he got. His neck and shoulders were starting to ache. He’d tried to relax and tell himself no one was going to come, because they’d all known it wasn’t meant to be romantic in any way after all, but he just couldn’t believe that.

Possibly because maybe he had meant it to be romantic…

But that was a ridiculous notion, Sanji told himself, shaking his head to dislodge the thought. It was beyond ridiculous. It was just plain silly. Sanji may not have been a stranger to sex with other men—he’d slept with Luffy once, and violently made out with Zoro once or twice, and let’s not forget that wonderful night with Ace and Smoker—but he did not have feelings for them. Such things were reserved for women, Robin and Nami to be specific.

But then why did he feel so nervous?

---

For the first time since the temperature had dropped, Usopp sat in relative comfort up in the crow’s nest for his watch. He still hadn’t stopped smiling at Sanji’s kindness, nor had he been able to believe it. He kept wiggling his fingers around in the mittens and touching the hat and scarf to reassure himself that they were real and that he wasn’t just imagining them.

He was going to go into the galley to thank Sanji, but Robin had advised him against it. When he’d asked her why, she’d just given him that little smile that meant everything and nothing. Was he embarrassed or something? Sanji always loved it when Nami or Robin thanked him for giving them something, why would it be any different for Usopp? Well…he knew why it’d be different, but why would it bother him?

Usopp had a few suspicions, but he was finding them hard to believe. As far as Usopp knew, Sanji was strictly straight.

As he continued to ponder the situation further, his thoughts were interrupted by Sanji coming out of the galley barely long enough to announce the completion of dinner. The blonde quickly disappeared back in to the galley without sparing him, or anyone else, a glance.

Luffy, being Luffy, got excited about the food and was the first one in the galley after Sanji. Franky was right behind him with Chopper attached to his head and Nami following. Robin politely awoke Zoro and the two of them entered the galley together, leaving Usopp alone outside with his thoughts.

He sat back against the edge of the crow’s nest and sighed to himself. Watch wasn’t so bad now that he was warm and didn’t have to fear for his life. Of course, he was still missing out on the group meal, which was always entertaining, but this time it was okay. He was actually enjoying breaking in his new gear, and he had to admit that the landscape was quite spectacular now that he was comfortable in it.

Below him, he heard the galley door swing open once again; the ruckus the rest of the crew was making filtered out. He knew it was someone coming to bring him his food, so he didn’t bother to look and see who it was; they’d be up in the nest with him momentarily. He was more interested in tonight’s menu anyway.

But he was still a little surprised to see Sanji’s head pop up through the hole in the floor, though he tried not to show it.

Without a word, Sanji passed him a tray with a big bowl of soup, a spoon, and a mug of hot chocolate before preparing to descend again.

“Wait!” Usopp said, putting the tray down before he spilled one of the hot liquids.

Sanji stopped and stared at Usopp, frowning slightly. He clearly didn’t appreciate being held up, but Usopp wasn't satisfied with leaving things as they were.

“Sanji…thanks for the…” the glare Sanji directed at him gave Usopp the distinct impression that if that sentence was finished the way the cook thought it was going to…there would be bloodshed. Or at least massive amounts of pain. After a long pause, Usopp finally finished with, “…stuff.” That was vague enough not to get him killed, right? He could very well be talking about the food for all Sanji knew.

Usopp got a few more moments of the death glare and sharp nod before Sanji made to leave again.

But Usopp still wasn’t satisfied. After all the trouble Sanji had gone through at his expense, the man deserved more than a kind of/sort of thank you that didn’t really relay Usopp’s gratitude at all. He tried to think of something to say, but in the end there was only one thing he really wanted to do.

“Sanji!” he called, and just as the blonde was about to open his mouth and say something scathing, Usopp shot forward and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, whispering, “Thank you,” much more sincerely into his ear as his nose tickled his hair.

Sanji was stiff in his arms for a few moments before relaxing with a resigned sigh. “You’re welcome,” he said softly as a hand came up to squeeze his shoulder gently.

Usopp grinned into Sanji’s neck and gave him an extra squeeze for good measure before letting him go. He moved back just enough to see the cook’s face and was more than a little shocked to see the older man blushing ever-so-slightly. His smile widened as he thought of a million different things he could say to darken the flush, but he had the forethought to keep his mouth shut, lest Sanji kick his face in instead.

“You need anything else?” Sanji asked quietly, refusing to look anywhere near Usopp’s face.

Usopp shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

Sanji gave another sharp nod before he all but fled the scene, scrambling down the ladder and scampering away to hide in the safety of his kitchen.

When he was alone again, Usopp giggled to himself at the usually calm and collected man’s antics, silently deciding to kiss the cook next time he did something for him to see what kind of reaction he'd get from that. Or maybe it was his turn to do something? It didn’t matter, as long as he got to see him blush again.