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vannahfanfics · 2 years

Text

Hunger

Word Count: 4,400

Fluff, Romance, Comedy, Established Relationship

Summary: It has been one year since Nami and Sanji started dating. All they want is to have a few precious moments together to celebrate this, but Luffy and his voracious appetite keep interrupting. At this rate, Nami is going to pull her hair out from the frustration. Is one kiss too much to ask for?!

Hello, everyone! Here is my story for the @opreversebang! I had a great time working with my partner @natsudorkoneel, so be sure to check out their art! I hope you enjoy this wonderful bit of SanNami fluff! <3

The scent of his morning cigarette still lingered on his clothes, the acrid smell filling Nami’s nose as she breathed him in; but it wasn’t just cigarettes—he smelled like spices and herbs and sea salt, too. The blond stubble adorning his chin was scratchy and rough under Nami’s fingertips, but she loved the way it felt against her hands, her cheek, her lips. His eyes twinkled like the light refracting off the sea, glittering just as much as Nami’s own chestnut orbs. Slowly, as if pulled by a magnet, their faces leaned in toward one another…

“Sanjiiiiiiii!”

Nami and Sanji sprang apart as Luffy came barging out of the mess hall. He looked like a hulking ape—back hunched, steam billowing from his flaring nostrils, lips scowled, arms poised in a fighting stance. He stamped his feet against the floor, the flat soles of his flip-flops making loud slap-slap-slaps of indignance.

“Sanji, come on! What’s taking you so long? It’s time for breakfast, and I’m starving!” their captain ranted. He paraded in a circle around the cook, snorting and grunting all the while. Nami and Sanji both heaved simultaneous sighs; even acquiring the mantle of Pirate King hadn’t matured Luffy in the slightest. He still threw his childish tantrums, particularly when it came to food.

“All right, all right! I’m going to get it right now!” Sanji snapped. Nami could see the vein bulging on his forehead, and so she wasn’t surprised when she heard the sharp click of his lighter. Sanji stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up, sucking down the nicotine-laden smoke greedily. “Stop throwin’ a fit already!” he grumbled, smoke billowing out of his lips. He turned on his heel to stomp off to the kitchen. Luffy, not satisfied with leaving him to his devices, shambled after him with his shoulders still hunched to his ears in displeasure.

Nami stayed behind, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall of the hallway with a sigh.

“So much for an anniversary good morning kiss,” she said wistfully.

Sanji and Nami had been dating for a year now. Everyone on board knew, and though the Straw Hats loved celebrations, a dating anniversary wasn’t exactly something you planned a whole crew party for. Nami and Sanji had decided to keep the day low-key, preferring to simply celebrate it themselves… Or so they had hoped. More than an hour into the day, yet the two had been able to do much more than steal glances at one another because the ship was rowdier than ever.

Nami had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the lovey-dovey anniversary that she had been hoping for. Yet she smiled softly as Sanji came walking back down the hallway, arms laden with freshly-cooked breakfast foods and Luffy yapping at his heels like a deranged mutt. Maybe their ship was chaotic, but it was what had brought them together.

She’d learned to think on the bright side of things, lest her high blood pressure lead her to bust an artery.

Sanji cast her an apologetic glance as he passed her. “Later,” he mouthed, winking at her as he kicked the door open. Nami smirked at his open flirtatiousness, then indulged him in a wink and a blown kiss back. Sanji’s cool façade immediately crumbled. His body flushed instantly, sweating blooming on his reddened skin, and he let out a few excited pants. Nami hadn’t meant anything mischievous, of course; he just got so excited when she was affectionate with him, even after all this time. He ate up her adorations, and she had plenty to give.

I just hope I get an opportunity today! She thought with an inward groan as she walked into the mess hall after him. Surely, they could find some time to themselves in the span of twenty-four hours.

Right?

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Nami liked the sound of her shears cleaving through the little twigs of her orange trees. Such a clean sound; she felt like in pruning her orange trees, she was pruning herself too, snipping off all her anxieties and worries to leave herself renewed. The little pieces of twigs and leaves piled into the soil, joining their half-composed brethren in the endless cycle of life and decay. Nami’s nose was filled with the scent of loamy earth and citrus, but in the back of her mind lurked that smell of smoke and spices.

He’s been busy all day, she thought with a sigh, pulling aside one of her plants so that she could pout down at the grassy lawn of the ship. All of her crewmates were piled there, embroiled in a hot-blooded and raucous dice game that had started after breakfast. A long one, too, that had a high point threshold to win and locked everyone in for a good while. When it had finally ended, Nami had hoped she and Sanji could escape for some time alone. Alas, Luffy’s stomach reared its ugly head again, and the poor cook had to shamble off to the kitchen to prepare lunch. To take her mind off the fact that she was not enjoying their anniversary, Nami had decided to do her own chores for the day.

Considering that she was staring longingly at the slightly-ajar kitchen door, her efforts had not borne fruit.

Nami closed her eyes and let go of the tree, allowing it to spring back into place. Sanji’s kitchen was his safe haven and cooking his relief. Even for all her neediness, she never went in there and bothered him when he was cooking. It was another love, a love she had to make room for, and she knew that. Still, it was hard not to get at least a little bitter over the fact that her captain’s insatiable appetite made it damn near impossible for her to get any alone time with Sanji, He was always in the kitchen!

I shouldn’t get too worked up about it, she reminded herself. There’s still plenty of time left in the day. I just need to be patient. Nami had played many long games in her life, and this was yet another. She sucked in a breath, allowing the scent of citrus to flood her body and drive the last bit of restlessness from it. When she opened her eyes, they were gleaming with determination. She resumed pruning her trees with gusto, eager to keep herself from wallowing in self-pity for the rest of the day and focus on being productive.

Instead of being irritated by her crewmate’s laughter riding the salty wind up to her ears, she redirected her feelings to those of joy. She reminded herself again that this ship and this crew was what brought her and Sanji together, and so there was no reason for her to feel spiteful that it was taking up his time. We shouldn’t be more devoted to each other than to the people who brought us together in the first place. We don’t need a whole day to ourselves. Those few precious moments are plenty.

By dinnertime, Nami’s patience was worn as thin as paper, as she had yet to experience even one of those “few precious moments” she had talked herself into thinking would eventually come.

The cup of pens and pencils on her desk rattled as she repeatedly banged her forehead against the wood. Eventually, it tipped over and spilled the writing utensils over the map she had been working on. They rolled over the painstakingly drawn curvy altitude lines before continuing onto the wood, filling the air with repetitive tack-tack-tack-tacks before diving off the edge and landing on the floor with several light thunks. Nami didn’t even raise her head to retrieve them; she had abandoned herself to wallowing now because wallowing felt so much better than tricking herself into being optimistic.

She dragged her head up with a long groan after pressing her head into the desk for several minutes. The map stuck to the oils on her forehead, but gravity swiftly pulled it down, sending it fluttering down to the desk. She just blankly followed it with a listless gaze until it came to rest back onto her desk. Then, she pushed it away from her with a disgusted sigh and rested her forearms on the table so she could flop her head back down.

Nami had thought that after lunch, she would finally be able to get a few moments alone with Sanji. However, just as she was approaching him from across their mess hall, Luffy and Usopp hauled him away for a spot of afternoon fishing. Nami had instantly deflated, even with Sanji tossing apologetic glances over his shoulder in-between trying futilely to escape the clutches of the two earnest fishermen. Nami, determined not to let the frustrations of the day ruin her mood for when they finally got to be together, decided to treat herself to an afternoon bath.

After emerging from the bathroom fresh, clean, and smelling of her homemade tangerine soap, the three boys were wrapping up their afternoon fishing sensation. Nami didn’t even care that he smelled like raw fish; she had zoomed right up to him, batting her eyelashes demurely as she went in for a kiss. Her lips met only open air, as Sanji had been yanked away by the bank of his shirt by Zoro, who was challenging him to a contest of breaking a series of large rocks which served as the grim remains of a long-eroded archipelago. Nami nearly screamed, but she managed to suppress it by biting her tongue and clenching her teeth so that a very high-pitched whine was the only thing that slipped free. She clenched her shirt to avoid ripping out her hair, and she could only watch helplessly as Zoro easily riled up her boyfriend enough for him to forget how desperately they had been attempting to get five minutes together all day.

Though she was close to having a stroke from the sheer frustration of it all, Nami once again tried to maintain her optimistic attitude. There was still plenty of time left in the day, after all. Come sunset, the excitable personalities of the ship would begin winding down. Even Luffy didn’t have boundless energy; as soon as his tummy was full, he would go stretch out on the bulkhead of the ship to watch the starlight play over the sloshing waves before being lulled into a gentle snooze. Usopp would join Franky in their workshop, for they always experienced their “eureka moments” at night, or so they said. Yes, all the distractions would be removed, and Nami and Sanji would finally be able to celebrate their relationship.

Still, though Nami liked to pretend herself a paragon of patience, she could only play the long game with certain things—and showering her beloved boyfriend in affection was not one of them. She longed to tease the silky strands of his blond hair between her fingers, to feel the stubble of his beard scratching against the soft skin of her cheek as she nuzzled him, to be surrounded by his intoxicating aroma of smoke and spices. She replayed their little hallway rendezvous from the morning over and over in her mind; though also interrupted, it was the closest she had gotten to him all day. Her skin tingled with the memory of his touch, her ears rang with the rumble of his sweet nothings, her heart fluttered with the vision of his eyes sparkling with pure adoration. She was pretty much dangling a treat on a rope in front of herself, with no chance of snagging it—but she couldn’t help it! The waiting was agonizing.

The smell of beef stew wafting into her half-ajar doorway eventually led her to peel herself away from her desk. If she could smell the food, then it meant dinner was almost ready. Yet her steps were not swift with excitement, nor hurried by anticipation; no, it felt like her legs were weighted down by ten-ton weights. She practically dragged herself down to the galley. It seemed that the multiple failures had conditioned her, and her body was just preparing itself for another crushing disappointment. Her poor little heart couldn’t even muster a flip when she clapped eyes on him, the way his toned muscles flexed as he distributed the heaping plates of food across the long wooden table.

It seemed that Nami had become so starved that she wasn’t even hungry anymore.

“Ah, Nami-swan—” Sanji started to say as soon as he saw her. His eyes illuminated with delight; it seemed he still held out hope. Just as his excitement was beginning to infect her, prompting her to crack the teensiest of smiles, the illusion of happiness was promptly shattered. Luffy came bounding past her with an animalistic howl, hopping onto the table on all fours to drool over the ceramic pot of beef stew placed in the center of the table.

“God, damn it, Luffy! Don’t you have even a shred of patience or dignity?” Sanji barked. He hurriedly clapped his hand in Luffy’s face to forcibly shive it away, just in time to prevent a big glob of Luffy’s slobber from dripping down into the stew. “You’ll get some when you get some! Now sit in the chair like a decent human being, or I’ll serve you last!”

There was something different about the way Sanji yelled at him; Luffy and Nami could both feel it. With a whimper, like a dog that had been whipped, Luffy just slunk obediently off the table and into a chair without even a peep of protest. He stared up at Sanji with big, petulant eyes; he was probably wracking his poor little brain trying to riddle out what he had done to make Sanji snap at him so. There was real anger behind the cook’s words, not just mild irritation like usual.

Sanji huffed and pushed his hand into his hair. His jaw clenched tight, crushing the cigarette between his teeth and causing ashes to rain down onto the table. The last of his patience had snapped, leaving him a frayed and sparking live wire. He wanted time alone with Nami just as much as she wanted time alone with him, and the fact that he hadn’t gotten but a shred of it all day was finally beginning to weigh on him, too.

Yet what could they do? The crew filed into the galley, blissfully unaware of anything amiss. Sanji muttered to himself under his breath while he finished distributing the food, while Luffy just watched him apprehensively to see if he would really follow through with his threat. But his anxiety dissipated as soon as Sanji plopped a plate of food down in front of him, his usual zeal returning; he began wolfing it down, praising Sanji in-between blabbers of their adventures and what he wanted to do tomorrow.

Luffy thought everything was fine, that Sanji was just uncharacteristically stressed. But Nami could see past the façade. She could see the tension in his face when he smiled at everyone’s praise. She could hear the tightness in his laughs, the clips in his words. She could see the light dimmed in his eyes, only brightening into a desperate inferno when his gaze flickered to her.

Starving, he was starving, and not for the food in front of them. Sanji was a rope stretched too painfully thin, and one more wrench in their plans was going to make him snap.

Nami pitied the poor fool that made it happen, but at this point, she didn’t even care if he took out his rage and on who. She couldn’t stand it anymore.

And of course it was Luffy.

“Hey, Sanji! So what’s for dessert?” Luffy asked, though he still had half a chicken leg sticking out of his mouth.

Despite the overwhelming din of conversation, the sound of the wooden mug splintering was deafening. Sanji flexed his hand, dislodging the lingering splinters from his wine-soaked skin. The red liquid streamed down his hand, puddling on the table and staining the white cuff of his dress shirt. Though a smile danced on his lips, it was malicious, punctuated by the burning tip of his cigarette.

“Luffy.” The word was short, clipped, dangerous. The room was silent now, dead silent, and so they could all clearly hear their captain gulp loudly. “I am not making dessert for the crew tonight. Do you want to know why?”

The terrified look in Luffy’s eyes clearly indicated that he did not, but apparently he was even more scared of not answering Sanji, so he meekly squeaked out a small, “Why?”

“Because today is Nami-swan and I’s anniversary!” Everyone in the room jumped, even Nami, when Sanji abruptly stood up so fast that the chair fell over behind him. He slammed his hands down on the table and bit down so hard on the cigarette that it actually snapped in half. “So no, I am not going to make anything else for you, because I have been catering to everyone else all day and I am tired of having to keep Nami waiting!”

“In fact—” He jerked away from the table and stalked over to Nami, grabbing her by the wrist to pull her up from her seat. She let out a small gasp, mostly from excitement than fright. “We are going to get some well-earned private time. The rest of you can clean up the mess hall for a change!”

And with that, Sanji marched her right out of the room. Despite his angry rant, he dragged her up the stairs to the upper deck of the ship, steering her into the kitchen. He slammed the door shut behind him and flipped the lock, then slammed both his fists up against the metal door. It was then that the balloon of frustration inside him burst, and he breathed it all out with one long, heavy sigh. Nami cautiously approached him, hesitantly placing her hands on his shoulders to begin massaging into the tense muscles.

“It’s all right,” she cooed soothingly. Sanji melted into her touch, his head tipping back with a small groan and a flutter of his lashes. “No one will bother us now.”

“God, I thought I was going to go insane,” he groaned. He indulged himself in her touch for a few moments, but soon he could not stand the fact that he was facing away from her. As he turned around, his hands made a home on her waist. Nami responded in kind by sliding her hands up to cup both sides of his neck. She could feel the pulses pounding against her palm, the blood rushing through his arteries with the lingering effects of the adrenaline, persisted by the fact that they were finally alone together.

Sanji wasted no time in sweeping her up in a kiss. She unabashedly moaned into it, so grateful to finally taste the sweetness of him on her lips; smoked spices dancing on her tongue, filling her up like a cloud to make her mind hazy and her knees weak. They kissed again and again and again, trying to make up for each one they had missed throughout the day. They finally broke apart when their hunger for air overtook their hunger from one another, but Nami still licked her kiss-swollen lips, eager for that last little tantalizing taste of him to sizzle on her tongue.

Nami was surprised when Sanji’s gaze flickered somewhere off to the side. Confused, she turned her head to follow it; on the counter was a surprisingly messy array of baking supplies, bowls of batter and whipped cream and peeled fruit, and a half-made cake.

“Sanji…?” she wondered aloud, turning back to him with moonish eyes. A blush colored his cheeks as he shrugged, his smile turning bashful and resigned.

“I was spending so much time in the kitchen today that I figured I would try to make us an anniversary cake… But even that kept getting interrupted. I’m sorry, Nami-swan.” His shoulders sagged with the weight of his guilt, so heavy that it hauled his mournful gaze to the floor. “I wanted to make our first dating anniversary something special… But it turned out to be quite a mess, huh? I should have put up more of a fight for your time…”

“No, it’s okay,” Nami said, and he peered up at her through his lashes, looking a little hopeful at the genuineness in her voice. And she was genuine. She placed the tip of her index finger under his chin, pulling up his face so she could look him in the eyes. “Being a Straw Hat is all about the chaos, right? Nothing is ever going to go according to plan. Even if the moments I get to spend with you are briefer than moments other people get to have, I still treasure them very much. All that matters to me is that you’ve been thinking about me all day. Just like I have been about you.”

Sanji’s smile widened—that cute little boyish smile where he was trying to hide how happy he was but totally failing. Nami leaned in to press a sweet, lingering kiss to his lips—nothing hungry and passionate like before, but no less full of feeling. When she pulled back, she stepped away fully, her hands sliding down the planes of his chest to drop down to his hands. She curled in her fingers, then tugged against his.

“We have all the time in the world now. So let’s spend it by making that cake, huh?”

“Are you sure?” Sanji blinked in surprise. “I know you can cook, Nami, but I sure that there are plenty of other things that you wanted to do… Go walk around the ship, or look at the stars, or—”

“Nope,” she said with a shake of her head. “Not at all. I want to bake this cake with you.”

“... All right,” he agreed, his expression falling into one of pure and utter hopeless adoration. She could tell that he was exceptionally happy that she wanted to share in something that he loved so much. And Nami did. She knew she was the only one who could get this close. No one else could share this space with Sanji, not like this—standing right next to one another, elbows bumping as they stirred bowls of batter and whipped cream, their laughter mingling in the air with the aromas of sweet cake and tart oranges, their hands tracing patterns of icing over bits of exposed skin when the other wasn’t looking.

Nami never bothered Sanji when he was cooking, save for the few precious moments that he invited her in. She knew it was a love that she had to make room for, but it was a love that he was also willing to share with her. And so she did make room for it, but room to grow inside of herself as well, to grow into a love of her own. A love of watching their joint effort grow into something beautiful, something borne of passion and love shared.

“It’s so pretty I almost don’t want to eat it,” Nami remarked as she surveyed their handiwork. What was once a handful of ingredients was now a beautiful multi-tiered orange sponge cake, smothered in decadent vanilla frosting and adorned with orange slices. Sanji stood next to her with his arms crossed, a proud smile dancing over his lips.

“Ah, but trying it is the best part!” Sanji said. He grabbed a fork, scooping up a bit of the cake and icing before holding it to her lips. Nami’s eyes glittered as she slowly opened her mouth, making a show of pulling the cake onto her tongue and swirling around the icing.

“Mmmmmmmm,” she hummed loudly as she let it dissolve on her tongue. It wasn’t just to tease, either; Sanji’s food was always delicious, but especially his baking.

“You’re a minx,” he laughed. She fluttered her eyelashes at him. And just as the romantic mood began to simmer around them with a quiet heat…

A loud, rumbling growl bled through the thick wood of the kitchen door.

Sanji and Nami both turned around to look at it with identical expressions of confusion. Their frowns quickly morphed into smirks of realization.

“... Luffy?” Nami called. Though there was a period of silence, she could hear his clothes rustling as he fidgeted outside. “Luffy, we know you’re there.”

“... No I’m not.”

“Luffy!” she laughed. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry!” he whined loudly. “I wanted to be good, but… Ugh, it just smelled so awesome! So I just thought I would sit out here and just, just smell it, but, ugh, I’m so hungry!”

“He’s hopeless,” Sanji laughed, then walked across the room. He flipped the lock and opened the door to be greeted by the most pitiful-looking Luffy they had ever seen. He was sitting on his knees on the floor, hands resting on his lap and genuine tears welling up in his eyes as he wrestled with his conscience and his yowling stomach.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to ruin your anniversary,” he pouted as the big, fat tears slipped free to roll down his ruddy cheeks.

“You didn’t ruin anything, Luffy,” Sanji chuckled reassuringly. “In fact, Nami-swan and I were just thinking…” Nami couldn’t help but cover a snicker with her hand at how Luffy perked up, just like a puppy being told it may get a treat. “We made way too much cake. We should probably share it, yeah?”

“Y-yeah! … Only if you want to, though.”

Oh, he’s trying so hard! Nami thought with another giggle.

“Oh, just go get a piece, will you? But you’d better leave some for me and Nami,” Sanji sighed contentedly, stepping to the side. Luffy zoomed into the kitchen so fast that there was a dust cloud in the shape of him floating where he’d been sitting. While he hopped onto the counter to begin gobbling down the cake, Nami walked over to Sanji, winding her arms loosely around his hips and pressing her face into his chest.

After all, she could never truly be satiated. She was always hungry for these precious little moments, no matter how many of them they shared.

Did you enjoy this oneshot? Consider requesting from me by visiting my rules, then either commenting on this story, submitting an ask, or contacting me via DM!

#sannami #sanami #one piece #sanji x nami #nami x sanji

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