Chapter Text
Sometimes it felt like the universe had a very strange sense of humour, how else would the 3 men currently sat in a closed restaurant have every been deemed suitable of raising children? And how else would that same universe manage to bring the 3 together despite having nothing in common besides the acquisition of said children. Someone who believed in things such as fate may have considered it to be some divine intervention an act of balancing out the ridiculous of allowing them to become parents by also drawing them together to aid and support one another. Not that they would all agree that working together really was a help, if you were to ask any of the 3 men individually they would likely only insult the other 2 and the entire idea of their alliance, and yet they still met up on a regular basis and would still call one another whenever their children were in (or causing) trouble.
There was very little that the 3 seemed to agree on in life, and the little that they did agree on they would rarely express. If anyone was to watch these meetings of the 3 parents they would be forgiven for believing that the 3 gated one another, or at the very least that they were anything but friends. Between the way that Zeff would constantly swear and gripe about the other two, and the way he would explode with anger over very little, the way Mihawk would sit silently slightly away from the other two watching with a bored expression and only passing comment when he felt it was absolutely necessary, and the way that Shanks looked like he wasn’t even paying attention half the time and seemed to refuse to take anything seriously. Yes the 3 certainly made a strange sight.
Todays topic of conversation was Luffy. A few weeks ago Luffy had visited the restaurant and through a series of events that honestly Zeff couldn’t figure out had caused damage to the rooms upstairs where Zeff and a few members of staff lived. After yelling at and threatening the teen, who didn’t seem to understand what the big deal was, they had come to an agreement – well less an agreement and more Zeff laying down the law and Luffy having little choice – that Luffy would work at the restaurant to both pay off the damage and learn some responsibility. Unfortunately it had turned out hat Luffy was a terrible employee. Even when Zeff had put Sanji in charge of keeping Luffy in line it hadn’t helped, even when Zeff had threatened to fillet the child it hadn’t helped, and then when Zeff had phoned Shanks to yell about the shitty chore boy Shanks had the nerve to laugh! So suffice to say things were tense in the restaurant that night.
For all their differences there were a few things that both Zeff and Shanks had in common, and one of these was stubbornness. Granted Zeff’s form of stubbornness may be more obvious, he was loud and full of passion, even those who did not know him could tell that he was no someone to ever have an argument with. But Shanks was also a stubborn and determined person, especially when it came to things involving Ace and Luffy. It may seem like the red headed man never took anything seriously, like he floated through life finding the fun and amusement in everything, but when the safety or happiness of those he cared about were at stake his attitude could do a full 180. He didn’t believe in the level of strictness and control that his two friends did when it came to the kids, he felt that they were still young and should be allowed to make mistakes, explore, adventure, and have fun. On the one hand he could see Zeff’s point, Luffy had caused trouble for the man and as such Luffy needed to make things right. But he also felt that maybe, just maybe, Zeff had unreasonably high standards that no one (not even the guys own son) could live up to, and that maybe Zeff needed to learn to lighten up. All this stressing and shouting couldn’t be good for the guys blood pressure.
Zeff just wanted Shanks to take things seriously for once. Talk to his shitty kid and get the chore boy to actually do his damn job. He didn’t want to say that Shanks not taking things seriously may have rubbed off on the young teen, but secretly he very much felt that this was the case. Shanks needed to step up and show some responsibility and maybe give Luffy a stern talking to. He also knew that this was unlikely to happen, that Luffy would turn up to his next shift and cause yet more chaos to his restaurant. That Sanji would try his best to keep his friend under control. But Luffy would turn up and would try, for all the chaotic and undirected energy that the kid practically vibrated with he was a good kid and really did try his best. Not that he would ever tell Shanks that though.
Mihawk just wanted the two to shut up so he could drink his wine in place and go home. Sometimes he found the two arguing amusing, but today it was just irritating. If he could have snuck out without the focus moving onto him he would have. Though secretly he did enjoy knowing that all the kids, including his own, could count on not only each other but the 3 adults to defend and protect them. Before his children came into his life he never thought that caring for another person, even within his own mind, would be possible. Yet here he was. He was just glad that only one of his kids was difficult, he rarely had these sorts of problems with Perona. He smiled at himself as he realised that maybe this meant he’d won. He’d have to point this out to the other 2 once their current shouting match ended.
The universe certainly had a terrible sense of humour in not only pulling these 3 men together but also in making them parents. But maybe the universe also knew what it was doing and in some twisted way had given them all something they didn’t even realise that they needed.