[Action] HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUFFY!

[gourmet_gams]

[The Sunny is docked at a spring resort island that has a village within a short walking distance. It holds enough population for an easy access TRAVERSE point to be there, but isn't so crowded that it attracts large crowds of the rougher sort of people. The entire island is on the small side, but manages several decently bustling villages with restaurants and shops due to it's infamous spas. So there are options if somehow food runs out, no one will be without options as long as someone is willing to stop partying long enough to run out for more supplies.

And the plans are set for partying, there's enough food for every known Luffy in the contacts to enjoy and then the guests too, a treasure chest cake that is sized correctly and a whole hoard of cupcakes to go with it, fireworks planned for once darkness falls, live music, and enough alcohol to start up a liquor store and then some. Tents have been set up, tables arranged, and everything is ready for the celebration of the year.

Friends, allies, family and all Luffys have been sent the information to access the TRAVERSE point, and information on the islands location for those who wish to sail there instead of relying on the TRAVERSE SYSTEM. And no detail has been missed, no potential whim unseen to. Their treasured captain's birthday has to be perfection. And nothing less than outstanding and spectacular will be tolerated by the planning committee.

A future king deserves nothing but the best.]


((OOC: OPEN POST, Come celebrate, tag around, make toplevels, whatever. Time for one hell of a pirate party.]

Comments

[gourmet_gams]

[Sanji scans the crowd, and points at a distance to where Luffy is literally hanging on Ace. He's not surprised, they monopolize each other's time when they're together. And Sanji doesn't mind, if he had his mother back suddenly he's pretty sure that he'd be all but attached to her every time they were in contact.]

You'll get your toast. Another twenty minute of draping on him tops and then he'll come this way. [He eyes Zoro, and then thinks for a minute about if he really wants an opinion. It's going to end up an insult most likely, but dammit he wants some feedback. The food is phenomenal, it's indisputable. The drinks perfection. But he's never made a cake in this style before and while he's confident he wants someone else's ideas on the end result.] You've seen the cake? [He put both his younger counterpart and young Law to work on the desserts with him. He feels it's a man's responsibility to teach the younger generations important skills, and it doesn't hurt that he's been getting a lot more attention from his treasured ladies in their group now that he's taken on single parenting of... himself. That's never not going to feel a little awkward.]

[yourotherleft]

Cake?

[guess who thought it was a real treasure chest? Please point it out to him, this needs to be done]

[gourmet_gams]

[Sanji gestures over at the raised table it's on, with the cupcakes surrounding it.] There. How the hell did you miss it?

[yourotherleft]

That's a cake?

[to be fair, Zoro's hatred of chocolate means he usually glosses right over desserts - he looked at the cupcakes and gave the table a miss, assuming that the chest was a decoration. Real, but not real real, but certainly not a cake. So now he has to go back and look again, leaning closer until he can genuinely tell the difference]

...holy shit.

[gourmet_gams]

Only the best for our captain's birthday. [There is no way to describe the feeling of pride that Sanji is experiencing right now. He gets compliments on his work constantly, he knows he's talented. It's what he's here for. Everyone on the Sunny has a place and a job and his is in the kitchen. But when it's Zoro that's saying something like this, it's different. It means more, because they're not ones to play nicely as a rule. They have a strange friendship that lands more onto rivalry than anything else, they rub each other the wrong way, but Zoro is still his friend and crewmate.

So this really does make Sanji happy.

NOT THAT HE NEEDS A MAN'S OPINION TO MAKE HIM HAPPY. ESPECIALLY A SHITTY SWORDSMAN WITH AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM'S OPINION. ONLY THE LADIES OF THE CREWS LOVE IS NEEDED! ♥ ♥ ♥

But they always praise his work. So from Zoro, this is really something that makes an impact.]

[yourotherleft]

[well that's sure a thing. Zoro didn't know that you could make food look like treasure, so, yeah, good job there cook.

But it's still dessert. Bleargh.]

...what kinda cake is it?

[this is very important]

[gourmet_gams]

[He's puffed up a little over this, don't mind him.

Well, yeah. Looks are one thing. But if it doesn't taste amazing what's the point?] Summer island vanilla bean cake with a crème brûlée cheesecake filling and classic meringue buttercream.

[yourotherleft]

[....you're saying words, cook.]

So not chocolate, then.

[it still sounds excessively sweet but at least he'll sample a nibble of it later, as opposed to if it were chocolate. Just a smidge. Gotta watch his fighting figure after all]

You really did go all out, huh? [taking another gulp from the bottle] Watch Luffy faceplant into it and not even taste it as it goes down.

[gourmet_gams]

[He forgets sometimes that the bulk of Zoro's braincells were sacrificed for that muscle. Good thing Zoro is always willing to remind him.]

No chocolate. Not even on the outside. It's fondant. The cupcakes are flavored the same way. [Sanji sighs when Zoro talks about what Luffy is going to do to that beautiful cake. It's going to be food carnage, he inhales more than he eats and with this level of work it is a little upsetting on some level for him. But it's Luffy's birthday and he can eat it how he pleases. He'll serve the army's worth of cupcakes separately to the guests and leave the main cake for the birthday boy to maul and if anyone wants to fight him for it they can risk their hands getting bitten.] It's his cake to do with as he pleases. [There's a small sound of irritation, he's not sure he'll even be able to get the fondant off or cut it when it comes down to it. No food really has a chance with Luffy as an opponent.]

[yourotherleft]

[just fuckin' grins like the jerk he is, because he knows. He just knows the unspoken irritation in that little noise and the statement. Yeah, it's Luffy's, but the cook is going to still be pissed if his hard work goes unnoticed.]

One of these days you'll learn. [says the ass who doesn't help matters at all.] Anyway, take a load off, would you? It's done. Stop flitting around here like a drunken butterfly and enjoy the party.

[gourmet_gams]

[Sanji rolls his eyes hard, and huffs. He's trying to be nice, it's Luffy's damn birthday but he's stressed out and he's been working his ass off and Luffy won't even taste the cake he's just going to vacuum it inside of his giant gaping face-hole. Fuck. He really does put a lot of work into things when it won't mean anything in the end, but he can't help it. He just can't do less than his best. It'd be an insult to the food, his efforts, his training, and the people that he's serving.] Shut up. [He's more tired than angry, and he really wishes that he'd brought his own drink.] There's no much else to do right now anyway. They haven't run out of food yet.

[yourotherleft]

[Zoro has always figured that Sanji wouldn't sit down unless forced to, so he reaches out and snags his shirt collar with a finger, tugging him toward a picnic bench]

Then sit the hell down, cook. Geez.

[he draws the line at offering his bottle, though. No sharing of booze, not even with the guy who gave it to him in the first place]

[gourmet_gams]

Hey! Hands off! Only the ladies can push me around! [There's not that much protest outside of the expected thrown out for pride's sake. He's worn out and from the spot he's now seated at he gets a good look at not one but two Namis talking, and he can keep an eye on things pretty well from here too.

Eww he wouldn't accept it anyway. It's damaged goods now.

After a moment of looking around to make sure that he's not being stared at, Sanji pulls a small flask out of a pocket. He's not someone who drinks excessively but parenting is hard and so is getting a birthday party for multiple versions of their captain to come to fruition.

Bottoms up, maybe this will help his frazzled nerves.] Did you remember a gift?

[yourotherleft]

[oho, secret booze, is it, cook? Approved.]

No.

[might as well just say that flat out, I mean really. But when was the last time Zoro had his own pocket money for things like that?]

He wouldn't care one way or the other. As long as he has us. The fuck does he need, a new pair of sandals?

[gourmet_gams]

[For some it's liquid courage. For Sanji it's liquid calm.

Sanji is honestly relieved. He didn't think of it, didn't have time, it's been non-stop lately and getting out to shop for something besides food was near impossible. He doesn't feel too badly about it, but if Zoro had managed to get Luffy a gift and Sanji hadn't? He would have felt awful. He can't let the swordsman look better than him.]

I cooked. That's good enough. [He takes a long drag off of his cigarette, and exhales.] He's getting a present from Ace and whatever that is would outdo anything we could get anyway.

[yourotherleft]

Yeah, yeah, you did something and I did nothing except stay on the ship until we docked. Rub it in.

[oh, was that not a competition? Too late, he took it as one and now he's annoyed. Cook has a talent he can use, Zoro just exists. Not that Luffy would care about anything more than his existence but eh.]

I don't think any of us can top his brother being alive again. [huff] You talked to Ace, yet? I should, it's been a while.

[gourmet_gams]

Don't be an ass about it. I was working, and so were you. If something happens you're supposed to be ready. [He gets so damn mad at Zoro, but he's not going to even pretend that he's not useful. Zoro's work is more situational, but the Sunny and all who live on it expect his blades to be there if the need arises.] We both have our places here. So don't act like I'm lording it over you. Not today.

[Sanji nods at that. Luffy's world changed for the better when Ace came back.] I talk to him a couple of times weekly. He's taking lessons from me through the SmartSnail. [The lessons have been a fiasco. But he's not goimg to turn Ace down.]

[yourotherleft]

[yeah, yeah. Around here his "work" is even weirder but whatever. He won't argue.]

...lessons? Doing what? [wait no way] Are you teaching him to cook?

[gourmet_gams]

[Around 'here' throws off everything.]

He sent me a message asking for lessons. He wanted to learn how to make bentos. And we've kept going from there.

[yourotherleft]

Bentos.

[well, that's not so weird. Just something about Ace making them that brings up a mental image that makes him snort.]

Well, then. First time for everything, I guess? [draaaaank]

[gourmet_gams]

He burnt them at first. I didn't think anyone could burn rice. He's all about heat and he has little finesse. [Teaching Ace to cook has been a lesson in patience for both of them.] He's doing it for his sweetheart. Lucky bastard.

[Sanji is absolutely jealous, and he takes a drink out of his flask before continuing.] What kind of beauty do you think got caught up in his flames?

[He's jealous and ignorant. And he groans as he watches Ace play fighting with Luffy over a rack of ribs longer than either of them are tall.

How the hell is he still single when he knows that he's a superior masculine princely gentleman with standards and manners?!]

[yourotherleft]

[considering that all Zoro can do is sashimi - no cooking required! - he feels more for Ace than Sanji on that. Still.]

Sweetheart, huh? Who'da thought. [he finally stops strolling around with his bottle and flumps down next to Sanji on the bench] How do you know it's a girl?

[there's something about the way he asks, maybe the way he doesn't look Sanji's way as he says it, that suggests he's not just asking about Ace's specifics here]

1/3

[gourmet_gams]

What sweetheart could be anything but a woman? A man's loving heart reflects best when the beauty of a fair maiden compliments his strength and honor! And to compliment a man like Fire Fist Ace, she'd have to be soothing and gentle, a cool and stable force to tame the flames and keep him from burning out. That's how a man like Ace's romantic dreams would succeed best! And he's even making cute lunches for her! ♥ ♥ ♥

[Sanji's general default setting for romantic is always set to female, women come first in every aspect of everything. He's had a pedestal that he's been setting femininity on since his mother was alive, and Zeff only made that obsession with women and their status more dramatic for him.] I'll make far better lunches for whoever I end up with. My love will be as wide as the ocean, as fantastic as the stars above! I'll make them feel like they're above all others, the most loved, a princely partner like myself will serve their lover with nothing but the best food and romance!

2/3

[gourmet_gams]

[But then it hits him that he's never so much as seen Ace so much as look at a girl that wasn't directly speaking to him, and he doesn't let his eyes wander down their feminine forms. And he's got those studs in his mouth, and that...

Sounds distinctively like something a wild hearted woman would do to please a lover. Like in that romance novel he has, when the poor heroine is rejected for her prudish ways, and she still goes out of her way to try to please the cad that she desires. It doesn't sound like something that a man would do. At least a man that's interested in the fairer sex. Oh, fuck. And when he saw the post he had questions, but it's not like he connected the dots at all back then...

What if that special someone ISN'T A LADY AT ALL!? What if he's been teaching Ace to cook for a man, he doesn't know how to feel about that. And then it goes from that level of conflict and confusion to something worse.

Zoro's reaction has his attention, and he doesn't quite know know how to respond at first. But something is up, even Sanji can see that. How he won't really make eye contact has Sanji confused for a moment. Zoro doesn't act like that. And there's something in the way that he's speaking that has Sanji really taking this far more seriously than he would otherwise.

Fuck. What the hell does he do now?

His act as hyper-heterosexual is carefully cultivated and he's so scared of anything that might pull him even slightly out of the closet. He doesn't want his crewmates to judge him, and he'd normally latch on to something like that and run with it cruely. If he's mean about it, he's protecting himself and he'll seem more straight. And if he's the manliest, most straight and masculine man ever, then no one can hurt him and he's strong enough to be safe.

But Zoro seems serious and he's worth more than Sanji's messed up issues.]

3/3

[gourmet_gams]

[Sanji takes another long drink from the flask before answering. His hands are a little shaky, and he feels so nervous that he's a little nauseated. But this is important, and Zoro is fucking important. And this can't be ignored or mistreated.]

If it's a man, then it's a man. It's fine. [His voice is low, and the words are hard to get out.] I... [One more drink, this time he's just going to finish off the flask's contents entirely. He doesn't know how to handle this without using alcohol as a nice excuse if Zoro tries hurting him with this.] Everyone should experience love. A man's heart doesn't listen to his head, it chooses for him. And if-[Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.] If anyone I know has a man for a sweetheart, then I wish them well. [He's going to kick Zoro in the face if this turns into some sort of teasing game or argument. Hard.]