Pretty Fish People (The Luffy Effect)

The Pirates

Luffy is sitting on a stool in Makino's Party Bar, pouting. He'd come back to the bar and proudly showed off his sweater, eyes gleaming, but before he could tell her about it she'd fretted over him and had him take it off so it could dry.

Everyone keeps telling him he'll get sick, he just wants to wear the sweater Sabo gave him. He likes Ace and Sabo, and he really likes the shiny blue heart on the sweater. Of course, the sweater is dry now, and he's wearing it again, but it's the principle of pouting.

As he sulkily sips from his cup of juice, he hears someone enter. Turning in his seat, he sees a man with red hair and scars over his eye. The man beams at Makino, saying, "I hope you don't mind, my crew and I want to rest here and get something to eat and drink," he walks inside and more people follow, "If you have any alcohol to spare that'd be great," he sunnily says.

"Crew?" Luffy repeats, then exclaims, "Are you pirates?!" loudly as the man and his crew seat themselves at the tables and stools.

The man spares him a glance, laughs, and with a glint in his eyes says, "Yup!" and then politely asks Makino for a drink. Makino spares a small smile and pours him a drink, passing the mug to him.

Luffy is surprised, he didn't think pirates had manners! The man turns to him and says, "That sweater looks warm, you cold or something?" with a slightly confused look. His sweater is very warm, he doesn't care if it's the middle of the summer, it's nice.

"Nope!" He says, "It's a gift!" and he goes back to drinking his juice, uncaring that he's boiling in his sweater. Sabo got him this and he'll be damned if he doesn't even wear it!

"Who gives a sweater as a gift in the middle of summer?" The man laughs, tilting his head. Luffy grins, and lifting his head up he says, "Sabo!" in the proudest voice he could.

Makino tilts her head, she hasn't heard that name from Luffy. "Who's Sabo?" She asks, leaning on the counter slightly.

"A pretty fish person!" He giggles, "He's blonde and silly, he glows too!" he tells them, excitedly. Luffy really wants to talk about Ace and Sabo, he misses them!

"You mean a merperson?" The man asks, a grin on his face. Merpeople weren't that uncommon, he hasn't heard of any mer in East Blue though.

Luffy grins and shakes his hands, elated. "Yeah! He and Ace have really sharp teeth and fingers, but they're really nice and they aren't scary! They both really like holding me, and Sabo's eyes go black sometimes when I talk to him!" Sabo's silly, he really likes him! Sabo really tries not to scratch him with his fingers, and Ace lets him feel his whiskers. They're so cool!

The man and Makino freeze, and the bar goes silent. The man exhales slowly. Sirens. The boy is talking about sirens.

Luffy doesn't sense the change in atmosphere, "Ace has whiskers and freckles, and he doesn't really like it when I touch his whiskers but he doesn't get mad at me! He does this rumbly thing in his chest when I hug him, I think he likes it! He doesn't hold me a lot, but I think he's scared of dropping me!" Ace is a goof, Luffy trusts him not to drop him.

Luffy pauses his talking when he notices Makino's horrified expression, looking at her confused. He can't see the man's eyes, his straw hat is tilted down. Did he say something wrong? Oh! He forgot to tell them they're nice!

"They're super nice!" He stresses, "They let me hug them and hold their hands, Sabo lets me feel his tail too! You can see the bones in his tail, did I mention it glows?" he says, holding the sleeves of his sweater. He hopes they don't think Sabo and Ace are mean, 'cus they aren't!

Makino smiles nervously, seeing Luffy so adamant that the sirens, Ace and Sabo, are nice. She'll believe him, Luffy would tell her if he was hurt. She puts a hand on Shanks' arm, silently letting him know it's okay.

Shanks' relaxes minutely, grinning again to cheer up Luffy, "Really now?" he asks, smiling tensely, "Do you think they're cooler than pirates?" he asks. It's somewhat of a genuine question, he's had yet to find a live person that met a siren that can answer the question.

Luffy takes a moment to think about it. One one hand, Sabo glows and gave him this sweater, and Ace has whiskers and pretty freckles and likes to hold him. They both are really nice to him, and said they'd swim with him. On the other hand, pirates are out at sea all the time. They have lots of people with them, and have treasure! They get to do what they want. But pirates don't have Ace and Sabo.

"Yeah," he says, "Ace and Sabo are cooler than pirates!" he loudly proclaims, drinking his juice after. Shanks pouts childishly at the answer, holding his mug in his hand.

"How?" He asks, taking a swig of his drink. In his unbiased opinion, he thinks pirates are cooler. "They just are!" The boy answers, grinning. "Shishishi!" He giggles.

Shanks blows a raspberry at the boy, taking a big gulp of his drink after. How did he manage to find an island with siren visitors? He thought they mostly stayed to themselves!

"Even though Ace and Sabo are cooler," the boy starts, trying to discreetly lean close, much to Shanks' amusement, "What's it like being a pirate?" he excitedly asks, eyes glimmering.

Shanks pretends to stroke his beard in thought, "If I had to summarize?" he starts, looking Luffy in the eyes, "Adventurous," he finished, making an exaggerated hand movement.

Luffy sticks his tongue out, "Lame!" he exclaims, "Tell me everything about it!" he demands, crossing his arms. He wants to know more than just adventure! Can merpeople be in a pirate crew?

Shanks grins, opening his mouth to tell stories, his crew interjecting every once in a while with another tidbit. Luffy listens intently, starry eyed. He should ask Ace and Sabo to join his crew!