#i was gonna say his role will be bigger but luffy is wiping the floor with him so i dont understand why the black cloud is there

[hauntingblue]

I might be dumb. Only 2 episodes left....

[mad4turtles]

One Piece ~ ‘Dirty Dishes & Fluffy Socks‘

Now, Sanji's role on this ship – with a small crew of the most disorderly misfits in all the Grand Line – was the cook; he'd prepare only the finest meals for his nakama, occasionally give in to the demands of his boy of a captain for snacks and such, and of course, kick some ass every now and again. And he was fine with that. However, part of that job consisted of protecting his sacred kitchen from the greedy hands of said captain, and the other youngest members of the crew, guarding it hourly like Nami guarded her treasure stash.

And with that job came another, one he hadn't signed up for when joining the Strawhat Pirates, and that was to be a part-time babysitter for the three trouble-making devils. As if Zoro wasn't bad enough, the damn moss-head.

If Sanji were to be honest, he was about ready to call it a day; he'd been somewhat under the weather since that morning, with a light fever and a headache pounding hard enough to split his head in two, but too proud to go to Chopper for help, and the antics of the youngers only worsened both the headache and his mood. But simply throwing the towel in would mean stripping himself of his title as a proud chef.

So instead, he threw them.

With a chorus of high-pitched cries, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were unceremoniously booted out of the kitchen and were sent flying back on the deck of the Sunny, the grass being their saving grace to cushion their fall…sort of.

Above their groans of pain, Sanji yelled "You damn numbskulls set foot in my kitchen before it's clean again it'll be the last time you're gonna have teeth, you hear me?!"

"Okay, we're sowy," he heard them whine in reply, faces still buried in the soil, before Sanji stormed back into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it with a sigh, and then surveyed the chaos. It was late in the afternoon, and the Strawhats had finished lunch over two hours ago, leaving dirty plates, pots, pans and cups in a mountainous pile in the sink. Having been otherwise occupied dealing with the usual hurricane of chaos known as Monkey D. Luffy, Sanji had barely the time to even sit down let alone clean.

Worse still, the headache wasn't going away.

Part of the blond wanted to march onto the deck, grab those three by the scruff of their necks and put them to work instead, but the other part remembered that one, they'd only make a bigger mess knowing them, and two, he'd told them to stay out; with a threat like that, the chances of them stepping into the kitchen again were quite low.

Sanji sighed again and rubbed at his aching temples, moving to the table and taking a seat. "Damn it," he hissed, resting his elbows on the table and letting his face fall into his hands as he closed his eyes, taking in deep, steady breaths. He needed to start cleaning before dinner, but he couldn't find the will to stand up again; he was tired, and his brain was throbbing, and it was probably best if he swallowed his damn pride and went to Chopper –

Before he could stop it, Sanji sank to the table and fell asleep.

"He's gonna kill us, Luffy, I'm telling you this is a bad idea –"

"What? We have to say we're sorry –"

"Yeah, but he told us not to go in the kitchen again, remember? Otherwise he'll kick our teeth out! I happen to like my teeth very much, thank you! After all, they do compliment my beautiful face –"

"I think Luffy's right, Usopp. We should apologize to Sanji properly; he's been working hard all day. Also, he hasn't said anything to me yet, but I think he might be coming down with something, and we only made it worse by making him angry earlier."

"…"

"C'mon, Usopp, don't be a ninny! Come with us."

"Alright, fine, but I'm blaming you if he kicks our teeth out."

"Shishishi! Fine by me!"

"Why the hell are you still grinning?!"

With a carefree shrug of shoulders, the Strawhat captain faced the kitchen door, knocked twice, and let himself in. "Sanji!" he announced, making Usopp squeak and scurry behind Luffy in fear of the cooks' oncoming wrath, "We're here to – ara?"

Usopp dared to peek over Luffy's shoulder, and was just as surprised as his captain and the reindeer doctor at what he saw. Sanji, his arms crossed underneath his head serving as a pillow, was fast asleep sitting at the dining table. The kitchen was still in disarray, as if Sanji had forgotten to clean up before taking an unscheduled nap…or perhaps he'd been too exhausted to start, or too sick as Chopper had suspected. And judging by the way his face, somewhat flushed, was creased in pain…

"Sanji!" Chopper gasped, skittering over to the cook in mild panic with Usopp and Luffy only a step or two behind. Chopper leapt up onto the table – hoof prints be damned – a felt Sanji's forehead. "He has a bit of a fever, but otherwise I think he'll be fine," he assured them, and Luffy and Usopp sighed in relief.

"I thought we killed him," Usopp muttered.

Luffy laughed. "Nah, Sanji's way tougher than that!"

"He'd have to be, to deal with a guy like you," Usopp said with a roll of his eyes, then turned his attention to the kitchen. Planting his hands on his hips, he whistled. "Boy, look at this place, it's like a war-zone. It'll take Sanji forever to clean this up before dinner…"

Luffy, Chopper and Usopp shared a glance. They looked down at Sanji, still unconscious and oblivious to his current company, his curly brow furrowed in pain as he slept, and then turned back to each other.

Chopper hopped off the table and quietly hurried to the infirmary, returning in no time with a blanket. Usopp draped it over Sanji's shoulders, Luffy rolled up the sleeves of his jacket, and without a word, the three set to work.

When Sanji woke up, it was to the sounds of familiar laughter bounding off the walls of the kitchen behind him.

With a light groan, he sat up in his chair, his back sort of stiff, and as the world around him solidified, he quickly noticed three things; he felt a little better than before – his headache was still present but he no longer felt hot and sluggish – there was a blanket around his shoulders, and behind him Luffy along with Usopp and Chopper were –

You're kidding me.

Visible eye widening, Sanji bristled with annoyance. "Hey, didn't I tell you three not to –"

He stopped and stared. The kitchen was practically sparkling; the dishes were gone, the counter-tops wiped, wet rags set to dry, and the floor polished well enough that Sanji could almost see his own reflection. And Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, having the time of their lives, were sliding all over the place, pairs of Usopp's spare socks on the feet as they flew across the room.

Sanji blinked. Had…had they…?

"Ah, Sanji, you're awake!" Luffy cried, sliding over to Sanji with a mile wide smile and placing one hand over his forehead. "Looks like your fever's gone down, that's good! Chopper's probably still gonna give you some medicine though, just in case."

Sanji stared uncomprehendingly at his captain. "Uh…did…did you three…?"

Luffy removed his hand and nodded proudly. "Yep! Me, Usopp and Chopper decided to clean up while you were sleeping, to say 'sorry for making you mad earlier'." Then he giggled. "Funny thing, though, Usopp polished the floor real good and now it's all slippery! If you're up to it, put on these fluffy socks and 'floor skate' with us!" He reached into the pocket of his pants and drew out a pair of pink socks, handing them over to a dumb-struck Sanji.

Sanji, at a loss for words, looked down at the socks in his hands, then at the pristine kitchen and Usopp and Chopper holding hands and spinning in a circle, and then at the boy he called captain.

He found himself smiling. The three morons could be a pain, a curse, but hell if he wasn't going to make them the best damn meal of their lives for this, however a simple act it had been.

"Idiots," he said, shrugging off the blanket on his shoulders and folding it up neatly before setting it on the table, and then he proceeded to take off his shoes, slipping on the pair of socks his captain had given him. "You call that 'floor skating'? Let me show you crappy posers how it's really done."

When Luffy grinned he lit up the whole room, and Sanji decided this part of the job as a Strawhat wasn't so bad after all.