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“I gave the straw hat to Luffy but now my head looks a bit empty…” Shanks thinks to himself as he looks in the mirror. He tries to run his left hand through his hair, realizing once again that it’s gone. “Shit, I need to get used to this.” He doesn’t regret saving Luffy one bit, he’d sacrifice his arm again if he were to go back in time, but it is proving to be more and more troublesome missing an entire arm; especially his dominant one. “Can I even cut it now? It’ll take a while before I have the precision again to trim this.” So many new issues to deal with, and he’s had the hat for so long he looks weird and plain without it. ‘Maybe I should grow out my hair a bit, but taking care of it seems like a hassle.’ Despite all these ideas, he sighs. ‘I’ll think about it.’
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Shanks walks outside onto the deck and notices you talking with Benn, he freezes. Right, you left Loguetown with him. You said yes and joined his crew. That thought makes him giddy and he wants to talk to you but he stops when he hears the conversation.
“So, what looks do you like in a man?” Beckman’s asking your type… Well, it’s not like the deck is strictly for you two. He slowly makes his way back to where he was, slowly hiding behind one of the masts.
“Looks, hm?” You put a hand on your chin, pondering. “I’m not too strict about what I find attractive but if I had to have a preference I do like men bigger than me.” The corner of Shanks’s mouth twitches up. Not to toot his own horn but he is taller than you. However, it quickly goes down when you continue. “Something about the way they can envelop me feels warm. A nice hug, their arms around me, it just feels very safe.” Arms. Ah.
‘They didn’t mean it like that.’ The redhead tries to tell himself, but it’s not working. Another new thing he has to deal with. He lost his arm, his dominant one. He can’t keep you as safe as before, envelop you like before. His expression darkens.
“Red hair too.” He’s snapped out of his moping. “The shade matching their personality would be nice too. A deep red for a passionate person.” Shanks thinks of his hair, he’s plenty passionate, and his hair is a deep red. “Also, maybe this is a bit unpopular, but I actually prefer men with hair on the longer side.” Long!?
“Are you hitting on me?” Beckman jokes and you laugh a little. Shanks panics, he doesn’t know how he could take care of long hair with one non-dominant arm.
“You do look handsome, so maybe I am.” The length based on their personality is nice too, for you your hair length is perfect.” He can’t listen to this. “For a more elegant man, hair to the mid back is nice.” It turns out Beckman is your type. “ But, for a rouge-ish man like I mentioned it definitely has to be hair a little above or to the shoulders. Just enough to put it into a little ponytail, basically. It always looks so perfect that I have to resist the urge to stare.” Your cheeks tint at the thought and Shanks’s heart starts to quicken. He could handle hair at that length, not too hard.
“Red hair and a rogue-ish appearance. Reminds me of someone. Though he’s missing the hair length.” Beckman’s eyes glance at Shanks’s hiding spot, he’s been caught! The captain flinches and makes his escape to the back deck via speed walking. While he walks a smile forms on his face. Longer hair. He can work with that.
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Shanks has been growing his hair out. Well it’s not surprising considering it would be hard to trim the way he used to with one hand, but you still didn’t expect it; especially since he’s mentioned before that anything not short would be a hassle to take care of.
“(Y/n)” You sit on the grass at an island, looking up to see your captain casting a shadow over your face. “Photosynthesizing?”
“I’m shocked you know that word.” You joke and he laughs, sitting next to you.
“I’m a real scholar.” He looks into your eyes and you smile back. Maybe you’re biased but he looks better with longer hair, your eyes keep gravitating to him. “Do I have something on my face?” He teases.
“You look handsome.” You state and his eyes widen. He didn’t expect you to just say it.
“R-Really!?” He grimaces at his stutter but your smile gets wider.
“Mhm, you look better with your hair longer like this. I like it a lot.” Shanks manages to regain his composure, smirking.
‘Wow~ Don’t fall for me too quickly.” He winks and you laugh.
“I’ll try, but if you steal my heart I’ll have no choice but to take yours. It’s only fair~”
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That night Shanks looks into the mirror in his room, your words repeating in his head.
“If you steal my heart I'll have no choice but to take yours.”
His cheeks flush, what a funny thing to say when you already have it. “I’m the one trying to get one back” Shanks sighs and flops onto his bed stomach first. A moment passes.
“You look handsome.”
“I like it a lot.”
"Hehehehehehe" He giggles, rolling around on his bed.