Pretty Fish People (The Luffy Effect)

The Trio

Luffy giddily skips his way into the Party Bar, making his way to the counter and clambering onto a stool. He taps his fingers on the countertop, catching Makino's eye and breaking into a grin. "Hey, Makino!" The barmaid smiles softly, "Guess what!" Luffy swings his feet. "Hm?" Makino hums in question, leaning on the counter and giving the boy her attention, "Shanks said I could sail with him!" the boy excitedly says, ignoring the sputtering of patrons behind him as he swings his legs excitedly.

Makino's eyes widened, surprised, "Really?" she asks. The man had confidently said Luffy can't sail with him, what changed? Had the boy finally managed to get under his skin?

"Yep!" Luffy giggles, "He said Ace and Sabo could join too!" He taps the counter in a rhythmic way. Another mention of his siren friends. Makino saw one of them dragging Shanks onto the shore while another, scarred blonde held a crying Luffy. Well, she supposed they're friendly enough.

Makino hums at the boy, "You're super sure you want to be a pirate?" she asks, just to make sure. "Never been more sure!" Luffy happily exclaims. Makino smiles at him, before finally taking more of his clothes. "What happened to your other clothes?" She asked, curiously. She could've sworn Luffy had been wearing his pink sweater earlier.

Luffy tilts his head, "Oh!" he exclaims, holding the sleeves of the large shirt he's wearing, "Shanks gave this to me!" he happily explains. There's a few choking sounds from across the bar, but the boy just continues smiling. "I had a bath too, which was nice," he tacks on as an afterthought.

"I thought you hated baths?" Makino raised an eyebrow. The boy always put up a fight when baths were mentioned.

"Yeah," he agrees, "But Ace and Sabo helped!" he tells her, waving his hands. "They can't read so I helped them help me," he confusingly explains. Makino still understands though, and hums. Luffy must trust them a lot to have them help him in the bath.

"Garp's supposed to visit soon," Makino mentions, "You wanna tell him about your adventures?" she asks. Luffy usually tells Garp all sorts of stories before they go off to 'train'. Makino doesn't know exactly what it's for, but she does know that Luffy usually comes back either scratched up or bruised, sometimes both, and pouty faced.

Luffy pales at her suggestion, "Gramps hates pirates!" he bursts out, pausing his leg swinging, "If I tell him I'm gonna sail with one he'll make me train harder!" he groans, putting his face in his hands. "He wants me to be a Marine," Luffy tells her after a moment, "But I don't wanna be a stinky Marine!" He sticks his tongue out and pouts.

"When's gramps gonna get here?" He asks Makino. She thinks about that, she thinks Garp mentioned it, "A few days, a week at most." she replies after a moment. Luffy exhales in relief.

"We'll be gone by then, hopefully." He breathes. "Shanks said I should think about if I really wanna go or not, but I'm sure. I don't like training with gramps, but I do like being with Ace, Sabo and Shanks!" He says, "I guess this is bye, Makino!" he doesn't get up from his seat, however. "Can I have some juice?" he asks, tilting his head.

Makino giggles, pouring the boy a glass of juice.

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Shanks leans back, resting his back against the headrest. He's tired, and his arm is still sore. Actually, of course it's still sore, it was bitten off just this morning. After Luffy had taken a bath, Hongo had almost thrown a fit when he found out Shanks tried to leave the ship after just waking up, so he's confined to the infirmary. At least he's not alone right now, Ace is relaxing beside his bed, back against the wall, arms crossed and head resting on his shoulders, eyes closed.

Shanks would assume he's napping, if his body wasn't tense. He wonders why the siren is here with him if it makes him uncomfortable. "Why're you in here?" He asks, voicing his question. The teen looks up at him and shrugs, "Got nowhere else to be," he simply says. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable underwater?" Shanks rephraphes his question, raising an eyebrow. Ace shrugs again and leans back, and Shanks does the same. The man is closing his eyes again when Ace speaks.

"Why did you save him?" His voice is quiet, like he didn't want Shanks to hear. Too bad for him then, he's not going to leave that question unanswered.

"Why wouldn't I?" He retorts without opening his eyes, "The kid is great, lively and sweet," he smiles fondly, "He's very stubborn too, that's what got him in trouble in the first place, but he had good intentions." He finally opens his eyes and turns toward the freckled teen. Said teen is staring at him intently, "He's wormed his way into my heart," he shrugs, "And pirates are selfish, so I'm keeping him close." He grins. It's true, Luffy has settled himself in Shanks' heart like it was a comfortable place to rest, and the man can't find it in him to be upset over it. He doesn't even think he wants the boy to leave.

Ace taps his clawed fingers against his arm, "Sirens are also selfish," he tells the man, "So have fun reasoning with Sabo, he's like Luffy's mom now," he grins cheekily. Shanks laughs lightly, "I think you guys are more like brothers," he tells the teen, who flusters and goes quiet. Shanks grins again, relaxing against the headrest. The room is comfortably quiet for a minute.

"Speaking of Sabo," Shanks starts, catching Ace's attention, "Where is he?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. "Looking for something to eat," Ace dismisses the question, "You'd actually be okay with us sailing with you?" He brings up a topic from a few hours ago. He needs an answer, why are they letting him and Sabo join?

"Luffy loves you guys," he simply points out, an amused tilt to his lips, "I think you're fine, so why not? The crew doesn't seem to mind you guys, either." It's true, but they only got comfortable after seeing how playful they were with their favorite boy. Lucky Roux and Yasopp calmed the quickest, Yasopp in particular since Luffy almost reminds him of his son.

Ace doesn't quite understand what he's hearing, they're invited because Luffy loves them? The thought makes his heart squeeze, makes his skin tingle and face warm. He's never been on a pirate ship before, he watches as Shanks closes his eyes and relaxes, and wonders what's in store for his little ragtag trio.