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pampushky · 2 months

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Creature (Both Haunted & Holy)

Vinsmoke Sanji/Reader - chapter 8 - 3.3k

You continue to adjust to life with the Straw Hats. Zoro becomes an unlikely friend when Loguetown proves to be a bit much for you. You and Sanji go shopping.

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Notes on Selkenfolk, from the Journal of Dr. Crocus of the Roger's Pirates When first asking about the patterns of the selkie's skin, Pell and Coth were rather open about it, along with talking about their own pup, Feann. Selkenfolk offspring are born pure white, just like seal pups, along with being born in their true forms-- which resemble the merfolk of Fishman Island. Selkenfolk pregnancies are longer than human and merfolk--- likely to develop the pelt of the pup, lasting around eleven months. As the pup matures, usually around age two to three, they are able to turn to their humanoid form for the first time, and their pelt is thus created from this. Many patterns can be traced to regional and ethnic varieties, but when two different types of selkenfolk mate, and then produce offspring, they merge to create a new pattern. Noticably, Coth has a separate appearance from Pell, with the white parts of her pelt making it look as though she has virtiligo around the front of her neck and around her mouth, which trails down to the front of her torso. Pell, rather, just has a slightly lighter coloring around his underarms and inner thighs.

Luffy is about ready to throw himself from the ship and make you fetch him from the waters with how bored he is. There’s only so much he can do between watching Zoro train, having Usopp shoot at things, and then watching yourself and Nami plot your course. Sanji would often rush him out of the kitchen, as well, often before Luffy could sneak any snacks.

So, here he was, laying on the ram figurehead as Sanji fished, with you editing the records of the ship, occasionally scratching things out and writing something down a few lines below, little notes marking the page. You had offered to teach him how to do a few of these things, and Luffy had flat-out denied it, declaring it to be overly boring, and much too academic for him.

“Can you even write your own name?” You shut the book, looking at your captain. “Genuinely asking, are you literate?"

“Yes, I’m literate,” Luffy stuck his tongue out, folding his arms grumpily. “I know how to read, it’s just dumb and stupid and I don’t like it. ”

You only let out a low rumble, leaning your head back against the railing, letting the noise travel further, getting a bit louder. Luffy looked at you in curiosity, whining when you stopped.

“What was that?”

“Just a noise,” you opened the book again, cross-referencing what grain stores had gone down in your journey so far. You would need to stock up again soon, especially on rice. “Seals make them back to me, sometimes.”

“Can I do it?”

“Maybe,” you muttered, biting your lip, not really paying attention. The ammunition was lower than you liked. Perhaps you’d get Usopp to stock up, at the next port. “I’m unfamiliar with human vocal structure, but ours is a bit more robust—”

The sound of something inflating drew both your and Sanji’s attention. Luffy had blown up his throat, before letting out the loudest rumble you had ever heard, making you clamp your hands over your ears until he stopped. It reminded you of stories told by your mothers, to get you to behave. Of whale fishmen, who would come on land and feast on naughty selkie pups, rumbling and making the water shake as they came on land. Orcas had been your natural enemies, followed closely by sperm whales.

“Okay.,” You were still shaking a bit, trying to ignore the way your instincts were practically wailing to flee from your captain. “You sounded like a whale, and if you don’t want me to toss you into the sea, please don’t do that again. Be… smaller. Gentler.”

You set the book down fully, looking at the curious captain, calming your nerves.

“Not that,” you mimed how he had inflated his throat, before letting out your own rumble, Luffy leaning in to listen. Sanji had even set his fishing pole down, watching. Your rumble sounds much healthier, these days. More practiced, refined, even, as you lean your head back, puffing up your chest a bit as you reach a higher note, the gentle warble making Luffy gasp. “That was… hm, it’s hard to explain what they mean.”

“It’s a language?” Sanji watches you, storm-cloud eyes alight with curiosity.

“Oh yes! Underwater, it’s easier to understand- it flows better, I guess.” You scratch the back of your neck, a bit embarrassed. “It’s, uh, well it’s really tonal, on land, and we tend to use clicks as well,” your fidgeting with your hands now, looking away from both of the boys.

“That’s… so… cool!” Luffy jumps into you, arms wrapped around your waist as you let out a surprised warble that turns into an involuntary thrill of happiness, which Luffy, however, garbled, manages to somewhat mimic, rolling off you and standing atop the figurehead, trilling as you laugh.

You trill again, in shock, and he repeats it back to you. You are saying joy, happy, together, and he manages to repeat joy, though with an odd accent, but the last two form a word that sends shivers down your spine. Luffy repeats his trill, singing joy, pod, joy, pod for all of the world to hear. You freeze up, as he continues to speak to you, not knowing what he’s saying. It’s— it’s a bit cute, to hear him call you and Sanji his pod, even if he doesn’t know. And it makes your heart ache, especially because this is someone who was willing to risk his life for you, and the only other person you’d consider a member of your pod, Nami, right now.

“Is something wrong?” Sanji looks at you and notices how you watch your captain so stiffly, despite the smile on your face.

“It’s… he’s just saying something else.” You laugh, relaxing. “My trill roughly meant joy, happy, together. It’s a ranking, the last spoken usually is the most powerful, or meaningful.” You sigh, a sad smile on your face as you ruffle your hair to get you out of this mood. “Luffy is saying joy, pod. It’s… well, it’s a way of declaring a family."

“We are family!” Luffy says stubbornly, and you hold up your hands as if you're shielding yourself.

“Respectfully, not yet,” you get up, and take your book with you, shrinking in on yourself a bit, shying away from the concerned look Sanji follows you with. All of that laughter and joy you had been expressing just minutes ago has faded. “You are my crew, but you are not my pod, not yet, I'm sorry," you murmur something to them about arriving in port soon, and needing to do a few last checks, before you've disappeared into the women's quarters.

Luffy and Sanji watch you retreat, with the captain scratching his head, and the cook casting his line again, not liking how you had so easily retreated from them, and almost seemed afraid of whatever reaction was to come. And the apology?

He sighed. You reminded him too much of himself, especially in his childhood. Hesitant to ask for help, scared to be too loud, for fear of his father and brother's wrath. Would his mother have liked you? He pushed the thought from his head— his mother was of no consequence to your trauma, and how he was to help you heal from it. You had faced hell for two years and had lost your entire family to boot, and that had all been dropped on you in the past week and a half. You needed time, if anything. And affirmations that you belonged where you were now, and could do what you pleased.

You're already gaining a bit of weight back, from your training with Zoro, and Sanji helps you portion your meals so you don't eat to the point of making yourself sick, even when you're convinced you're going to starve, a hunger in your stomach you cannot get rid of, no matter what you eat. He lets Nami help you, in those moments, letting the two of you sit alone in your room.

But Sora would have liked you, his mind rebelliously chimed. Would have liked your stubbornness and your dedication to your duties and Nami. She would have laughed at your snark and banter, and the tight schedule you run on the ship. An idea fizzles into his head, reminding him of something Zeff had done when he had officially adopted Sanji, and bought the Baratie. Just him and Zeff, legs hoisted up on the barrel, making a promise that one of them would find the All Blue, and Zeff then promising to take care of Sanji, for as long as he needed. He buries the idea down when he sees a city on the horizon, watching as Nami starts to make calls for the sails to be brought in.

The arrival in Lougetown goes smoother than expected, especially with your gentle guidance of the waves, standing at the back of the boat. Soon enough, you’ve convinced Luffy to pull down their flag, convincing him to hide it as you make it into the main port and check in the ship by another name, Merry-Go-Round. After some bribing and a slight slip of cleavage on your part, the wharfmaster lets you go without much trouble, especially when you slip him a ten-thousand-berry note to hide that you don’t have the proper documentation

Luffy pulls at the collared shirt you’ve made him wear, rubbing at the concealer Nami used to hide his scar, moaning about how a true pirate would never hide his identity, quickly silenced by Nami tugging on his ear harshly, hissing that a real pirate wouldn’t get caught then, either, just as Luffy’s wanted poster flutters by in the wind. You move to the side a bit, pulling your shirt back up to fully cover your chest again, Sanji holds his face a bit, bright pink up to his ears as he looks away, muttering about how a woman should never have to use her body to do what she wants, while also trying to affirm that a woman can do whatever she may want with her body. You walk a few paces ahead of the group, and Zoro only gaps at you, noticing that you’ve changed your outfit, replacing your pants with a pleated, black skirt.

“Where’d you learn that?” Zoro hisses, as you walk by, winking at the old man as you pass by the wharfmaster's station, before hurrying the group along. “Wha— and since when did we have money?"

“Since I took half of the treasure from Arlong,” you whisper back, taking in the buildings around you. You can’t help it, this is the first island you’ve been to other than the park, and your home island. It’s much more urban and warm than yours was— it snowed for half the year back home— and you’re filled with wonder at just how different it is. You all stop at a large and prominent fountain, and you can already hear the bustle of the main square just a few streets down. The new smells and sounds, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a bit overwhelmed.

Zoro sighs heavily and lays a hand on your shoulder when he notices how you fidget, “Focus on one thing— that’s what helped me when I first left my dojo,” he was quiet, gently squeezing your shoulder as if to ground you. “Just one sense. That’s all.”

You nod, focusing on what you can feel around you. Under you. The cobbles are the first thing. They’re uneven and hurt your ankles a bit as you walk on them. And then there’s the sea breeze, coming in from the port. It’s familiar, and warm, and reminds you of where you are, and how water surrounds you at every step.

Opening your eyes, you find Zoro looking down at you. Though he tries to stay neutral, there’s concern etched on his features.

“Better?”

“Much.” You run your hands through your hair, letting out a deep sigh. He only squeezes your shoulder a bit harder, as if to affirm he’s still there. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” He watches as the rest of the crew catches up. “Talking… is hard. But we could be… friends. If you'd like.” He grunts out, blushing a bit when you laugh softly.

“I’d like that,” you hold out your pinky, and he stares at it, confused.

“What’s that for?”

“It’s a pinky promise.”

“What— okay, but what do I do with this?”

“You— you’re impossible, Zoro .” You make him stick his pinky out, then wrap it around your own, shaking it. “There. Now we’re friends.”

“That’s dumb,” he can’t help but grin, shaking his head, “So, friends can give each other money…”

“Not happening,” you flick his nose, “It’s the crew’s.”

“Wish I’d known that before I borrowed off of Nami,” Zoro growls, folding his arms, “...not even a little?”

“It’s for the crew, I have to go buy more supplies for general upkeep anyway,” you flick the swordsmen in the nose, before approaching Sanji with an envelope, which he opens with a low whistle, looking at the notes. “Speaking of which— here. Weekly allowance for produce and fresh meats. We’ll look at dried goods together since that's partially in my department." You also hand an envelope to Usopp, who gasps at the amount of money in his hands, already calculating what he can get for the ammunition stockpiles, and for his own experiments.

“So the waiter gets money and I don’t?” Zoro complains, which makes Sanji bite down on his cigarette, the two are about to start bickering when Luffy pushes his way between them, making a beeline for you when he sees the envelope of money in your hands.

“I’d like some money!” Luffy chimes in, holding out his hands expectantly to you, looking up with big eyes. "I want a statue."

“Uh, no. We’re only coasting on what we have now because Arlong had so much in his hoard.” You sigh, rubbing your temples. “Okay— that sleaze ball will let us dock the ship there for two days. We will leave tomorrow morning,” you glance at the large clock tower above you, frowning at how early it is, knowing some of the shops you need won't be open yet. “Meet in the main square at five. Get what you need done,” you sigh, and most of the crew bolt away, with Sanji left waiting, snubbing out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe.

“Should we go look at dry ingredients now, then?” Sanji bows his head, offering his arm to you, which you politely decline, walking ahead of him.

“May as well,” You look behind you, tilting your head as he matches your pace, walking by your side and listening as you speak. “I’ll need to find a hardware store so I can make some supply orders.”

The two of you ease into a casual conversation, at a relaxed pace. The grains are easy enough to find, with Sanji spending an unusual amount of time bartering over the quality of rice, oats, and flour he’s decided to buy. You don’t mind, instead watching the cook try his best to butter up the old woman behind the stall, who looks unimpressed with his antics, an antique carved pipe hanging from her mouth.

“ Madam, I simply would just like to examine it in closer detail, to be assured that I am getting the finest quality—”

“It’s in front of ya, ain’t it?” The woman leans closer, tanned face and dark eyes staring into his soul, chomping down on her pipe in emphasis. “Not to touch unless yer’ buyin’.”

Sanji leans back, clearly a bit frustrated, looking at you in his desperation. So, you step in, laying a gentle hand on his arm, looking pleadingly at the woman, while also trying to telepathically tell Sanji to stop freezing up at your touch, if the act is to look convincing.

“Apologies, for my beloved’s behavior,” you smile sweetly, making sure you present yourself as soft as possible. Your hair is pushed to cover the scars on your cheek, and you bat your eyes, leaning into Sanji’s arm, finally getting him to loosen up. “He’s just a perfectionist, just wants our pups to grow big and strong, don’t you, my love?”

Sanji blushes a bit but plays it off by looking the other way, sighing heavily and ruffling his hair. “But if I can’t examine the grains —”

“I’m sure she’ll let you look if you’re quick,” you purr, running a hand down his back as if to smooth him, Sanji shivers at your touch, finally looking down at your pout with a sigh, and you turn your head to the old woman behind the counter with a dazzling smile, hiding your canines and premolars. No need to scare the human, especially when you're supposed to be some little housewife. “Right?”

Begrudgingly, and ensnared by your charm, she allows it, and you practically gush over her, thanking her and shaking her hand with such enthusiasm that Sanji has to pull you away, cooing at you to let him do the rest, not before pecking your forehead with a sly grin. He manages to strike a deal, and you offer to pay a bit extra to have the supplies delivered to your boat, which Sanji objects to, and then offers to pay out of his own pocket for, saying;

“It’s for our pups, isn’t it, darling? After you did all the work for nine months, let me do something.” And he holds a hand to your belly, rubbing it. Despite yourself, you blush, sighing and letting him pay, thanking the old woman once again before you walk off, taking Sanji’s hand to keep the act going.

“Good thinking,” Sanji grins at you with a slight blush, when you're out of her view, and you can’t help but blush, looking anywhere but his face as you continue to walk through the market, letting him pull you to the next stall, this one selling spices.

“Yes, exactly as planned,” you hate the way your heart hammers in your chest when he uses pet names with you, and how you do feel a bit annoyed when he flirts with some younger, handsome, and pretty merchants, letting you pout as he has an arm around your shoulder, explaining the spices to you. But it’s not as if it’s real. You only just know Sanji, and though he helped to free you, you owe him nothing. You remind yourself that, even when he looks at you with a bright smile and tucks some beautiful white flowers, astilbes, behind your ears, something a shopkeeper had given him for free as part of his flirtations, looking at you in pity as you walk away, still fake pouting at your 'partner'.

Carefully, he adjusts the branches, just enough so that your scars peek through your hair, smiling down at you when you come up to delicately touch the tiny flowers, looking at them as best you can through your eyelashes. Sanji admires how they sit in your hair, almost looking like a laurel crown, beautifully contrasting your features, long fingers helping to adjust them so they sit just right, softly tilting your face to the side to get a better view.

“Oh— it’ll reveal my scars—” you fret, worried about being recognized, only to have Sanji gently take one of your hands as he continues to adjust the flowers with his other, squeezing your hand as you wind your way through the stalls of the market, now in search of coffee beans and black tea leaves when he's satisfied with how the flowers sit in your hair.

“It won’t. And besides, they’re nothing to be ashamed of,” He holds your hand, looking back at you with a warm smile, and you can’t help but admire how handsome he is. “You’re free. And you’re a part of this crew.”

Hesitantly, you nod, smiling up at him nervously as the two of you make your way through the market. This act continues until the dry goods are bought, with the cook even accompanying you to the hardware store, opening the door for you like a proper gentleman, and then smiling before taking his leave, off to buy fresh produce. You almost wish it wasn't an act.

#black leg sanji #vinsmoke sanji #sanji x reader #sanji x you #vinsmoke sanji x you #one piece insert #one piece x reader #one piece x you

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pampushky · 2 months

Text

Creature (Both Haunted & Holy)

Vinsmoke Sanji/Reader - Chapter 27 - 5.2k

Sanji reflects. Recovery is not always linear, but you’re there to help him, at least.

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Pell sits amongst pirates he views as his equals for the first time in at least thirty years, but he doesn’t recognize nearly any of the faces that have landed on Seal’s Drop’s shores. He has his back turned to them, and stares at the specific mound his daughter and her wife are buried, surrounded by their twin pups, and their eldest.

A cask sits beside him. This is not what he’d imagined breaking open the sealed barrel would feel like. When Pell had imagined it, he’d pictured Coth by his side, with Feann and her Pod on the other, celebrating whatever one of his grand pups would inevitably follow in his footsteps to become a pirate, and giving the lucky pup their first taste of true sake— to egg them on into landing in the New World, to Wano.

Instead, he breaks it open beside Edward Newgate silently, his former rival now watching him somberly. Marco perches on his shoulder.

“Can I help you, Ed?” Pell doesn’t even turn to look at him. They both smell of devil fruit, though Whitebeard’s is growing fainter with his age.

“Pelleus…. You weren’t subtle, you know. With your display at Impel Down.” Whitebeard sits down with a little grunt, gently shooing the man on his shoulders away. “…. you were the first to break in, I hope you know.”

“… That won’t make me feel any better if that’s what you’re trying to do.” Pell pours the sake onto the grave. An offering, to make his daughter’s time in the afterlife a bit better. To hopefully help him forgive himself for being useless to protect her against a monster.

Whitebeard only sighs and sits quietly beside the selkie for as long as he will let him.

They sit there until it turns to night, and Pell allows himself to be guided to the Moby Dick .

For the first time since your escape from Arlong Park, you finish a full plate of food all on your own. You’d managed to finish a full plate of food without getting sick from overeating. And gods, you’d looked so proud of yourself when Luffy pointed it out, at first more upset that he didn’t get to eat your leftovers, before screeching that you didn’t have any leftovers.

“Ott! You did it!” Luffy’s arms stretch over to touch your face, his hands pressed against your cheeks when he accidentally causes himself to rocket over the table and crash into you. Before this, you’d have been sent into a bit of a spiral from Luffy’s touchiness, not yet used to a friendly touch, but now you’re trying to peel him off of you while the rest of the crew jumps into action to clean up the mess Luffy’s made. You just cringe, so incredibly used to your captain’s lack of a personal bubble, or understanding of anyone else's. Chopper is still adjusting and is trying to hide behind Sanji’s legs.

“Touching–”

“Oh, sorry.” Luffy’s hands slap back to where they’re meant to be, though still laying on top of you with a silly grin on his face, while Zoro just lays next to you on the ground, covered in beer, staring up at the ceiling until you make another warning warble that eventually stirs him to pick up Luffy under his shoulders. Your captain takes no notice and chatters the entire time when you sit on the floor with Nami patting your head sympathetically.

“You smell like beer, Zoro!”

“I wonder why,” Zoro looks at Luffy, who has gone onto a completely new topic as you slowly process that you’ve eaten a full plate of food. The swordsman just gently pats you on the back and offers a little nod for praise.

You’re gaining weight back– it has been nearly four months now, after all. But then again, you’ve had ups and downs in your recovery. Right now you’re doing good, it’s been more consistently ups than downs. Sure, there are times when you stumble a bit. The crew gets frustrated with something unrelated to you and forgets to watch their tone or words as you’re on the deck beside them, though this was discovered one screaming match between Zoro and Sanji too late. It had taken two and a half hours for Sanji to find you, and when he did, he found you crammed between two barrels of fresh water, shaking and keeping your eyes on the ground. That had been a hard stumble and one that had taken a few days for you to recover from.

“You did it,” Sanji helps you up from the floor with a wide smile, and you slowly return it, hugging him close, your face in his chest while you inhale his scent, “Oh, good job, good job, you did so well, ”

You have a pod who loves you dearly. A man courting you who worships the very ground you walk upon. You have never felt so close to the water as you do now, able to dive under the slip to perform routine checks on the keel and hull as a whole whenever you want. You can hunt for whatever fish are around you, dive as deep as you want, and never fear the repercussions of being gone for too long.

“You in there honey?” Sanji gently taps your cheek, teasing you as you pull yourself from your mind, smiling as you look up at him. “Hi.”

He laughs when you press your nose against his, rumbling from deep within your chest as you hug him closer to you with your arms looped around his waist, eyes closed in bliss as he steadies the two of you. “Someone’s happy…” Sanji rubs your cheek gently, watching your blissed-out expression.

“I ate a whole plate,” you murmur back, opening your eyes again, and looking up at him. “Full, normal portions.”

“Mhm.”

“And I gained… fifteen pounds back.”

Sanji gently squeezes your tummy, and you squeak before breaking into a fit of laughter as he tickles your sides, the two of you rolling on the couch in the galley.

“ And you’re looking radiant and doing a great job as our bosun,” Sanji coos to you, pressing dozens of kisses against your cheeks and nose as his eyelashes brush against your face. You shudder, and let him continue to make your brain fog with all of his praise. Gods, do you adore this man.

You settle into his arms a bit, not quite pinned under him. That would have implied you were trapped. Sanji was more so a weighted blanket than an effective trap. He just clings to you, whining whenever you have to move to get up and do chores. But not now, when it’s the end of the day and all of your chores are complete. It’s time to relax and get ready to do it all again until you land in Alabasta and come up with some plan to liberate the country.

It’s peaceful. The calm before the storm. Selfishly, you want it to stay that way forever. Where you could lay in the galley after dinner and watch the light fade through the windows. No threats or danger, just sailing on the Going Merry until you find what you’re looking for. You think you deserve to have such wishes, so long as you never act upon them. You’re allowed to have these selfish thoughts, so long as you don’t act on them.

But, these thoughts must end, as you trudge down to the storage room to do a final check for the night, just to be sure there are enough dry goods for the final leg of the journey to Alabasta. Everything is fine– until you check the fruit, and scream.

There, amidst the limes, is a glowing, lime-shaped fruit. It’s golden, and you drop your journal as Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp come sprinting. Zoro doesn’t see what’s wrong at first until he looks down at the little fruit. You’re too busy shaking as you look at it, your pointed ears flattened to your head while you warble. You look utterly terrified, as Zoro picks up the fruit. It’s got zig-zag-like patterns on it, and your friend looks at you skeptically.

“This… is just a Devil Fruit,” Zoro holds it out to you, and you shriek.

“It’s a cursed fruit, ” you hiss, and hide behind Sanji, who looks equally as confused as to why you’re hiding behind him. “Those are bad news— toss it to the sea!”

“Hold on— we can sell that—” Usopp reasons, and you look even more miserable, glowering at him from your spot behind Sanji. “....or we can toss it to the sea, yeah, sure,”

“...Beloved,” Sanji starts carefully, craning his neck so he can look at you, “Luffy ate a devil fruit… so surely not all of them are cursed?”

You snort at this, and Sanji yelps when he feels you chomp down on his shoulder, grumbling and warbling as you eye Zoro warily. After a minute you stop biting him, though Sanji’s shoulder throbs, and whatever emotions come through the bond are muddled.

“Luffy is a special case.”

“H-how…?” Sanji rubs at his shoulder, wincing still.

“He fought Arlong, so he gets a pass,” You sniff, and appeasingly kiss where you had bit Sanji’s shoulder. The man just sighs and gently rubs your head. “...sorry I bit you. I panicked.”

Usopp snorts at that and takes the devil fruit from Zoro, at which you flinch as the sniper starts to study it, pulling his goggles down. You look at him over Sanji’s shoulder, while the cook and Zoro lean over to watch Usopp as well. The sniper has a small frown on his face, with his nimble fingers turning it around in his hands. He frowns.

“... looks like that’s a…. Huh, Wave-Wave fruit,” Usopp pulls his goggles back on his forehead, and turns the fruit over again. “We’ll check the encyclopedia, just to be certain— we’ll sell it when we get to shore. Solves the money problem.”

You cringe as he tosses the fruit in the air, shrinking back behind Sanji. To his credit, despite being bitten, he rubs your head softly. Nami pokes her head into the room, with Vivi and Luffy chattering behind her. Her eyes light up when she sees the fruit in Usopp’s hand, and you swear you can hear her going through the money she can make off of it before you make a low rumbling noise to make your displeasure known.

“We’ll be able to afford some more… extensive repairs, and won’t need to worry about anything else,” you shudder as you take the fruit from Usopp’s hands, and physically stop yourself from gagging as you hold it, making your way out of the storage room. You drop it on the kitchen counter, looking at it loathingly. Sanji followed you into the kitchen, resting his chin on your shoulder as you glared at the fruit.

“What’s the issue with the fruit?”

“They’re poison. Anything that could sever our connection to our Mother…” you trail off, shuddering at the thought of being unable to swim anymore. “...when the world was young, the Sea Mother was wed to the Sea Devil. Their first children were the first of the selkenfolk, or so it goes. Each child was the first of that specific lineage, and so on, and so forth. They were closer to their mother, which angered the Sea Devil. In a fit of rage, he made it so that selkenfolk couldn’t eat any of the fruit he had planted in the world…”

You look at the little fruit quietly, shaking your head. “...that’s what we’re taught. Some selkies’ve tried to eat devil fruits,” a shudder runs down your spine, and a low warble pulls from your throat, “...they’ve never lived more than a week. They always go mad.”

“... can, hybrids… eat? Devil fruit?”

“Maybe. It depends on all the genetics.” You shrug helplessly, as Sanji takes the fruit from the counter, examining it, before putting it back. “... don’t tell me you’re going to eat it, we don’t even know for certain what it is,”

“No, I enjoy swimming too much,” Sanji admits, and laughs, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead. “How will I be able to enjoy the All-Blue if I can’t swim in it,”

This… makes sense. Sanji plans things, immaculately. The kitchen is beautifully organized for anyone who could stumble into it could make a cup of tea and a sandwich on the rare occasion he wasn’t already preparing something. So it doesn’t shock you that he’s weighed the pros and cons of gaining miraculous powers and how it may aid his overall goal. Guiltily, you watch how he winces a bit when trying to rotate one of his shoulders, and warble, pressing a kiss to where you had previously bit him.

He just chuckles, ruffles your hair, and that’s the end of it.

“Why couldn’t you do this simple task?!” Judge bellows, towering above Sanji. He is just seven in this dream, with thin wrists and easily bruised knees from how much he was physically pushed to achieve. Academically, he was a bit smarter– but still nothing in the eyes of his father. “Kill it!”

The poor little rat trembles from where Judge had kept it, its paws already stuck in the glue trap. Beady black eyes look up at Sanji, and the blond fur makes him shudder. It’s the same color as his mother’s hair, as his own. There’s terror in the little creature’s eyes, and Sanji hates how his father is holding it. Maybe if he could get it away, he could use some soap to help get its paws out of the trap—

Judge crushes the rat under his boot the moment he sees Sanji trying to think his way out of this situation. He watches the boy scream, how his eyes widen, highlighting yet another imperfection in what was meant to be his ultimate weapon. Sanji tries to pull Judge’s boot off the rat, sobbing and begging his father, who remains motionless. Sanji could only see his mother, sweet, kind, Sora, with the same pretty blond hair the rat had, the same hair that Sanji had inherited. The same hair that was now buried in the ancestral crypt, was the only time a member of the Germa royal bloodline was allowed to return to their abandoned homeland, in death. How tragically poetic.

“It was a pest Sanji,” Judge growls, and his sobs grow louder. “Royalty does not serve the pests, we thrive to spite them, to crush them under our heels for their impudence,”

His breath is stolen from his lungs with a harsh kick, sending him skittering across the brick floor. There is blood on his shirt, sticky and warm from the rat. That was when he’d had his first panic attack, crying on the floor of his too-big bedroom over a rat as his father left him there.

Sanji opens his eyes again to see the crushed rat. And hundreds of others, all killed at the hands of his siblings and father to try and teach him their cruel, cruel lessons. The stone brick under him is rougher than he remembers, and it’s so, so much warmer too. He casts a glance up only to realize he’s back on that damned rock, Zeff beside him, except this time, the old man has cracked his ribs open to feed Sanji his very heart.

But before he can do anything to react, the rats swarm around him. They knock him to the ground, his knees hitting the rough stone. He screams, begging, pleading with the creatures he’d tried so desperately to save to please, leave Zeff alone, leave some piece of him for Sanji to bury so he can at least rest. The noise makes him nauseous, and when he feels something tighten around his face, and hears the clicking noises near the back of his head, he opens his mouth to scream—

And slams his head into the ceiling, instantly cutting off his scream. Zoro grunts in his sleep. Luffy just snores louder. The giggling from the floor below stops for a second and starts again as Vivi, Usopp, and Nami start talking about gods know-what again. You snap awake instantly, a terrifying growl in the back of your throat as you slam him into the bottom of the hammock. Your eyes reflect in the dim light for a second as you press yourself over him protectively. He’s never heard that growl from you before. Your more seal-like noises have always been playful, but now it’s primal and terrifying. You’re more animalistic at this moment, looking around the room with a dangerous glint in your eyes he’s only ever seen once before when you were certain Arlong was chasing you through Whiskey Peak.

Zoro grunts again, and your growls subside, sniffing the air, before glancing down at him. You nudge him with your nose, rumbling gently as you look down at him. Your eyes still reflect a bit, piercing his very soul as he looks up at you. Your hair makes a partial curtain around the two of you as you lean over him.

“Sanji? Are you okay?”

But he can’t answer, muffling his sobs as he presses his hands over his mouth, not wanting to wake anyone else. His eyes squeezed shut tightly as he forcibly tried to quell his panic in a way that he’s long since learned is unhealthy, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped doing it. It’s bad enough he’s woken you up, being the burden that he is. Sanji feels something against his face and opens his eyes just enough to see you nudging at his hands with your nose, a soft, comforting rumble making him crumble. His mind itches with the gentle rhythms and notes that spell out concern, nightmare, and dearest that finally break the barrier of his muffled sobs to pull you tightly into his arms.

If Sanji wasn’t so lost in his own mind, the little huff you’d made after he did that would have been humorous, along with the little pats along his shoulders to try and calm him down. The 180 of how competent you can be with social interactions is endearing to him, and he manages to stop crying enough to laugh when you start to pat on his cheeks softly, rumbling the entire time. Perhaps it’s the differences in Selkenfolk and Human communication, but it’s certainly something that keeps him on his toes with you.

“How about I make tea?” You mumble, looking at him, eyes still reflecting in the dim light. “… and you don’t burn yourself on it this time.”

Watching you work in the kitchen is oddly soothing to Sanji. You’ve gotten back to a point where you’re able to control the water around you like little arms, measuring out the seeds and spices you need. You even trill and rumble a bit, all of those little noises that had once been forced out of you now falling from your mouth without so much as a second thought.

However, you side-eye him from the stove when he tries to light up a cigarette, a little tendril of water holding the pack out of reach while he looks at you miserably.

“Not fair,” Sanji weakly reaches for them, and you huff, placing the pack on top of the cabinets, soon followed by his lighter, leaving Sanji with a soaked cigarette hanging from his lips rather uselessly.

“You shouldn’t smoke inside. The smell lingers. And Nami won’t say anything but it gives her headaches.”

“It does?”

“Yeah, it’s why her mom had to switch to herbal ones when she was little.” One of your ears twitch. “…doesn’t it mess up tasting things?”

“You sound like the old man right now,” Sanji groans, slumping forward to lay his forehead against the island counter. “….I wanted to impress him, so about a year and a half of him taking me in I started. I wanted him to think I was grown.”

“Then why’ve you kept it up to this point?” You put everything in the newly purchased kettle, a result of a run-in with another group heading for Alabasta.

“…became addicted,” Sanji shrugs and lets the wet cigarette fall onto the counter. Some of the tobacco falls out along with it. “Y’know it’s bad for me to quit cold turkey, right?” “I know.” One of your ears twitch, as you focus on the kettle. The open flame under the burner flickers a bit. You don’t look at him though, cleaning up the little mess you’ve made with the mortar and pestle. “Next stop. I’ll get you the same brand my sister used to smoke… they were herbal. With a bit of blue lotus in them. If that’d help.”

He manages to snicker a bit, resting his chin on his hand as you gently scrub the mortar and pestle. “You’re trying to drug me now?”

“.... it’s a drug?” You turn this time, looking genuinely confused. “It had the same effect as tobacco on selkies…” and then it dawns on you, your embarrassment and realization making him feel giggly and jittery through the bond, “Oh. You’re not a selkie.”

“Did you forget that?”

“Sometimes I do.” You shrug, leaning back on the counter. “...you, Luffy… everyone just…adapts well to me. Like you understand me.”

“I understand you sometimes. I want to know more, speak your language.”

“It’s the same language… I don’t even know if you’d be able to hear it the same way. My ears are different,” You twitch them to emphasize that, “I mean, you can hear… whale calls, and stuff, but it’s more than that.”

Sanji attempts to rumble as you’ve shown him, and though it still sounds mangled your heart flutters. He’s trying for you.

“... did I say that right?”

“You got the point across,” You laugh, smiling widely as the kettle starts to whine. You let it go for a few seconds until it turns into a proper whistle, wanting the tea to be at its best. Sanji lets you pour it and then watches as you very carefully put your hands over the two mugs until the steam isn’t as heavy. You’ve… cooled them down, using your abilities, showing him just how much control you’ve gained over it the past four months. When he takes a sip, it’s at the perfect temperature for drinking. He feels downright giddy over that– that you’ve made such a sharp improvement so quickly.

The silence is comforting. The two of you go to sit in the crow's nest, and even if Sanji is a bit annoyed that no one was on a real watch of the ship, he’s happy you’re next to him. You point out the constellations to him, and then, hold up your hand, lining it up with one of the brightest stars, and then helping him to do it.

“… That’s how the Sea Devil found his wife, the Sea Mother,” you whisper, as Sanji finally seems to understand how you’re telling the distance of the sea around you. “He followed the stars, mapping them with his hands, and weaving a map of shells and palm fronds.”

You lean against the mast, taking a sip of the tea. “Their first children were the first Selkenfolk, a litter of dozens if not hundreds. But they loved them all the same.”

“You said that earlier,” Sanji laughs, looking at you as you stare into the cup. “That poor mother.”

“…I gave a rushed version of the story.” You whisper. “The Sea Devil… he loved his children. Every single one he helped to name and cradled after they were born. But they were godly. Divine. Their childhoods were over in the span of a week, and he mourned the fact that he did not get to spend as much time with them as he had wanted to. So he devised a plan to keep them young for another year— so that he could cherish their youth and watch them grow again. So he decided to grow fruits that could do just that.”

“…the Devil Fruit, I’m assuming?”

“I’m getting to that part,” you playfully punch him in the side, laughing a bit. “The children misunderstood, of course, and begged the Sea Mother to stop him. And being the doting mother that she was, she was willing to. So, when the Sea Devil laid down for a nap after all of his work in the garden, she made the ground shake and made frost go deeper than it ever had to kill the seeds. Thunder, rain— everything.”

You shake your head with a little huff, annoyed.

“But what she had done was make the fruits unstable, and not what the Sea Devil had wanted them to be. They had been controlled before, but now every seed was corrupted, and completely different from the other. Not one was the same. He was devastated, obviously, and told her what his plan had been— to simply spend more time with their children. Realizing her fault, she wept and told her husband what she had done, and he grew upset that the children, in his anger-clouded vision, had wanted to leave them so quickly, that he declared that they would never be able to eat the food that he or their mother had grown, making all Selkenfolk grow sick and eventually die if they were to eat a Devil Fruit.” You finish the story and take a long drink from your mug. “And that’s the story my Gran and Baba used to convince me to never doubt my moms.”

Sanji lets out a low, impressed whistle. “…and that’s why you’re so freaked out by Devil Fruit? They’re… good intentions spoiled by a lack of communication from parent to child?” He rests his hands behind his head, his nightmares far from his mind now. “Wow. Divine family needs some serious therapy sessions.

You gently box one of his ears, trying to look annoyed and utterly failing to. “There weren’t therapists back then! They were the first beings to— be !”

“Uh-huh. And Zeff is definitely old enough to have probably known them personally.”

You both dissolve into a fit of laughter, loosely holding onto each other under the stars. Sanji puts his focus back on the sky, and then on the grain of the wood in the railing.

“… What devil fruit would you eat?”

“I… wouldn’t?” You splutter, confused. “Didn’t we just cover this— I’d die, Sanji.”

“But if you could ?”

“… still wouldn’t,” you shrug and lean on him. “I like swimming. I like the ocean. Even if I was human, I’d rather not eat one.”

You then look at him, narrowing your eyes. “…you have an answer already, don’t you?”

“I mean— who doesn’t?” Sanji laughs nervously. “Clear-clear fruit. Easy.”

“…that was quick. You’ve thought about it.”

“I mean, yeah, ” Sanji looks down at you, smiling softly. “Yeah. I’ve thought about it a lot. To pass the time.”

“Wanna tell me why that fruit?”

“It makes you invisible,” his voice sounds oddly delicate as he speaks. “Just. At your will, able to sneak around without any worries. It’s tactical.”

“… would you sneak into changing rooms and watch people?”

“Wha— no— why would you — I would not do that, Ott, ” His voice nearly cracks from how you’ve startled him with that. “E-even if it was a very attractive person I would not do that. I am a gentleman —“

“That’s the only tactical thing I can think of,” you tease, squeezing his pink cheeks, and laughing at the blush. “Stealth isn’t really a thing with our crew, so as a victim of gross perverted stuff—”

“Oh my God, Ott— “

“— I mean why not , you could get so much blackmail ,”

“…did you just refer to your own trauma as blackmail material?”

“It’s my trauma, I can do what I want with it. Not gonna do much else for me.”

“….seas help me, you’re a menace—“

“— Don’t you wanna know if Luffy has crazy stretch marks? What about if Zoro has a tattoo? Oh, Sanji I bet it's a really stupid stick and poke! All uneven too, now I have to know if he has one—”

“That’s— if this was coming from literally any other member of this crew I’d be concerned—“

“But what else could it be used for, I’m just sayin’—“

“Hiding. From my family.”

The words tumble out of his mouth before he can even think to stop them, a terrified confession from his very soul. You’re frozen with your mouth in an ‘o’. And then you pull him into a deep hug. Before Sanji can even protest, you're suddenly much larger than him, in your Selken form, curled around him protectively. The bond buzzes at the very bottom of his skull, making him let out a soft groan while you flood his thoughts and forcefully push the nightmare from his mind, replacing it with rumbles of affection and love.

Good. Kind. Loved.

Your arms are tight around his shoulders. Part of your long tail wraps around him. Your nose is pressed into his hair. And Sanji has never felt so safe. It’s different from his Mother’s aura of calmness, and Zeff’s presence after nightmares. It’s you, the sea breeze, and the ship gently swaying.

“I don’t know what they did,” you keep your eyes on the stars and feel Sanji hold you a bit tighter. “…but I know you’re wonderful. That you go out of your way to cook and make sure everyone has food in their belly and that they aren’t sick. You care about this crew, and don’t ask for anything in return.”

If you can feel the tears on your skin, you don’t mention it.

“… You’re wonderful. And you can tell me when you’re ready to. But if they make you think you’re not worthy of good things, and having a loving pod, then they’re dead wrong.”

The crew finds the two of you curled up like that in the morning, the tea long since gone cold. Zoro’s the one to find you, seeing your tailfins hanging over the edge of the crow's nest. Sanji groans and tries to fall back asleep, regardless of Luffy poking the side of his head and asking him to cook something, before turning his onslaught onto you.

“C’mon, Ott, can’t you catch me something?” Luffy stretches just enough to drape himself over the both of you, effectively shoving his chest into Sanji’s face.

“It’s too warm here, I’ll be too sluggish to swim fast enough to catch anything,” You stretch a bit, slowly materializing your legs back, causing Luffy to let out a loud whine, dramatically slumping over the railing.

“C’mon, we’ll catch some fish,” Zoro puts Luffy over his shoulder and carefully makes his way down the rope ladder. Sanji cleans the two mugs used the night before, and prepares a breakfast of grits and dried meat. Just as you’re about to check the ship for damages, starting near the figurehead, you hear a scream from Nami and look over the railing onto the main deck to find that Luffy has pulled a rather oddly dressed man from the sea.

#black leg sanji #vinsmoke sanji #sanji x reader #sanji x you #vinsmoke sanji x you #one piece insert #one piece x reader #one piece x you

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