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Usopp isn’t a poor kid anymore, scraping together a living off charity and odd jobs at the wharf and darning the same pair of overalls for the tenth time so he could visit Kaya without holes in his knees. He knows that. He reminds himself of that every damn day.
It’s just, sometimes, Sanji tells him to stack the plates a certain way or reminds him that salad forks exist and Usopp sees a flash of Kaya’s gold-rimmed teacups and immaculate dinner trays and he remembers how impossible it all is. It doesn’t matter if Usopp is a man or a woman: he was never going to be the kind of person that the pretty blonde with the perfect manners falls in love with.
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Sanji gives Usopp a lesson on fine dining etiquette. It would probably be easier to follow if Usopp’s insecurities didn’t keep interrupting so loudly.
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Ch1
Table Manners
MithrilWren
Summary:
Usopp isn’t a poor kid anymore, scraping together a living off charity and odd jobs at the wharf and darning the same pair of overalls for the tenth time so he could visit Kaya without holes in his knees. He knows that. He reminds himself of that every damn day. It’s just, sometimes, Sanji tells him to stack the plates a certain way or reminds him that salad forks exist and Usopp sees a flash of Kaya’s gold-rimmed teacups and immaculate dinner trays and he remembers how impossible it all is. It doesn’t matter if Usopp is a man or a woman: he was never going to be the kind of person that the pretty blonde with the perfect manners falls in love with. --- Sanji gives Usopp a lesson on fine dining etiquette. It would probably be easier to follow if Usopp’s insecurities didn’t keep interrupting so loudly. Notes:
Hello, I’m back with yet another niche character study involving Sanji, this time featuring Usopp! Something about their relationship in the anime is so compelling to me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it till I wrote something for them.
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See, there are some rules about the world that Usopp is still learning. He likes to think he’s a quick study—he’s kind of had to be, given he always seems to end up with the jobs nobody else wants—but weird things still catch him off guard: little details he’s never had a reason to notice, or care about. “Salad forks go on the outside, Usopp.” Just for example.
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“No, that’s not—not there—just let me do it.” Spoke too soon. Where Usopp is concerned, the well of potential mortification is absolutely bottomless.
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he’s forced to admit that he still doesn’t see what the difference is. “It’s something you get an eye for eventually,” Sanji says, barely looking up as he makes another correction. It’s not an insult, as much as Usopp wants to bristle like it is. Sanji’s just stating a fact. -There are rules for all of it, and he’s sure he could understand, if anyone had ever bothered to tell him— “Look... this is all wrong. Sit down—no, don’t touch—sit. I’ll show you again.” And so Usopp sits, cheeks burning with frustration, but unwilling to throw up his hands and walk out of Sanji’s private lesson. He probably should—he knows there’s an incredibly high chance he’ll never master this task to Sanji’s satisfaction no matter how many times he’s taught—but he doesn’t. See. That’s the real problem, it turns out. When it comes to Sanji, Usopp never seems to learn.
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Still... Usopp kind of hopes that even his shoddy attempts have relieved a little of Sanji’s workload. The others don’t seem to notice it, but he seems tired, a lot. It must be hard work feeding such a large crew, keeping their huge table spread with three meals a day big enough to feed eight at a time. (Sanji rarely eats with them, another subject that Usopp doesn’t know quite how to broach without getting his head bitten off, but anyway, he notices.)
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There really isn’t much difference between them, Usopp realises, when they stand face to face: a few inches of height, maybe, but not as much as he thought when they first met and he felt dwarfed by Sanji’s shadow. If he stood on tiptoes, they’d pretty much be at eye level. There’s no barrier between their bodies either: nothing physical to stop Usopp from moving into Sanji’s space. But there never was, was there? It’s hard to tell when the whole world keeps telling you what invisible windows aren’t yours to climb through. It never occurred to Usopp until today that he might not be the only one living in a cage of glass. Maybe nobody ever opened a window for Sanji, like Kaya did for Usopp. Maybe nobody told him that sometimes you need to have the courage to tap on the glass yourself, just in case someone’s waiting on the other side to let you in. Sanji hasn’t pushed him away yet, but he’s still shivering like that squirrel on the branch, not sure yet if the boy with the slingshot is a hunter or a friend. Usopp can’t deny that he’s a bit scared too, but of the two of them, he’s pretty sure he’s the one with more experience forcing himself to move while terrified. It’s basically his whole life. So if someone’s going to take that first step, he realises with a nauseating jolt, it’s going to have to be him. Well, at least if he’s read the room wrong and Sanji kills him for this, he’ll know he died slightly less of a coward than he was yesterday. Usopp leans forward. Sanji abandons the cigarette and scrunches back against the counter, eyes widening. “What are you doing?” he says, and Usopp is so close he can taste the sudden panic on his breath. “What you can’t,” Usopp says, and the line is a little more trembly and a little less effortlessly cool than he wanted it to be but he can’t worry about that now because he’s too busy making sure he doesn’t miss Sanji’s lips when he kisses him. -
Bookmark Notes:
Top tier characterization on both Sanji and Usopp
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Table Manners by MithrilWren
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Work/Series Details
Published: 2024-07-11
Work/Series ID: 57283375Relationship Tags:
Work/Series Summary:
Usopp isn’t a poor kid anymore, scraping together a living off charity and odd jobs at the wharf and darning the same pair of overalls for the tenth time so he could visit Kaya without holes in his knees. He knows that. He reminds himself of that every damn day.
It’s just, sometimes, Sanji tells him to stack the plates a certain way or reminds him that salad forks exist and Usopp sees a flash of Kaya’s gold-rimmed teacups and immaculate dinner trays and he remembers how impossible it all is. It doesn’t matter if Usopp is a man or a woman: he was never going to be the kind of person that the pretty blonde with the perfect manners falls in love with.
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Sanji gives Usopp a lesson on fine dining etiquette. It would probably be easier to follow if Usopp’s insecurities didn’t keep interrupting so loudly.
(Approximate) Last Read: 2025/07/28
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