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Ever since the Red Haired Pirates had come to Foosha Village, even after closing hours, Party’s Bar had never seemed so empty before. While the party would probably still be carried on through the night after Makino cleaned up, she could still hear the faint notes of the music playing from afar. Looking through the windows of the bar, she could still see the pirates dancing about; most of them were so drunk by now and that they couldn’t stay standing on their own feet without support from someone else. The sight was a common occurrence every time they visited the island and later in the night, she usually kicked them all out to clean up.
She pushed all the tables to the side to sweep the floor, swaying to the tune being played outside. A forgotten hat laid on the stool next to Shanks’ usual seat; perhaps not forgotten— the old thing was never without its owner nearby. The floorboards creaked to her movement before making more noise under the footsteps of another person entering the bar.
“Did you forget something, Captain?” she asked, picking up the straw hat to hand to him. Taking it from her hand, he placed that hat’s string around his neck to hang off his back.
“I always know where I leave my hat, Makino.” Shanks laughed, a softer sound than she had ever expected to come from him. “Originally I had come back to see if you had needed any help cleaning up. The crew was a little rougher than usual in all the excitement.”
“It would never be anything I couldn’t handle.” She paused. “And besides, aren’t you missing out on your little party now? You are always the star of the show when you let them throw these wild parties until dawn.”
“Oh I’m sure they can carry on just fine without me. We both know that if anything ever got out of hand, Benn would stop it. He is my first mate for a reason.” He spoke as he moved to close the distance between them. Makino felt her stomach jump a little. Shanks offered his hand to her and she stared at it. “Makino, what do you say to a little bit of dancing?”
Makino frowned. Dancing? But before she had the chance to ask, Shanks grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her seat. Another song had started playing, and while it could only be faintly heard in the empty bar, it didn’t matter; it was as if they were both in their own personal fairytale. If anyone had walked in after that moment, neither would’ve been the wiser. Makino couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed since she had never danced with anyone like this before. He guided her movements into a paced dance, their bodies were not too close together but not too far apart either. Above, with the moon shining down on them through the windows, no lights were needed for them spinning circles around each other.
They moved their feet left and right, one foot at a time; in the dark, their bodies swayed back and forth. Shanks pulled her arm over her head as he spun her. Makino’s skirt fluttered about while they danced. From an outsider’s view, they would’ve looked a little clumsy as they spinned around each other. Yet, when Makino stepped on Shanks’ foot and was stammering an apology, she could see his eyes crinkle humor.
He grinned as he wrapped his arm around her elbow and motioned her to clasp his arm around hers to dance in a circle. As they skipped around in a circle moving clockwise and counterclockwise, switching their arms around to dance the other way, Makino couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous they probably looked. Shanks grabbed her hand to spin her and unexpectedly dipped her elegantly as a final act. She looked up at him with wide eyes. His smile adoring, Shanks said, “Thank you for humoring me with a dance.”
He pulled her back up and continued, “You know, you’re a pretty good dancer. Why don’t you ever join us when we’re dancing during the parties?”
A few weeks ago when she wasn’t used to him, she might’ve blushed at his compliment. “Well someone has to make sure your bunch doesn’t fall off the tables with that so called ‘dancing’ of theirs,” she joked.
Makino realized at this point that they were still so close and that her hands were still clasped in his. She looked up at him and laughed, “You really know how to make a girl feel special, Captain.”
“And here I thought we were close enough for you to be calling me by my name,” Shanks mused. “You know Makino, if someone had told me earlier that a beautiful woman would be humoring my request for a dance so late at night, I wouldn’t have believed them.”
She frowned looking at his eyes. And how many times have you used that line on women?
“You’re the only one.” He said. Makino froze— she didn’t realize she spoke her thoughts out loud. Shanks’ brows knit with a sudden thought and then he opened his mouth. “And here Benn thought I was dense. Maybe you’re even worse than me, Makino.”
They continued to look at each other when Shanks smiled and broke the silence.
“You’re so short, it’s absolutely adorable.” He murmured, trying to get a reaction out of her as he put his hand on her chin and lifted her face up. Even with him leaning down, she still wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down and closed her eyes. Makino stood on her toes to meet him in the middle.
The kiss was more tender than she was expecting and when they broke off, Shanks was just grinning down at her. He looks like a child whose mother handed him candy, she mused.
Makino laughed and pushed away from him, moving to walk out of the bar. “Well, unlike you Shanks, I do have a bar to manage and I open early in the morning.” She paused in front of the door and turned around, showing him a shy smile. “I’ll see you in the morning, Captain.”
Shanks rushed out of the bar after her. “You did it again!” He exclaimed. “Makino! You were just calling me by my name! What happened?”
The only reply he ended up getting was her laugh as she walked farther away from Party's Bar, moonlight beaming down where she left him.