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"Excuse me, sir, but the restaurant is going to close."
Shanks blinked a few times before turning his head to the pretty young waitress who was talking to him. She was no older than him, probably early twenties, with blond bobbed hair, hazel eyes, and freckles on her nose and cheeks. She must have been a student working in this restaurant on a Friday evening to make ends meet. It was the same waitress who had brought him to this table several hours ago, it was not even the first time that she had ask him if he was going to order or to warn him that the restaurant was going to close, but this time the call seemed final.
"What time is it ?" he asked, looking around to see that he was the last customer in the restaurant and that he was surrounded by waiters who were cleaning the room.
"It's going to be 11:30 p.m., sir."
"Oh."
The restaurant should have closed 30 minutes ago, but the waiters were all waiting for him to leave.
Shanks gave her a small apologetic smile and thanked her before grabbing his leather coat and pulling out his wallet to pay for what he had consumed but the kind waitress told him that it was not necessary, that his meal was on the house. A coke and three glasses of rum. Well, it was the gesture that counted. He thanked her and left the restaurant before the waitress could hand him a paper with her phone number on it.
The young man was too lost in thought to realize that the waitress was trying to flirt with him anyway.
4 hours and 10 minutes.
He had been waiting for Mihawk for over four hours.
And Mihawk never showed up.
Shanks wasn't sad that his boyfriend had stood him up, he was worried.
Mihawk was not late, ever. In fact, the oldest always made it a point of honor to arrive 5 minutes early for any appointment whether professional or in his private life. At first, it had been a problem in their relationship, Mihawk always made sure to arrive early while Shanks always arrived late. They had argued about it once or twice because Mihawk got irritable when he was bored and having to wait for Shanks every time bothered him deeply.
In their relationship, it was then apparent that Mihawk was always the one with a watch on his wrist and Shanks was the one apologizing for being late. Even after years of dating, Mihawk was still lecturing Shanks, but he had gotten into the habit of changing their date times : if they were to meet at a restaurant at 7:30 then Mihawk would tell Shanks to come by 7:00 so they would both be on time.
Shanks knew full well why his boyfriend was obsessed with time. Mihawk had a busy schedule and had done so since elementary school. It got worse when he was twelve and Rayleigh started entering him into increasingly ambitious fencing competitions. So between school, training, and competitions becoming more and more distant, Mihawk and Shanks hadn't really had time to become friends even if their families had always been very close. Then, Mihawk had left for the capital to continue his education and any chance of them becoming friends had been cut off. They didn't talk a lot at the time but Doflamingo loved to tell stories about his childhood with Mihawk and Crocodile, and the untypical man didn't need to drink to tell the most shameful stories about Mihawk - not like Crocodile whose alcohol helped loosen his tongue. According to Dolfy, Mihawk hadn't been the kind of highschool student to go to parties, instead going to practice or competing in a fencing contest on the weekends.
Mihawk had grown up but still had a busy schedule, although it was lighter now that Mihawk practiced fencing as a passion rather than an obligation which ate up 3/4 of his time..
If Mihawk hated Shanks' lack of punctuality then Shanks hated the red-filled calendar above Mihawk's desk. Sometimes he imagined himself grabbing the damn thing, tearing it up, and burning it. The worst was not that Mihawk had never had a second to himself. No, it was a habit for Mihawk at that point. So the worse was that it was normal for him, he always knew where and when he had to be. Sometimes Shanks felt guilty dating Mihawk for fear of wasting his time, he had already wrecked up Mihawk's entire schedule since they had started dating more than three years ago now. Yet despite his packed schedule, the oldest always found time for Shanks even if he had to sacrifice hours of sleep for the redhead.
Shanks hated that Mihawk put his own health on hold to please everyone.
For Mihawk, though quiet and calm with a generally cold and haughty first impression, was always there for his friends. He was there when Dolfy needed someone to get him out of jail at three o'clock on a Tuesday morning, he was there too when Crocodile needed help with a project, or when Boa dragged him by the arm to the nearest mall.
And personally, Shanks felt like Mihawk was his rock. Not only was the eldest physically strong, like Shanks, but he had a mentality forged in diamonds and a memory like an elephant. Mihawk always texted Shanks to remind him of his appointments and helped him learn his lessons, he was a listening ear when the younger one needed him or always let him sleep on him when Shanks became depressed after his parents' deaths. Shanks often felt like Mihawk was doing more in their relationship and was an unnecessary weight slowing down the older one.
Beck always called him stupid when Shanks mentioned it to him. His best friend wasn't usually good advice but the redhead loved talking to him about Mihawk, in fact, he could never stop talking about his amazing boyfriend.
So, even though Shanks knew it was late and he had to go home, he walked over to Mihawk's apartment.
Mihawk lived in the heart of downtown in a modern building with Crocodile and Doflamingo. Shanks knew that Crocodile and Mihawk had shared an apartment since his boyfriend was in high school. The swordsman would have rathered live alone but Rayleigh couldn't afford it and Mihawk traveled a lot anyway; this way, someone would always be there to watch the apartment when Mihawk wasn't home. For Dolfy, well, he met Crocodile one day and started to follow him like a dog ever since. It was a plus that they were dating since they shared the same room but Crocodile forced his boyfriend to pay the rent too - Croc sure was a romantic in soul.
Shanks really liked the modern apartment complex mostly because of the hot dog vendor who was always there no matter the temperature or time of day. And again, the old man was there. Shanks greeted him happily before entering the building, he wanted to buy a hot dog but didn't have time: Mihawk was the priority.
He took the elevator even though he knew he would go faster by taking the stairs. Except that Mihawk lived on the twelfth floor and Shanks really didn't feel like climbing twelve stairs tonight. The elevator was modern too and typical elevator wait music was playing over the speakers. Shanks checked himself in the mirror to see if he looked presentable: his black leather jacket was spotless, his white shirt opened just right, his black jean make his butt look irresistable, and his patent leather shoes shone. He had finished straightening his long red hair when the elevator doors opened.
The hallway was just as modern and classy as the rest of the building: the walls were white, the tiled floors were white marble streaked with gray, and the four doors were painted light gray. It was a far cry from the old, walk-up, stained-carpet building he lived in with Benn, Lucky and Yasopp.
Shanks knocked on the last door, the one furthest from the elevator.
No answer.
Shanks frowned and knocked again. There were three of them living in there, at least one of them could open the door.
The red-hair was about to get angry and knock on the door again when it opened. Shanks had to raise his head to look into Crocodile's cold gray eyes. Mihawk's roommate wore pajama bottoms and a furry dressing gown. His black hair was flawless as usual despite the late hour of the night. The young red-haired laughed seeing the Crocodile-patterned slippers the other man was wearing, "I see you're cultivating your character, Croc."
"What do you want, Red? Don't you have a shitty apartment somewhere far away?"
"Mihawk is there?" Shanks asked without being offended by Crocodile's harsh tone, it was typical of the older person's character to act all mean and cold, especially towards his ex-friend with benefits's boyfriend. Despite their informal break-up, Crocodile had stayed protective of Mihawk which had led to a light rivalry between him and Shanks.
Crocodile shrugged, "Maybe."
Before Shanks could answer, a voice came from inside the apartment to come to his defense: "Let him in, Croc."
Shanks smiled mischievously before opening the door wider and stepping in, "Thanks, Blondie."
Doflamingo sneered, but motioned him to be quiet. Apparently, Shanks arrived in the middle of a movie session. There was a jar of popcorn on the table, a bottle of wine was open, and a movie was playing on the flat screen. Shanks recognized the movie instantly. He smiled as he picked up a handful of popcorn.
"Hawky is there?" he repeated while his mouth was filled with popcorn.
"Hawkeye's been in his room since this morning," Dolfy replied, snuggling up against Crocodile when he sat back down on the couch.
Shanks left as the two began to argue over the notion of private space, but before he turned to the two lovers and said, "He dies at the end."
He chuckled when he heard Dolfy and Croc threatening to murder him in painful ways.
Mihawk's room was shrouded in silence and darkness when Shanks entered the room. He was careful closing the door so as not to wake Mihawk who was clearly asleep on his desk. Shanks's heart sank in his chest at the sight of the love of his life sleeping in an awkward position. Mihawk's back was going to hurt tomorrow morning if he continued being bent over with his head on the wooden desk.
Shanks quietly approached the desk and stared at the sleeping beauty for a few seconds. Ebony locks, usually brushed back by gel, fell softly on Mihawk's pale forehead and joined his long, dark eyelashes. His pink lips were half open which allowed exhausted snores and drool to come out of his mouth. Yet, Shanks had never seen his love look so vulnerable. Mihawk always looked much younger when he slept, especially when he was bathed in the soft moonlight ray lights. But Mihawk also looked exhausted with deep circles under his eyes. It seemed that the five cups of coffee on the desk weren't enough to keep Mihawk awake. Especially since he must have been sleeping for quite a long time since his computer was dead.
Shanks's lips pursed, he couldn't let Mihawk sleep like this. His love deserved to be taken care of and to rest properly in his comfortable bed. Then, Shanks ran his fingers through the short black hair before gently pushing the caster chair back from the desk. When the chair was far enough away, Shanks held Mihawk like a bride and carried him to his king-size bed. He gently laid his boyfriend on the bed before deciding that Mihawk couldn't sleep in his current clothes: jeans and a half-open shirt. Shanks easily made his way to the large closet despite the dim light in the room and grabbed Mihawk's pajamas.
Now came the difficult part of this whole operation: undressing and dressing his boyfriend without waking him. Which was going to be a complicated task since Mihawk was a light sleeper and Shanks was known to be clumsy. Really, he was surprised that Mihawk hadn't woken up yet, a sign that the older man was really tired.
However, Shanks' luck turned suddenly when he got caught in the act and in a pretty compromising position. He looked up when he heard Mihawk growl softly as if he was still stuck in his dream and having trouble waking up. Despite his precarious position, Shanks couldn't help but smile when he met Mihawk's tired eyes. He looked so cute as he was still half awake and his black hair was falling over his face which was strangely open for once. The vulnerability, the confusion, and the tiredness were all so visible that Shanks' smile dimmed a little. Because Mihawk could very quickly misinterpret Shanks being in his bed without permission, pulling his pants off while he was asleep.
"Red…?" the older man muttered, blinking awake.
"Hey, lovebird," whispered Shanks to not wake up any further Mihawk. The older man blinked again, his hand rising as if to chase the fatigue from his eyes, and Shanks ordered softly, " Don't pay attention to me and go back to sleep, babe. I'll take care of you," he added, lowering the black jeans a little further along Mihawk's muscular thighs.
"What…Red? What are you... what time is it?" Mihawk looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was midnight, "what are you doing here?"
Shanks laughed as he finished removing the jeans and socks, "You didn't come on our date, babe. So I came to check on you. And when I arrived, I had the right to the pretty vision of you asleep on your desk."
"I don't fall asleep when working," Mihawk replied defiantly, though his voice was still thick with sleep.
"Tell that to the drool on your desk."
The younger had finished helping Mihawk into his silk pajama bottoms when he tried to get up. Shanks placed his hand on the center of Mihawk's chest and pushed him back against his pillows, which was quite easy to do.
"You're not going anywhere tonight, Hawky. So, let me help you put on the rest of your pajamas and you can go back to sleep."
Mihawk shook his head which made the black locks on his forehead move, "I have to finish my file and read some articles."
"Your company won't go up in flames overnight if you don't turn in the file at dawn tomorrow morning. You still have a week to be ready for your audition so take your time for once," Shanks replied without a trace of his usual smile in his voice. "It's time for you to rest, Hawky, at least tonight. Your life is not going to be ruined if you take care of yourself at least once."
Shanks had time to replace Mihawk's shirt with his pajama top as the older man seemed to hesitate between taking Shanks' advice or getting back to work. His heavy eyelids seemed to win against the idea of getting up to go back to the office on the other side of the room.
"I didn't think you were paying attention when I was talking," Mihawk finally said as he settled back comfortably against his pillows..
Shanks chuckled, "You've had me wrapped around your little finger since we've known each other, Hawky."
Mihawk's beautiful golden eyes closed as Shanks bundled him up in his duvet and kissed his forehead.
"Won't you stay?" asked the swordsman without opening his eyes.
"Well," Shanks began with a smirk on his lips, "I was going to get undressed and get into bed whether you liked it or not, but how could I refuse if you're begging me to stay?"
Mihawk mumbled something before turning on his side, the blanket rose to the top of his hair as he tried to hide his blush. Shanks chuckled before undressing and getting under the duvet. He was surprised when Mihawk moved closer to him and rested his head on his bare chest. Shanks smiled softly, preferring not to say anything so as not to offend Mihawk who let himself be vulnerable for once.
"Good night, love."
The cutest snore ever answered him.