[ he spends most of the hour preparing dinner, working at a steady pace in the kitchen while she travels to meet him. he’s so practiced at his craft that it’s easy to fall into a natural rhythm, and he does, which leaves him with a lot of time to think about her and how much he’s looking forward to tonight. maybe more than he should be? sanji isn’t really sure, because nights like these don’t come often to chefs or pirates, but he hopes she’s anticipating it as much as he is.

and while he doesn’t know precisely when she’s going to arrive, he does know roughly when she should be there and that makes timing things relatively easy. by the time she walks through the door, the rice is almost done cooking and a curry is simmering away on the stove. it’s a simple dish, but one that’s tasty and he has a lot of confidence in. there’s not much he needs to actively do, so when she knocks, he spins around and greets with a bright grin on his face. ]

We’re having curry tonight. [ he says, by way of explanation for the smell, and walks around the counter to greet her properly. despite his promises, they haven’t really crossed the line into intimacy yet, so he doesn’t kiss her, even though he wants to, at least a little, and gives her a quick little bow of his head instead. ] It’ll be ready in a few minutes. As soon as the rice is done. Have a seat and we can eat dinner and then… then we’ll enjoy ourselves some more, after.