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The little eggplant is weird.
He yells, he curses, he stares down pirates and starts fights he’s got no way of winning.
He’s a scaredy cat who still looks at Zeff like he’s afraid he’s going to leave him behind every time he makes a mistake.
When Zeff insults his dishes, the boy argues with him for an hour and pouts for a day, threatening to leave and go somewhere where his skills will be recognized. He’s brazen and arrogant and has no trouble meeting Zeff insult by insult.
Everytime Zeff pats his head, the boy freezes and seems torn between leaning into it and running away as fast as possible. He’s timid and unsure and holds himself back, like he doesn’t think he’s allowed to return the gesture.
It’s confusing.
How can a boy be so brave and confident and so shy and unsure at the same time?
So Zeff watches. And Zeff notices. And Zeff remembers.
Sanji is confident in his cooking skills, and rightly so, much as it pains Zeff to admit it.
He’s sure of his work ethic and he’s starting to trust his fighting skills now that he’s realized that Zeff doesn’t expect him to master everything on the first try.
And Sanji loves being helpful. He’s always finding things to do, be it in the kitchen or outside. He tries to shoulder every duty, fulfill any expectation. And he doesn’t allow himself to rest.
That’s why Zeff doesn’t say much when his, extremely young, charge starts smoking. Yes, it’s an awful habit which is probably going to wreck Sanji’s health and, most importantly for a cook, his taste buds. But it at least gives the boy an excuse to take five minute breaks every now and again.
He always makes sure to work twice as hard when he comes back, like he’s trying to make up for the wasted time.
It’s frustrating.
Zeff knows how to deal with people who slack off but he has no idea what to do when it’s the other way around.
He tries to force the little eggplant to take a couple days off and Sanji doesn’t speak to him for a week.
He still comes to work every day, including during his supposed vacations.
“You’d mess everything up if I wasn’t here to prevent it,” the cheeky brat explains when he finally deigns to address Zeff again.
Zeff obviously denies it loudly and fervently but he takes note of the almost feverish look on Sanji’s eyes when he says it.
The little eggplant wants to be needed.
He needs to be needed.
And he’s terrified Zeff will realize that he’s actually a burden.
Zeff tries compliments first. It doesn’t work.
Sanji blushes, then pales, then looks at Zeff like he thinks he’s been made fun of. Worse, the little eggplant spends the rest of the day sneaking glances, like he’s expecting Zeff to do something nasty, and he only relaxes when Zeff points out that he’s over-salted the soup. They fall into their familiar squabbling and things return to normal.
Compliments are out, so Zeff decides to take the other route: prove to Sanji that he isn’t needed but it’s fine if he stays anyway.
He nickpicks the food the little eggplant makes and Sanji flourishes, arguing and improving at a neck-break phase. The boy’s a genius and already a better cook than half the bastards running around and claiming the title of chef.
Zeff complains about Sanji always hovering around him and the brat has the gall of making it seem like he’s doing it for Zeff’s sake, like he’s a doddering old man that needs assistance!
Sanji sticks even closer after that, with a smirk that makes it seem like it’s done out of spite but Zeff can see the way the little eggplant leans into any headpat or the way he brightens up everytime Zeff purposely includes him in what he’s doing.
He calls Sanji’s kicks weak once. He doesn’t do it again.
Just like in cooking, Sanji takes that comment as a prod to improve. Unlike with cooking, he trains with desperation, almost getting himself hurt in the process.
Zeff calls him an idiot for it. Tells him that he cannot afford to injure himself when he’s supposed to be working in his restaurant. One crippled cook is more than enough thank you very much. Sanji never overdoes it again after that, he knows where his priorities lay. And Zeff adds ‘weak’ to the list of words he never utters in front of Sanji.
When the restaurant grows too big for just the two of them, Zeff allows Sanji to help with the hiring of new cooks. He tells the boy it’s because it’s too boring but Sanji seems to glow at having been trusted with such a responsibility.
Sanji’s got good eyes, all the new cooks respect Zeff and know their way around the kitchen. Too bad that the boy forgot to also ensure they would be okay with having a sous-chef that still hasn’t hit puberty.
One of the new cooks complains loudly and Zeff has to refrain himself from kicking him. This is the kind of fight Sanji can handle, he reminds himself. And Sanji does handle it. He insults back, he performs flawlessly and he smugly points out any mistakes the other cook does.
Then the cook calls Sanji ‘useless little shit’ and the boy goes pale.
That’s when Zeff intervenes.
He sets up a cooking contest with all the cooks as judges, himself, Sanji and the soon to be sacked imbecile included.
The moron gets to pick the recipe. It doesn’t help him.
Sanji gets all the votes, including his opponent’s who still has some integrity it seems. Then again, the difference between the dishes he and the eggplant present is so vast that it probably would have been more humiliating if he had voted for himself.
Zeff ensures the bastard is off his property that very same night and goes have a word with the rest of the staff once Sanji’s gone to bed. Next morning only Patty and Carne remain and Zeff decides that it’s worth learning their names. They tease Sanji but they follow his orders when it matters and they never cross the line.
When Sanji presents him with a second batch of hopeful applicants, Zeff asks Patty and Carne to give them a second interview. Sanji pouts, says that’s unnecessary, that he’d already made sure all the candidates were up to scratch. Zeff ignores him and allows Patty and Carne to veto three quarter parts of the new hires. He’s pleased to see that they understood their assignment. No other cook in the Baratie ever makes Sanji truly upset again.