futurology | voice: un; CAPTAIN

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voice: un; CAPTAIN

[The feed is going to start up easier than it did last time. Looks like someone's actually learning how to use his communicator--how about that.

Either way, the face that Luffy's making this time around is a little bit unreadable. A smile is on his face, but somehow, if you're someone used to the sort of expression this man usually makes--it's clear that there's something not quite right with it.

Even if the tone that lights up the speakers is a bright one.]

Everyone been having fun yet? It's been messy, right? I hope no-one got too hurt when it came to the big ugly swamp monster. [After all, he'd gotten quite beaten up by it. Look at the bandages and scrapes on his hands and face.]

Even if you did, there's lots'a people here to fix you up, Like Torao. But anyway.

Have any of you seen Ace? My brother. He's always flying ahead of me when we go on adventures together, and he did it again this time around. So I think he got lost.

I'm sure we'll find him when the mission's over, but you know!!
It's not fair, I wanted to be the one who got ahead this time.

[He's so steeped in denial, it might hurt to hear. Sorry.]

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[It doesn't take long to find Luffy, in the end. He's made sure to keep close by since the while swamp monster thing. But when he does find his captain, Sanji's armed with food (the very, very last of the dried meat he'd packed back in Oska). It's not the feast he'd like to come armed with, but it's better than nothing.

He reaches up, pushing gently at Luffy's hat in greeting before offering the plate.]

Oi. Lunchtime, Captain.

[There's too much to feel, right now. Both a mix of hope that his numerous friends made here would gain some leeway that he didn't in looking for his brother. After all, if Hanzo, Genji, Sorey AND Olivia couldn't produce results, then no-one could, right? His nakama would help, too, he's sure about that--so he doesn't need to ask. They'd always come to his aid, just like he'd jump to theirs. So when he's approached by his cook, the expression he gives the curly-browed man is one of quiet hope--like the push against his head was going to be followed with a 'your brother was stuck in a bog, you dummy, getting worried over nothing'.

And yet, he's offered food. Something that normally, any other day, would be responded to with starry eyes and a loud whoop of excitement. Especially given that it was the last few strips of jerky that he knew the cook was holding out on him. And while he certainly does feel a surge of glee about it--it's no-where near as potent as it usually is.

The smile doesn't come as easily, but there it is, teeth clicking together as he meets Sanji's gaze with the best smile he can manage at current--after all, he'd just gotten off his communicator with Coby.]

Wha, hooh. I thought you said there was none left. [A small giggle follows, quiet, as he reaches to grab up the meat off the plate.]

[Sanji lets out an exhale as he watches Luffy go for the meat on the plate with far less gusto than he normally does. He expected it, sure. But expecting and actually seeing are too different things. And seeing Luffy with this little energy about him feels like someone's gripped his heart and is doing their damndest to rip it out of his chest.]

If I said anything else, you'd have tried stealing it already.

[He keeps his tone quiet, matching Luffy's as he settles down next to him, the plate of food getting set on the ground in front of them. There are vegetables on there, too. Things they'd picked up in the forest, grilled and seasoned and laid out to make the meager collection of mismatched foods look like a five star meal.

Luffy wouldn't appreciate it even if he'd been at his happiest, but no one can say Sanji didn't always make the best for his crew.]

You know... we were too busy, before. [In Alabasta, here-- they're always busy.] I never got to hear your and Ace's stories.

[Reliving good memories, sharing them, talking about easier times... that helps, doesn't it?]

[It's logic that he would normally argue with, a 'no I wouldn't have, with the full knowledge both of them would have that yes, yes he would have. There was a reason why the food stores on the Thousand Sunny had locks on them--and it wasn't because of Zoro or Usopp.

He takes a moment before shoving the strips of dried meat into his mouth first--actually taking time to savour them before just swallowing down like some greedy animal. The plants would be eaten too, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. With the meager amounts of food they've been able to scrounge up and carry during the trip--it's amazing that Luffy hasn't complained about almost starving to death yet.

Worrying about your brother does that to a guy.

And speaking of his brother... it seems like Sanji was going to bring him up too. He immediately feels his stomach flip, but... what his crew mate brought up was actually a pretty nice topic. His head raises and he fixates the blonde with a bit of a blank look...

Followed by something of a stable grin.]

Nah, I didn't, did I?? [Right, they were always so on the go with their adventures and travels... he never did tell any of his nakama much about Ace.]

He's pretty great... but didja know, when we first met, he spat on my face? [Look at that... a laugh.]

[Honestly, Luffy's lack of complaining about the state of food has been worrying Sanji the most. Sure, he doesn't appreciate getting reminded again and again that they're stuck on rationing until the end of this mission, but...

He'd rather deal with Luffy being annoying than... this.

So, sits next to his Captain, listening to the storm and watching as he eats. He's bad at this, sure. But at least he's here. At least he's trying.]

He spat on you? [Funny, how such a familiar thing can sound like a good memory when there's some actual love behind it.] What, did he figure you needed a bath before coming near him?

[Because joking to try and keep Luffy's spirits up seems like the best plan right now.]

[Sanji wasn't usually this type of person--one that talked calmly and sat with him when he needed to talk. It was odd, honestly, but... at the same time, they've been Nakama since the very beginning, haven't they? When he'd visited Baratie and refused Sanji when he refused to join his crew.

The reluctant cook was someone he could always count on, so why not now, when he's feeling low? Not that such thoughts would ever be voiced--who do you think he is.]

Yeah, he did. He was a real jerk. The bandits I lived with only let me have a bowl of rice every day to eat, but he always went out and caught wild boar and bears 'nstuff, so he got to eat all the good stuff.

[Stupid Ace.]

He was a real jerk for a long time, too. He wouldn't hang out with me at all, and he'd always lose me in the forest when I tried to follow him to play with him. I even almost got eaten by an alligator, once. [He's starting to smile, look at this.]

[Crewmates since East Blue, these two. He may not have the same relationship Zoro and Luffy have, he may not be Luffy's age like Usopp, he may not have the same time and affection Nami and Luffy have for each other, but they're nakama. Something that's come to mean more to Sanji than anything, really.

Which is why he's trying so hard to take Zoro's role right now. To be the strong, silent one to share memories with. He may hate the swordsman, but he can't deny that it's something that works with the Captain. He'd seen it work during their hardest times, the times they fell and struggled but ultimately found a way to move forward. He'd seen it back in Water 7, when he'd stood there feeling like their home was falling apart and he had no idea what to do about it.

He was trying so hard not to goad out a fight, to fall into teasing and childishness. And, amazingly enough, he was succeeding in that, too.

At least until Luffy goes ahead and mentions that he was only fed one bowl of rice a day as a child.]

Oi-- wait. Wait, wait, wait. One bowl of rice? With nothing else in it? [what the fuck is this what the fuck is he hearing how the fuck is that a thing] One bowl of rice to a kid?!

[When did Sanji stand up? When did he stomp around to stand in front of Luffy? Why does he look like he's going to rip the world apart? These are all very important questions, but none of them are trumping the one bowl of rice thing Luffy just mentioned.]

Who the hell decided on that shitty meal plan?! I'll go to East Blue and kick their asses! One bowl-- TCH!

[Well I mean.

The calmness lasted for like a minute.]

[You'd think that Luffy would have kept certain parts of the story out. He's not an idiot, he knows that Sanji's first passion(after beautiful women) is food. But it just goes to show that this man is really one that doesn't often think before he speaks--much less does he think about consequences of certain actions. Maybe the lives of the Straw Hat pirates wouldn't be so hectic without this line of thinking--or lackthereof--but it'd also be a lot less fun, right?

He's looking up at his friend when the guy suddenly rises from where he had been settled next to him--stomping around in a rage that he should have seen coming. And yet here they are.

His expression slowly moves to a smile--this. This was normal. This, above all else, strangely, felt more familiar and normal than having the cook try to play the role of a certain mossball samurai who was absent.]

They were bandits, yanno? [Look at that, his tone has pitched up a few degrees, his amusement already showing as Sanji bitches about 'one hell of a shitty meal plan.'] Dadan and the others. You had to earn your keep while you were there, and Ace always did. He brought back bears and even sometimes alligators back to the hideout. And I wanted too, too.

[He'd fought for so long, at only seven years old, to be able to keep up with Ace. His strength was crazy, even back then.]

Nihihi. Sanji got so mad.

[Excuse you, Luffy. How dare you. How dare you think anything, absolutely anything comes before women! Women are top priority, they are his ultimate passion, his dream!! They come before himself, they come before his cooking, they come before the All Blue nine times out of ten!!!

Still, as Sanji's standing there stomping his foot like a child, scowling, and puffing angrily on a cigarette he really shouldn't be wasting like this, he notices the shift. He notices as Luffy seems to relax, as his smile becomes a little more genuine. He notices, and he feels relief come crashing down on him like a freight train.

He's helping. Maybe just a little, but he is helping.]

Shut up, asshole. [Sanji, don't call your grieving captain an asshole jfc.] If you don't want me to get mad, stop telling me stupid crap like you eating a bowl of rice a day.

[............but also]

So you lived with bandits... and hunted alligators and bears? [Everything he hears about Luffy's childhood just makes things make so much more sense.] How old were you idiots again?

['Shut up, asshole'. Now that's more like the Sanji he knows. He crosses his arms, giving his cook a wide, crooked grin and that monkey-like laugh in response. Alright, maybe he SHOULD have had the forebrain not to talk about food to someone so passionate about cooking, but hey.

Stories all gotta be told properly, right? If he had the time back, he'd likely not change a goddamn thing that he said. He was helping--if that laugh was anything to go by. It's not as strong a sound as it could be, but it's vastly more positive than anything else had been insofar.]

Yep. Gramps left me with this grumpy fat lady named Dedan. And I was seven! Ace and Sabo were two years older, at nine.

[Ah, yes. There it is. There's the gut reaction that comes from one of his idiot crew mates insulting women. And that reaction is a swift downward kick to Luffy's skull. Just a nice and solid hit of heel to hat.]

Have some damn manners! That's no way to talk about a lady! [Wait. Shit. Sanji's pretty sure this isn't textbook How To Cheer Someone Up.]

Two years, huh? [He takes a drag of his cigarette, if just to distract himself from his want to beat Luffy until he says something nice about this bandit who raised him.

... Even if she only fed him rice. Maybe she didn't know any better? Ahh... a female bandit... she must be tough, maybe only wear furs... scant furs... if only he could go there, maybe he could teach her how to prepare more than that, to make her a meal she probably so sadly lacked...

-- ah, right. They were talking about important things.] He was strong back then, wasn't he? I think you said you'd never beaten him.

[He'll... pick another time to ask who the heck Sabo is.]

[Twok, thwok. Thump. The sound of foot hitting rubber is a common one between these two now, and even if it's SUPER RUDE to kick him in the head while he's feeling low--at the very least, it's something Normal and therefore it's nearly helpful.

Even if Ace is gone... He still has his crew.]

You meet Dadan and try to call her a lady! [Looking to get kicked again, he is.
But Seriously, Dadan was more like a mountain troll than she was a lady, but that all aside... He fixes his hat back on his head, something of a grin on his face.]

Yeah, never once! In all the time we were together, I couldn't ever beat him. Even though I had devil fruit powers and he didn't.

But that's just how Ace is. Ace is.... really great.

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