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The day had started like any other, only this time the universe had delivered you a little something extra. Your sister had just dropped off Luffy, she had some errands to run and you promised you’d watch over him whilst you waited on tables. Usually he was a delight, as long as you could distract him with a treasure hunt for a customer's change or the spare bag of peanuts.
On this particular day a certain captain had decided to drop by and pay a visit to his favourite girl bar in town.
The doors swing open and Red Hair Pirates pore in, taking up all of the free space remaining. A smile creeps its way onto your face once you spot that hat sauntering its way to your bar.
“Hey now ______, how's my favourite girl doing hmmm?”
“Shanks. It’s been a while, what took you so long”
“You know me I just couldn't stay away, I started missing your lovely company as soon as I reached the dock”
“Flattery won’t clear your tab captain”
He grins at you from across the bar and leans over it ever so slightly, “aww don’t tell me you didn’t miss me now, you wouldn’t want to break a poor sailor’s heart, now would you?"
Your little back and forth was interrupted by a piercing squeal, “SHAAAAANKS” Luffy’s voice echoed off the walls of the bar as he ran up to the pirate, fast enough to have knocked out the man's shins if he hadn’t been sitting down.
“Hay there Luffy” The man chuckles and pats the boy's head, causing him to puff out his cheeks and huff, stomping his foot on the ground. You continued to serve his crew as he entertained your nephew with tales of his adventures since he’d last seen him. His crew always treated you with respect and left the place in tact, sometimes even cleaner when they arrived, you brought them their regulars and took orders for some light food.
Making your way behind the bar once more, you pore out pints and listen to Shanks' stories, smiling to yourself as Luffy watches on in awe. “Well you can't have sailed that far away, you always come back within a few months” the boy pipes up. You see some of Shanks crew fail to suppress their laughter one voice catches your ear “oh yeah, captain always makes sure to visit his favourite bar, or rather his favourite barmaid” the others cackle and Luffy beams “Wow, so you come back just to visit ______, but that must take foreverrrrr”
You see Shanks progressively cover his face more and more by using his hat as a shield while the crew behind him snickers. “Oh yeah Luffy, this one time he made us travel up wind on the border of a typhoon just so he would be back here by her next shift” another voice announced over the endless belly laughs and cackles of the Red Hair Pirates
You smile to yourself as they try to egg on the kid to ask more questions to further humiliate their captain. You feel the blush burning up the back of your neck as you stare over at Shanks, taking notice of the shade of red staining his ears and the hand covering his mouth.
Luffy tugs at Shanks arm, practically hanging off it as he screeches for more details of this particular perilous adventure. Internally, Shanks is dying.
The evening drones on as the group settles into their drunkenness, Shanks included. You’re focused on cleaning the bar now, but your attention is stolen once more by the pirate captain “hmmm _______” he mumbled your name against the surface of the bar. “Is it time for some water now?” you asked. He shakes his head into his arm. Luffy is poking at his face but Shanks still has a smile on his lips as he gazes up at you with this sickeningly sweet look that would probably make Luffy want to barf up his dinner.
“Love, You’re too good for me” he mutters something inaudible before sitting back up in a slouched position. “I think I’m passable at best” you responded, he snorts.
“I’m going to head outback to grab another keg just hold tight”, you reach over and sweep some of the hair back that was covering his eyes. He leans into your touch ever so slightly “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t help you”. Surprisingly he does manage to stand, it’s even more impressive that his liver hasn’t shrivelled up and fallen out of him by now, "Probably a sober one” you respond.
The two of you head behind the bar, leaving Luffy with the rest of the crew. The reason why this was not the best idea is that while these pirates are loyal they are also huge gossips. What makes it even worse is that Luffy is the perfect loudmouth kid to carry out their plan of setting up their captain with the woman he’d been crushing on for six years now. It was the only way they could see the man could possibly make up for years and years of them dealing with his throbbing heart. Embarrassment was his sentancing.
In a storybook Luffy’s mama had read to him there was a prince that had confessed his feelings to a princess after he’d caught her from falling. All Luffy had to do was make his aunty fall so Shanks could save you. Plus if you guys got married that would mean that he was related to a pirate, and what’s cooler than that. Luckily the crew seemed to love this idea, so much so they even handed him a beer bottle to follow through with his little plot.
With great skill and determination Luffy placed that bottle in the doorway, and his plan was set in motion. Only Shanks was walking in front of you…backwards, helping you carry the large barrel of beer. Before Luffy can blink, Shanks is on the ground and you drop that barrel right on his head. Blood gushes from the captain's forehead and Luffy starts to cry, you let out a startled yelp and carry Luffy over to Benn then proceed drag Shanks into the staff bathroom as he yells reassurance to the boy over his shoulder.
“My gods Shanks i’m so sorry, I don’t know how that happened I swear I cleaned the floors yesterday” you rambled as you use a damp cloth to try and stop the bleeding, Shanks is sitting on top of the toilet lid, hands on his knees as he gazes up at you dreamily. You’ve got his jaw cradled in your hands and he can’t help but lean closer to you once more. He sighs, smiling up at you as he moves his hands to rest up on your hips “I’ve told you, I’m okay love”, using his hands he pulls you to stand closer between his knees. “How can such a small cut keep gushing so much blood” you huff, frustrated as you rinse the blood off the rag in the sink.
“Hay-” you were brought out of your head by his voice, choosing to be brave and meet his gaze, somehow managing to hold it without having the complexion of a beetroot. “Everything is fine, I just fell”, you give him a small smile, using your thumb to stroke his cheek.
“You’re right”
“I always am”
“I highly doubt that, Shanks"
“oh no”
“What?”
“you called me Shanks”
“Yeah…How hard did you hit your head? It is your name after all”
“you never say it like that though”
You scoff at that, a genuine smile making its way back to your lips “like what?” he grins “Like you’re mad at me”.
“Who knows, I could be. You'll just have to make it up to me for scaring the shit out of me” he stands, now towering over you. Suddenly this bathroom was feeling very small as you now have to tilt your head up a little to meet his eyes.
“That could be arranged” Your cheeks redden at that “you shouldn’t be this smooth when drunk, it’s not fair”. He laughs and your heart burns a little hotter at its rumbling sound. You reach around him and grab a bandage on the side of the sink, he leans down a bit for you to reach his forehead more comfortably. Only he doesn't pull away once he’s closer to you, actually his hands were still glued to your sides.
You bite your lip and use your hands to cradle his face, pulling it closer to yours. He lets out a surprised grunt and suddenly his eyes are unable to look into your own “care to share what my favourite girl is thinking, some would say it’s not safe to get this close to a pirate you know” his stumbles over some of his words as they spill from his mouth. “You promise?” your words run like honey into his ears, it makes his skin feel so tight and clammy. “Ummm, heh”
You lean up and press a kiss on top of the bandage covering his cut, making an exaggerated “mwah” sound with your mouth, your lips hovering for a moment before pressing a small kiss to his cheek, then to the corner of his mouth. If you’d have known Shanks could burn such a bright red you would have hired him as a lamp to save on your energy bills years ago. You pull back slightly but find yourself unable to move much more than that, the man was practically frozen, you start to worry that he’d turned idiot. The only indication of a consciousness being that his hands were practically kneading the flesh on your hips. “Shaaanks?” you cooed his name softly, he was just staring off into space, “have you finally died of alcohol poisoning or do you really have a concussion?” you flick the brim of his hat up with your finger to get a better look at him.
A high pitched squeak escapes the man's throat as his face glows, you laugh and cover your mouth with your hand. He gulps and a big grin makes its way to his face as his brain slowly catches up.
“Love.”
“Yes, Shanks?”
“Is it my turn now?”
“Huh?”
He snakes his arms around your waist and walks you backwards against the bathroom door. Then he begins his attack, The attack on your face by peppering you in sweet kisses, moving from forehead to brow; then your cheeks and down to your jaw. You squeak and giggle, his stubble tickling your neck. “Shanks- you- pffff- oh my god, stooooop” you snort and push on his chest slightly but the man doubles down, even managing to get you square between the brows.
Sadly you’re both interrupted by a small knock at the door, “Auntieeeeee, Shaaaaaanks. I'm sorry” Luffy’s voice was weepy and you could guess his face was covered in snot and tears, thinking he’s managed to betray his idol in some way.
You cough and straighten the captain’s messy shirt, then fix his hair. He pulls away from you and the two of you emerge from the bathroom.
You pick up your nephew and balance him on your hip, “Don’t you worry, see I fixed it” you pull out your handkerchief and use it to wipe down the boy's face. He only starts to cry again once Shanks pats his head, beginning the young boy's hysterical explanation of his plan. Luffy was begging Shanks to forgive him by the end of it regardless.
You figured it was just close to his bedtime as most of the crew had already started to head back to the ship. A now sleeping 6 year old had his face burrowed into your shoulder as Shanks leaned in the doorway of the bar as you closed up, “when are you heading off again?” you whispered quietly, “hmmm I think we can wait a few more days, give the men a proper chance to enjoy the land before we set sail” you look up at him with this melancholy smile, one that he returns. “You know I’ll be waiting” he presses a kiss to the crown on your head “I know, Love”...
“Goodnight, captain”