Happy Birthday........ACE

#2

Sanji hummed as he walked through the ship corridor. It was that time of day again. The time to serve his gorgeous Nami-swan and Robin-chwan some of his excellent cooking.

"What should I make?" Sanji muttered, running his fingers through his small beard. "We had soufflé yesterday, so that's a no. Hm, sushi? Nah, we had that three days ago." Sanji let out a long drag of smoke before mumbling, "Salad? Nah, that shitty captain would beg for meat instead. So something with meat..." Sanji trailed off before he stopped at the kitchen door and opened it.

But when the cook went inside, he was greeted by the sight of Luffy and Usopp sprawled on the floor. The duo was measuring a huge piece of fabric and Luffy traced some messy and uneven lines that, Sanji assumed, was supposed to be a pattern. Circling the two was a range of materials and equipment that...weren't in a tidy position, so to say.

Sanji scowled at how dirty his kitchen was, but nonetheless his curiosity got the better of him. "What are you two idiots doing?"

Usopp and Luffy looked up from their work and finally noticed an additional member in the room. "Oh hi, Sanji!" Luffy greeted his cook with a grin.

"We're making a lantern." Usopp clarified to the blonde.

Sanji raised a swirly eyebrow. "Lantern? For what?"

"Luffy said he wants to do something tonight." Usopp stated, glancing at the boy.

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded eagerly.

"Why tonight?" Sanji asked as he walked closer to them. Truth be told, this was pretty unusual for Luffy. The blonde hadn't known that his captain liked lanterns. Well. they had never encountered a place with lanterns before, so that was understandable.

"Why?" Luffy repeated. The teenager pursed his lips in thought before he flashed Sanji a smile and replied, "Because, today's special!"

"Special?" Sanji said, puzzled. Then, he turned to see the calender on the wall. "Oh yeah. Today's the first day of the year, isn't it?"

For a brief moment, Sanji got no reply. The cook was confused at the silence and he turned around to ask Luffy again. But, Luffy wasn't looking at him. Instead he silently stared at the calendar, particularly at the number one in January.

Sanji was bemused at his captain's antics, but before he could say anything about it, Luffy let out his signature chuckle and turned to him with a grin. "Yup! That's right!"

Sanji stared at the boy with a doubtful expression. He glanced at Usopp to see if he knew what was going on, but the sniper merely shrugged. Deciding to put that matter aside for now, Sanji noticed the untidy floor around them and sighed. "You two can do this somewhere else, can't you?"

"Nope, the smell of food makes me more fired up!" Luffy clarified as if it was a fact.

"To tell you the truth, I was getting a bit hungry too." Usopp reasoned, sheepishly rubbing his stomach.

"You know that I can just bring the food down to the Usopp Factory." Sanji stated as he exhaled a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"No!" Luffy shook his head and pouted. "I want to eat here!"

Sanji stared at the duo and the mess they made, and began to consider his options. He'd never decline someone that was asking for food, but he could ask them to wait. Especially if that someone was making a mess like those two idiots here.

But, they were hungry. And, he probably won't have the time or energy to go down the lower deck to bring these guys food (unless if it were Nami-swan and Robin-chwan, of course).