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“Your pick-up lines are atrocious,” Mihawk complained after being subjected to yet another bout of Shanks’ attempts.
“That’s rich coming from a man who’s never tried it before,” the redhead jeered at his partner.
“I'm saving myself from the embarrassment and indignity of doing so.” Mihawk took a sip of his wine.
“Aw come on! Just once? I promise I won’t judge!” Shanks wheedled, sidling close to his lover and pouted at him.
“They would.” Mihawk looked pointedly at the snickering Red-Hair Pirates watching them unabashedly.
“No one is to judge Mihawk’s first attempt at a pick-up line! Captain’s orders!” Shanks turned to shout at his crew before turning bright expectant eyes at him.
Mihawk narrowed his eyes at the mischief glittering in them. A glance at the surrounding crowd told him that they were the same. Some had started placing bets on him, even Beckman—was that a visual transponder snail in his hand? Mihawk glared at the first mate in question who grinned unrepentantly back as he placed a few coins into Yasopp’s hands as the sniper collected his bid.
Mihawk turned his eyes back to the hazel ones of his partner. He could still call this thing off but that would mean that he would have to suffer through an endless amount of teasing from Shanks. His pick-up lines might even get worse after this, using them with the intention to mock him instead of flirting. No, the best option was to get through with this challenge. Being the perfectionist that he is however, Mihawk would have to come up with a pick-up line that would top all of Shanks' previous attempts and leave him speechless. One that none of them would have been expecting . . .
His eyes fell onto Yasopp again and an idea bloomed inside his mind. It was perfect and something he had been gathering the courage to do for quite some time now.
“Fine.” Mihawk let out an exhale, feeling resigned and exasperated at this crew’s antics. Cheers and laughter erupted all around him before someone shushed them, most likely Shanks.
Mihawk closed his eyes and swirled the wine glass held in his hand, the perfect picture of thoughtfulness. Inside, however, he was tempering down the urge to grin.
“Tell me, Shanks, what is one word you would use to describe me?” This was clearly not what the redhead was expecting him to say judging by the look of surprise on his face.
Deciding to play along, Shanks grinned and opened his mouth to spit out the first word that came to his mind but held his tongue at the last second. His expression then turned thoughtful. Mihawk deduced that his partner was trying to think of a clever come-back as an answer. It was something the hawk-eyed man himself liked to reply with whenever Shanks used his pick-up lines at him.
The toothy grin that spread across the redhead’s face told Mihawk that his partner had come up with the perfect answer.
“Mine.” The intensity of the emotion in Shanks’ eyes behind the word stunned him. He couldn’t help feeling flattered and aroused at his lover’s naked desire for him. Well-played Shanks, well-played.
Jubilant cheers erupted all around them as the Red-Hair Pirates celebrated their captain’s victory. Money traded hands and another round of alcohol was consumed.
But their celebration was not to last.
“Really now? After all that thinking I thought you would have come up with something better than this,” Mihawk drawled. He nonchalantly ignored the curious gazes at him as he eyed the wine in his hand.
“Oh? Then what’s the word you would have used then?” Shanks challenged, face set into a small frown. He thought that his answer was the best already.
Mihawk took his time answering, opting to finish the remaining wine in his glass before locking eyes with Shanks.
“Husband.” The silence that befell upon the ship after his response was thunderous. Mihawk let a small smile grace his lips as he took in the looks of stunned disbelief around him. The victory goes to him.
A sharp bark of laughter snapped the pirates out of their astonishment.
“Holy shit! Tell me I didn’t hear it wrong!”
“Husband! He said husband!”
“Oi, Hawkeyes, you had better mean what you said!”
“Ha! Trust the master of come-backs to not be outdone!”
“I think you broke our captain, Hawkeyes!”
True to word, throughout the cacophony, Shanks remained in stunned silence. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape.
“Did you—did you just indirectly asked me to marry you?” Shanks asked in a breathy voice filled with disbelief and hope.
“It would be my honour if you take the name ‘Dracule’,” Mihawk replied. His Observation Haki was quick enough to warn him to pass his wine glass to someone else before Shanks roughly pulled him into a deep kiss.
Raucous hoots and cheers erupted around them as the pirates celebrated. Mihawk smiled victoriously when he parted from the kiss. He doubts that Shanks would be able to come up with something that will top his first pick-up line now.
Years had flown by after his proposal. Shanks might have lost the challenge, but his love of using pick-up lines to flirt with his husband remained. Mihawk has learned to live with it. He had also come to find out that his beloved would produce some of the loveliest responses whenever he flirts back.
“Shanks.”
“Yes, lover?” purred Shanks, ignoring the jeers from his crewmates as they mocked his latest pick-up line. Some people just can’t appreciate his flirting.
Mihawk stalked towards him in even measured steps, eyes alight with mischief. He came to a stop in his personal space. Shanks' insides turned into a bubbly slurry of affection for his husband, or maybe that was just the alcohol talking.
“Did you know that I can fit my entire world in the palms of my hands?” Mihawk said, keeping his gaze locked with the hazel ones of his husband’s.
“Oh? Let me guess, you’re gonna hold on to a map?” Shanks raised an eyebrow in question, smirking. He thought himself clever to have found the answer.
In response, Mihawk lifted both of his hands and gently cupped them around his partner’s cheeks, tender and soft. He brushed a thumb across the other’s bottom lip before pressing a chaste kiss on them, tasting the bitter notes of alcohol that remained.
“There,” Mihawk whispered as he drew back from the other man.
Shanks blinked. Then he did it again several more times.
“I think you’ve done it again, Hawkeyes,” Yasopp voiced out when he poked his captain and received no response from him. This incited a round of laughter from the crew.
Shanks’ return to reality was marked by twin spots of red on his cheeks. He was quick to hide his face in his hands but that little action had not gone unnoticed. Shanks ignored the raucous hoots and cheers around them, attempting to bury himself deeper into Mihawk’s chest in shy embarrassment.
“No fair,” Shanks muttered petulantly. How is his husband so suave? Every attempt he’s done made him look like a fool in comparison. He’s going to have to up his game and start hunting down books on pick-up lines, starting with the library in his lover’s castle.
“I happen to be in the mood for world domination tonight,” Mihawk spoke above the cacophonous noise. “Anyone who isn’t invited to join will leave this ship immediately.”
With that said, he swept his husband up in a bridal carry and headed towards the captain’s quarters. Shanks put up not one iota of protest as he clung onto Mihawk. For a man who's never been in a relationship before this, he's awfully good at flirting.