Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was around 2 in the morning when a loud bang on the wall startled Apoo, waking him from the depths of sleep. After sitting up, Apoo’s eyes scanned the dark room in confusion, wondering where the source of the loud noise that woke him up had come from. His question was quickly answered however, by the moans and groans coming from the room next door, indicating that whoever was in there had, for some reason, decided to pick up where they had left off just a few hours before. 

Apoo glared at the wall, hoping that the couple on the other side would somehow become aware of how displeased he was with being woken up to the sound of sex he wasn’t involved in. And while Apoo could just as easily bang back on the wall to indicate how much he wanted the couple to shut up, he knew that it would be more beneficial in the long run to just roll back over and wait it out. 

A couple of sleepless hours later, Apoo was really beginning to wonder what he had done that merited this kind of horrific treatment. Not only have the couple next door (whom Apoo had determined were a part of that fucking redhead’s crew) not stopped their sex marathon since they started it nearly two hours ago, but a few more had decided to join in on the fun, making it near impossible for Apoo to fall back to sleep. 

Normally a sleepless night such as this wouldn’t affect Apoo very much, after all he was a pirate who enjoyed partying well into the night at whatever bar or tavern his crew happened to find. In this case however, he and everyone else on Kid’s hideout base had just finished having a massive party celebrating the ship of travelling dancers that had landed on shore just a few days previous. The party had been fun while it lasted but now Apoo was beginning to feel the exhaustion that came with such an intense session of celebration.

Apoo knew that if he had any hope of getting a good night sleep tonight, he was going to have to relocate and find someplace else. Heaving a sigh, the longarm reluctantly tore himself from the soft and warm confines of his bed, taking a pillow and blanket with him in case the floor ended up being his only option, and trudged out into the dark and empty hallway. 

At this point it didn't really matter where Apoo went, so long as wherever he ended up was quiet enough to allow him to go back to sleep for whatever amount of time remained before he’d be woken up again by the early morning hustle and bustle of the castle. As Apoo sleepily walked through the empty halls, he did his best to remember which rooms did and did not contain members of his crew. If he was going to end up crashing in someone else’s room for the night, he figured that he’d have the best luck dealing with one of his own crew members rather than those of the other two crews currently occupying this island. Unfortunately for Apoo, doors have a tendency to look very similar to one another at 4 am, and it only took a few moments for Appo to realize that he was totally lost in the labyrinth of Kid’s hideout.

One side of Apoo was getting really tired of all the nasty luck he seemed to be having tonight, and was about two seconds away from just giving up and finding a corner to curl up in. The more paranoid side of Apoo however, didn't feel like getting murdered in his sleep by leaving himself out in the open to potential attack, and instead headed over to the nearest door he could find, and knocked. 

After a few moments of waiting without any kind of response, Apoo figured that the person on the other side must not have heard him the first time, so he knocked a second time, this time a little more forcefully. A few more minutes passed and there was still no response. Now Apoo was beginning to get ticked off. As he raised his hand to bang on the door, he heard something from inside the room, a muffled sound, followed by a fairly loud banging noise and what sounded like an annoyed groan. 

A silence fell for a moment before the door clicked and slowly swung open, revealing a head of messy, curly blonde hair. 

“Basil” Apoo said in slight surprise. The last person Apoo had expected to see tonight was the infamous magician Basil Hawkins, after all, the blonde's room was located across the castle from Apoo’s, meaning that he must have walked from one end of the castle to the other in order to get here, although it didn’t seem like he went very far initially.

Once his initial shock subsided and Apoo got a good look at the man standing in front of him, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he couldn’t help but notice how different Basil looked from normal, dressed in a tattered black tank top and loose purple sari pants. The blonde looked… slimmer. Without his long cloak, sword, and metal arm thingy, Basil didn’t appear nearly as wide or robust as he had once thought he was. Alternatively however, now that it wasn’t covered by his cloak, Apoo saw that Basil’s upper body was fucking shredded. The blonde’s muscles weren’t excessively big or bulky like Killer’s or even that damn redhead’s, but even in the dark, candlelit hallway he could tell that they were incredibly powerful, and the fact that his arms and shoulders were covered in varyingly sized scars meant that Basil probably knew how to use them too, something Apoo decided he would keep in mind… just in case.

Apoo wasn’t quite sure why his brain found any of the above information to be significant in any way. Most of them were just observations that he made while staring intently at the blonde like the fucking weirdo that he is. All he knew was that in the absolute clusterfuck that was his thought process, one thought was made clear above the rest.

‘He looks really good like this!”

Before his brain could properly process this strange and cryptic thought, the sound of Basil speaking tore Apoo from his trance.

“What do you want?” the blonde groaned. His voice was raspy from sleep but it carried a very annoyed tone to it, probably from being woken up at such an early hour of the morning. Had Apoo not been so sleep deprived himself, he would have felt pretty bad about waking the blonde so early, but his brain was starting to run low on juice, so such emotional functions weren’t working as they normally do. 

“Can I sleep in here for the night?” Apoo asked bluntly, his words slightly slurred from his exhaustion. The blonde looked at him suspiciously for a moment. His eyes were squinted and his face held a calculated, albeit tired, expression. 

“No” Basil answered, already beginning to close his door. 

“Wait wait wait, hold on please, you gotta let me crash here, I’m begging you” Apoo pleaded shoving his shoulder and torso in the way of the door to prevent it from closing. 

“Why the fuck should I?” the blonde spat, his annoyance quickly turning to anger as he glared at the man currently wedged in his door and attempted to push him out of the way, so he could close the door and go back to sleep. Basil’s malicious tone and use of an actual curse word caught Apoo by surprise, as he had never heard the blonde talk in anything but a calm and proper voice, it was one of the things he found interesting about the man. His cool, calm, and collected disposition contrasted greatly with Apoo’s loud, flamboyant, and over-the-top personality. 

Appo’s pathological need to be the center of attention often drives quieter, more reserved people like Basil away, as they find him too overwhelming to be around for extended periods of time, and yet for some reason, he never felt the need to assert his presence around the blonde. 

One reason for this could be that despite having his nose almost constantly buried in his tarot cards, Basil never really ignored him whenever he attempted to initiate conversation. Most people who don’t want to talk to him just pretend like he isn’t there, and ignore any and all of his attempt at starting conversation. This kind of treatment only furthers Apoo’s drive to get their attention, however, long story short, it usually ends with Apoo stomping away furiously, muttering something about “the nerve of some people”.

With Basil however, whenever he tried talking to the blonde, he always got some kind of response back. It might not be anything more than a monosyllable or two at a time, but for some reason, his acknowledgment and willingness to, at the very least, listen to what Apoo had to say made the longarm very happy.

Although he doubted Basil thought the same, Apoo liked to believe that he and the blonde shared a comfortable friendship; Basil always listened to Apoo’s long winded rants that never really went anywhere, and so in turn, Apoo did his best to show at least a mild curiosity in some of the things that Basil was interested in, usually in the form of listening to the blonde explain the meanings and functions of the cards in his tarot deck, or simply asking for a reading.

As much as he didn’t want to upset the man by barging into his room at 4 am and infringing on his privacy, Apoo knew he was going to have to wrap this up quickly if he didn't want to spend the next hour looking for another room to stay in.

“Ok look,” Apoo began, “a group of Kid’s crewmates and some of those dancers have been having marathon sex in the room next to mine for hours, and I can’t sleep because of it.”

“And…” Basil said in a condescending voice, indicating that he really didn't care about the longarm’s plight. 

“I’ve been up for like, the past three days and I could really use some sleep.”

“And…”

“Look,” Apoo started, his voice was low and harsh, but shook slightly from fatigue and irritation, “I’ve been walking around this motherfucking labyrinth for god knows how long now, and I just want to go back to sleep. I promise I’ll be quiet, I’ll even sleep on the floor if you want me to, you won’t even know I’m here, so please for the sake of my sanity just. Let. Me. In.” Apoo pleaded desperately to the blonde.

Basil studied the man standing in his doorway. His exhaustion and frustration with the events of the past few hours were plainly visible on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and red, and his hands were shaking where they pressed against the door frame and handle, clear signs of how little sleep the long arm was running on.

Had anyone else woken him up at such an early of the morning asking to stay in his room for the night, Basil would have already denied their request and gone back to bed without so much as a second thought. Unfortunately, the longarm was doing a magnificent job of playing the few remaining heartstrings Basil had left, and the blonde slowly began to feel his own anger and exasperation toward the man shift to sympathy.

Basil groaned in tired, conflicted irritation, allowing his head to rest against the wood of the door for a moment to contemplate his options. On the one hand Basil knew he had no obligation to offer the long arm a place in his room, they were enemy pirates after all, regardless of their current alliance, and this whole thing could be an elaborate ruse that ultimately ended in his murder. On the other hand however, Basil had a very persistent and nagging feeling that he was being overly paranoid and Apoo was simply looking for somewhere to crash for a little while. 

Thinking back on it, Basil also noted how the longarm had always been rather friendly and polite to him. Apoo always said ‘hi’ whenever they ran into each other on an island, struck up casual conversation whenever the time permitted, showed somewhat of a genuine interest in how his fortune telling powers worked (even requesting a reading for himself), and hell the long arm had even saved Basil two years ago on the Sabaody Archipelago, despite the fact that the man would have clearly benefited overall from the captain of one of his main rivals being taken out before reaching the Red Line. 

All things considered, Basil couldn’t deny that the long arm had been nothing but good to him, and although he’d never admit it, he enjoyed the man’s company and enthusiasm a great deal. 

Basil had always had a great deal of difficulty making friends throughout his life. When he was a child, most kids his age avoided him because thought that he was weird, and would often claim that, due to his interest in fortune telling and “magic” as a whole, he was some kind of witch that killed innocent animals to perform blood rituals (Basil has never once harmed an innocent animal) and consumed the hearts of the living in order to further his demonic powers (he’s a vegetarian). 

This sort of treatment from those around him, including the adults, continued until well into his adult years, and led Basil to firmly believe that people suck and he didn’t need friends in order to be successful in life. While he still held onto this belief for the most part, his encounters with Apoo over the past two years have caused the long arm to become somewhat of an exception to the rule. Not only did Basil consider Apoo one of his only actual friends, but he often found himself wanting to spend time with and get to know the other man, which is strange considering that overly extravagant people like Apoo tend to annoy him more than anything else. 

Basil groaned, all this thinking was beginning to give him a headache. All he wanted right now was to go back to sleep, and the only that was going to happen was if he told Apoo that he was just going to have to find someplace else to sleep.

‘You don’t have to say yes to him’ Basil told himself, ‘Just say no, and close the door before you do something dumb, he’ll understand later on when…’

“Please Baz” Apoo pleaded in an uncharacteristically quiet and frail way. Any remaining annoyance or frustration Basil had with the man left without a trace of it even being there. Why were they even still standing there? They were both exhausted from the past few days and just wanted to go the fuck to sleep, and Basil had no more energy or willpower to fight the stubborn longarm with. And so, heaving a sigh, Basil reluctantly opening the door back up and stepped aside, allowing Apoo to enter his room.

As far as Apoo could tell, Basil’s room wasn’t any different from his own room, albeit his was far messier than the blonde’s, however Apoo didn’t care as much for the state of the bedroom as he did the large bed situated against the back wall of the room, which looked oh so warm and soft and inviting and just begging to be slept on.

“I get the right side” Basil called over his left shoulder, closing and locking the door behind him before heading to use the bathroom.

“That’s fair” Apoo replied before diving under the covers and making himself comfortable.

When Basil returned from the bathroom a few minutes later, he found the long arm fast asleep curled under the covers, a sight which reminded him of how tired he himself was. Stifling a yawn, Basil got under the covers, and thought for only a moment about how much warmer the bed was than usual, before falling into the depths of slumber himself.

Apoo glared at the wall, hoping that the couple on the other side would somehow become aware of how displeased he was with being woken up to the sound of sex he wasn’t involved in. And while Apoo could just as easily bang back on the wall to indicate how much he wanted the couple to shut up, he knew that it would be more beneficial in the long run to just roll back over and wait it out.

A couple of sleepless hours later, Apoo was really beginning to wonder what he had done that merited this kind of horrific treatment. Not only have the couple next door (whom Apoo had determined were a part of that fucking redhead’s crew) not stopped their sex marathon since they started it nearly two hours ago, but a few more had decided to join in on the fun, making it near impossible for Apoo to fall back to sleep.

Normally a sleepless night such as this wouldn’t affect Apoo very much, after all he was a pirate who enjoyed partying well into the night at whatever bar or tavern his crew happened to find. In this case however, he and everyone else on Kid’s hideout base had just finished having a massive party celebrating the ship of travelling dancers that had crash landed on shore just a few days previous. The party had been fun while it lasted but now Apoo was beginning to feel the exhaustion that came with such an intense session of celebration.

Apoo knew that if he had any hope of getting a good night sleep tonight, he was going to have to relocate and find someplace else. Heaving a sigh, the longarm reluctantly tore himself from the soft and warm confines of his bed, taking a pillow and blanket with him in case the floor ended up being his only option, and trudged out into the dark and empty hallway.

At this point it didn't really matter where Apoo went, so long as wherever he ended up was quiet enough to allow him to go back to sleep for whatever amount of time remained before he’d be woken up again by the early morning hustle and bustle of the castle. As Apoo sleepily walked through the empty halls, he did his best to remember which rooms did and did not contain members of his crew. If he was going to end up crashing in someone else’s room for the night, he figured that he’d have the best luck dealing with one of his own crew members rather than those of the other two crews currently occupying this island. Unfortunately for Apoo, doors have a tendency to look very similar to one another at 4 am, and it only took a few moments for Appo to realize that he was totally lost in the labyrinth of Kid’s hideout.

One side of Apoo was getting really tired of all the nasty luck he seemed to be having tonight, and was about two seconds away from just giving up and finding a corner to curl up in. The more paranoid side of Apoo however, didn't feel like getting murdered in his sleep by leaving himself out in the open to potential attack, and instead headed over to the nearest door he could find, and knocked.

After a few moments of waiting without any kind of response, Apoo figured that the person on the other side must not have heard him the first time, so he knocked a second time, this time a little more forcefully. A few more minutes passed and there was still no response. Now Apoo was beginning to get ticked off. As he raised his hand to bang on the door, he heard something from inside the room, a muffled sound, followed by a fairly loud banging noise and what sounded like an annoyed groan.

A silence fell for a moment before the door clicked and slowly swung open, revealing a head of messy, curly blonde hair.

“Basil” Apoo said in slight surprise. The last person Apoo had expected to see tonight was the infamous magician Basil Hawkins, after all, the blonde's room was located across the castle from Apoo’s, meaning that he must have walked from one end of the castle to the other in order to get here, although it didn’t seem like he went very far initially.

Once his initial shock subsided and Apoo got a good look at the man standing in front of him, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he couldn’t help but notice how different Basil looked from normal, dressed in a tattered black tank top and loose purple sari pants. The blonde looked… slimmer. Without his long cloak, sword, and metal arm thingy, Basil didn’t appear nearly as wide or robust as he had once thought he was. Alternatively however, now that it wasn’t covered by his cloak, Apoo saw that Basil’s upper body was fucking shredded. The blonde’s muscles weren’t excessively big or bulky like Killer’s or even that damn redhead’s, but even in the dark, candlelit hallway he could tell that they were incredibly powerful, and the fact that his arms and shoulders were covered in varyingly sized scars meant that Basil probably knew how to use them too, something Apoo decided he would keep in mind… just in case.

Another interesting discovery Apoo made while staring blankly at the man in front of him, was that his weird eyebrow-spike-things were no longer present on his face. Instead, he could make out faint, light-blonde wisps of hair along Basil’s brow bone, that were barely visible due to their lack of color, and totally impossible to see when he had his eyebrow-spike-things on.

Apoo wasn’t quite sure why his brain found any of the above information to be significant in any way. Most of them were just observations that he made while staring intently at the blonde like the fucking weirdo that he is. All he knew was that in the absolute clusterfuck that was his thought process, one thought was made clear above the rest.

‘He looks really good like this!”

Before his brain could properly process this strange and cryptic thought, the sound of Basil speaking tore Apoo from his trance.

“What do you want?” the blonde groaned. His voice was raspy from sleep but it carried a very annoyed tone to it, probably from being woken up at such an early hour of the morning. Had Apoo not been so sleep deprived himself, he would have felt pretty bad about waking the blonde so early, but his brain was starting to run low on juice, so such emotional functions weren’t working as they normally do.

“Can I sleep in here for the night?” Apoo asked bluntly, his words slightly slurred from his exhaustion. The blonde looked at him suspiciously for a moment. His eyes were squinted and his face held a calculated, albeit tired, expression.

“No” Basil answered, already beginning to close his door.

“Wait wait wait, hold on please, you gotta let me crash here, I’m begging you” Apoo pleaded shoving his shoulder and torso in the way of the door to prevent it from closing.

“Why the fuck should I?” the blonde spat, his annoyance quickly turning to anger as he glared at the man currently wedged in his door and attempted to push him out of the way, so he could close the door and go back to sleep. Basil’s malicious tone and use of an actual curse word caught Apoo by surprise, as he had never heard the blonde talk in anything but a calm and proper voice, it was one of the things he found interesting about the man. His cool, calm, and collected disposition contrasted greatly with Apoo’s loud, flamboyant, and over-the-top personality.

Appo’s pathological need to be the center of attention often drives quieter, more reserved people like Basil away, as they find him too overwhelming to be around for extended periods of time, and yet for some reason, he never felt the need to assert his presence around the blonde.

One reason for this could be that despite having his nose almost constantly buried in his tarot cards, Basil never really ignored him whenever he attempted to initiate conversation. Most people who don’t want to talk to him just pretend like he isn’t there, and ignore any and all of his attempt at starting conversation. This kind of treatment only furthers Apoo’s drive to get their attention, however, long story short, it usually ends with Apoo stomping away furiously, muttering something about “the nerve of some people”.

With Basil however, whenever he tried talking to the blonde, he always got some kind of response back. It might not be anything more than a monosyllable or two at a time, but for some reason, his acknowledgment and willingness to, at the very least, listen to what Apoo had to say made the longarm very happy.

Although he doubted Basil thought the same, Apoo liked to believe that he and the blonde shared a comfortable friendship; Basil always listened to Apoo’s long winded rants that never really went anywhere, and so in turn, Apoo did his best to show at least a mild curiosity in some of the things that Basil was interested in, usually in the form of listening to the blonde explain the meanings and functions of the cards in his tarot deck, or simply asking for a reading.

As much as he didn’t want to upset the man by barging into his room at 4 am and infringing on his privacy, Apoo knew he was going to have to wrap this up quickly if he didn't want to spend the next hour looking for another room to stay in.

“Ok look,” Apoo began, “a group of Kid’s crewmates and some of those dancers have been having marathon sex in the room next to mine for hours, and I can’t sleep because of it.”

“And…” Basil said in a condescending voice, indicating that he really didn't care about the longarm’s plight.

“I’ve been up for like, the past three days and I could really use some sleep.”

“And…”

“Look,” Apoo started, his voice was low and harsh, but shook slightly from fatigue and irritation, “I’ve been walking around this motherfucking labyrinth for god knows how long now, and I just want to go back to sleep. I promise I’ll be quiet, I’ll even sleep on the floor if you want me to, you won’t even know I’m here, so please for the sake of my sanity just. Let. Me. In.” Apoo pleaded desperately to the blonde.

Basil studied the man standing in his doorway. His exhaustion and frustration with the events of the past few hours were plainly visible on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and red, and his hands were shaking where they pressed against the door frame and handle, clear signs of how little sleep the long arm was running on.

Had anyone else woken him up at such an early of the morning asking to stay in his room for the night, Basil would have already denied their request and gone back to bed without so much as a second thought. Unfortunately, the longarm was doing a magnificent job of playing the few remaining heartstrings Basil had left, and the blonde slowly began to feel his own anger and exasperation toward the man shift to sympathy.

Basil groaned in tired, conflicted irritation, allowing his head to rest against the wood of the door for a moment to contemplate his options. On the one hand Basil knew he had no obligation to offer the long arm a place in his room, they were enemy pirates after all, regardless of their current alliance, and this whole thing could be an elaborate ruse that ultimately ended in his murder. On the other hand however, Basil had a very persistent and nagging feeling that he was being overly paranoid and Apoo was simply looking for somewhere to crash for a little while.

Thinking back on it, Basil also noted how the longarm had always been rather friendly and polite to him. Apoo always said ‘hi’ whenever they ran into each other on an island, struck up casual conversation whenever the time permitted, showed somewhat of a genuine interest in how his fortune telling powers worked (even requesting a reading for himself), and hell the long arm had even saved Basil two years ago on the Sabaody Archipelago, despite the fact that the man would have clearly benefited overall from the captain of one of his main rivals being taken out before reaching the Red Line.

All things considered, Basil couldn’t deny that the long arm had been nothing but good to him, and although he’d never admit it, he enjoyed the man’s company and enthusiasm a great deal.

Basil had always had a great deal of difficulty making friends throughout his life. When he was a child, most kids his age avoided him because thought that he was weird, and would often claim that, due to his interest in fortune telling and “magic” as a whole, he was some kind of witch that killed innocent animals to perform blood rituals (Basil has never once harmed an innocent animal) and consumed the hearts of the living in order to further his demonic powers (he’s a vegetarian).

This sort of treatment from those around him, including the adults, continued until well into his adult years, and led Basil to firmly believe that people suck and he didn’t need friends in order to be successful in life. While he still held onto this belief for the most part, his encounters with Apoo over the past two years have caused the long arm to become somewhat of an exception to the rule. Not only did Basil consider Apoo one of his only actual friends, but he often found himself wanting to spend time with and get to know the other man, which is strange considering that overly extravagant people like Apoo tend to annoy him more than anything else.

Basil groaned, all this thinking was beginning to give him a headache. All he wanted right now was to go back to sleep, and the only that was going to happen was if he told Apoo that he was just going to have to find someplace else to sleep.

‘You don’t have to say yes to him’ Basil told himself, ‘Just say no, and close the door before you do something dumb, he’ll understand later on when…’

“Please Baz” Apoo pleaded in an uncharacteristically quiet and frail way. Any remaining annoyance or frustration Basil had with the man left without a trace of it even being there. Why were they even still standing there? They were both exhausted from the past few days and just wanted to go the fuck to sleep, and Basil had no more energy or willpower to fight the stubborn longarm with. And so, heaving a sigh, Basil reluctantly opening the door back up and stepped aside, allowing Apoo to enter his room.

As far as Apoo could tell, Basil’s room wasn’t any different from his own room, albeit his was far messier than the blonde’s, however Apoo didn’t care as much for the state of the bedroom as he did the large bed situated against the back wall of the room, which looked oh so warm and soft and inviting and just begging to be slept on.

“I get the right side” Basil called over his left shoulder, closing and locking the door behind him before heading to use the bathroom.

“That’s fair” Apoo replied before diving under the covers and making himself comfortable.

When Basil returned from the bathroom a few minutes later, he found the long arm fast asleep curled under the covers, a sight which reminded him of how tired he himself was. Stifling a yawn, Basil got under the covers, and thought for only a moment about how much warmer the bed was than usual, before falling into the depths of slumber himself.

Chapter Text

An unknown amount of time later, Apoo finally woke up. Blinking tiredly around the room, the long arm felt the slightest twinge of panic begin to rise in his chest once he noticed that he was not in his own room, but the feeling was quickly calmed as the memories of wandering around the castle and then finally convincing the infamous Basil Hawkins to let him sleep in his room came rushing back to him.

Speaking of Hawkins, Apoo turned his head to the right and was met with the sight of the fortune teller, fast asleep, with only the top of his head visible from underneath the covers the blonde had managed to bury himself under. Apoo watched for a moment as the lump gently rose and fell with each breath the other man took, and in a moment of uncharacteristic boldness, Apoo reached over and carefully peeled back the covers, revealing the man underneath it.

Without his usual getup on, Hawkins looked almost like a completely different man. His facial features were more relaxed, his posture wasn’t as stiff, and his hair didn’t resemble straw nearly as much as it usually did. Apoo grabbed a few of the blonde locks and began to gently twirl them between his fingers. They were thin, much thinner than his own hair, but also soft, and had a very silky texture to them that Apoo found to be absolutely mesmerizing. 

Looking back up at his face, Apoo allowed his thumb to gently trace the dark, triangular tattoos that lined Hawkin’s brow bone, taking in every detail of the man’s face. The blonde swatted lightly at the hand touching his face and turned over so his back was facing the long-arm, but otherwise did not wake up. Apoo took this as his cue to end his slightly creepy investigation of the other man’s face, and as quickly and quietly as he could, got up from the bed, made his way out the door, and dashed back toward his own room to get dressed.

It was already noon by the time Apoo entered the dining call of the castle, his stomach grumbling earnestly after having missed breakfast. He caught sight of the assholes who shared the room next to his and had to resist the urge to go over and tear them all new assholes for keeping him up half the night. Thankfully, the breakfast bar that had been oh so kindly filled with all sorts of delicious treats was enough of an incentive to pull Apoo’s thoughts away from murder, and toward the tray of blueberry muffins he planned on stuffing his face with.

“Hey you” a gruff voice rudely calls, pulling Apoo from his thoughts just in time to turn around and see a tall man with dark eyes, sharp facial features, and dark brown hair tied back in dreadlocks. If Apoo remembered correctly, this man was Hawkins’ second in command, or was it third? He could never remember whether it was this guy or the cat mink who was the vice-captain.

“Hey, I’m talking to you” The man says roughly, taking a step toward Apoo but otherwise keeping his voice down as to avoid drawing attention. Apoo narrowed his eyes at the man, confused as to what his problem was, or why he seemed to be going out of his way to avoid drawing a crowd.

“What do you want?” Apoo replies, keeping his own voice low but straightening to his full height, ready to defend or retaliate if the situation called for it. 

The man’s scowl persisted across his features, but he made no further attempts to step in closer. “Just what kind of game do you think you’re playing?” He growls, venom practically seeping out of his voice.

“What do you mean?” The longarm asks, regards the man’s hostility with confusion, and perhaps a touch of curiosity. 

“Oh I think you know exactly what I mean “ Roar of the Sea ”” the man counters, placing a sarcastic and condescending amount of emphasis on his moniker, which in any other situation probably wouldn’t have bothered Apoo, but the fact that this guy, whatever the fuck his name was, was accusing him of a crime that he wouldn’t even tell him of, was really starting to piss Apoo off. 

“Uh, no, I don’t, so if you want me to be sorry, or, you know, not sorry, for whatever the hell I did, then I suggest you actually tell me what it is so that I can decide if I give a shit or not” Apoo bites back, leaning forward so that he and the man were at eye level. The man doesn’t back away like Apoo had hoped, but the longarm could make out a twinkle of fear in the man’s eyes hidden behind a mask of defiance, so he supposes that counts as a victory.

The man groans and grinds his teeth in annoyance, lowering his voice even more before speaking. “Alright look, everybody else here might be willing to go along with your “friendly neighborhood DJ” act, but I know that you’re hiding something behind that stupid little forehead of yours, so whatever it is, you’d better keep it well away from Captain Hawkins.”

“Hawkins? What’s he got to do with this?” Apoo asks, still confused as to what this asshole is talking about.

“Don’t play dumb with me you slimy little snake, I saw you worm your way into Captain Hawkins’ room last night, and there’s no good reason why you would want to get in there if you didn’t have something up your colorful little sleeves. So, just in case my point isn't already clear enough for you, whatever it is you did last night, I’m giving you 5 minutes to undo it before I slice you to pieces and feed you to your own damn crew” the man demands harshly, placing a hand on the sword by his hip for emphasis. If it weren’t for the fact that he found this whole situation hilarious, Apoo might have been intimidated by the man’s threats, but he wasn’t, and so the only response he gave was a deep, baritone laugh that echoed throughout the halls of the dining room, causing all eyes in the room to shift onto them.

A cocky smirk settles onto Apoo’s face as he regards the man standing in front of him, this time incapable of keeping the fear and nervousness that he feels from his facial features, despite being the only one of the two whose actually armed. 

“Listen buddy, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but it sounds to me like you want to start something. Now I’m not usually the kind of guy to go all out on small fries like you, but if you’re looking for a fight, then I’m more than happy to provide. Just don’t blame me when your crew mates have to scrape you off the wall by the time I’m done with you” Apoo says, confidence practically oozing out of his pores as he revels in the now seething look the man is giving him.

“You. Little. CUNT!” The man roars, unsheathing his sword and swinging it wildly in Apoo’s direction. Having anticipated such a reaction, Apoo takes a deep breath in, crosses his arms over his face, and readies himself to defend as the sword descends toward his neck. The blow never lands, and a moment of tense silence passes as Apoo waits for an attack that never comes. Lowering his arms, the longarm is shocked by what he sees.

Standing behind the man, towering over him with a fearsomely harsh gaze etched onto his face, grasping the back of the blade in a firm grip, halting the weapon’s attack mid-swing, was Basil Hawkins, fully dressed and proper, unlike how Apoo saw him last night. 

“What. Do you think. You are doing ?” The blonde asks slowly, his piercing glare focused entirely upon his subordinate, who flinches, his hands now shaking, at his captain’s venomous tone.

“C-captain Hawkins I-I was just…” the man stammers, releasing his grip on the handle of the sword to duck out of the way of his captain’s reach, his head lowered in fear and shame. 

Hawkins takes a step toward his subordinate and in a low, sharp voice whispers “Do you have any idea what you were just about to do? Do you have any idea of the pandemonium you were about to throw us into?”

“Captain Hawkins, please let me explain. That man, he’s…”

“I know exactly who he is and what he’s capable of” Hawkins bites, cutting the man off before he could finish. “You, on the other hand, seem to have forgotten the rather delicate situation surrounding this whole “alliance”, if you’re attempt on another captain’s life says anything.”

“I know sir, and I apologize. But I just wanted to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary took place last night when he…”

“And you don’t think me perfectly capable of handling myself?” Hawkins asks, straightening up and raising his voice so the whole dining hall could hear him. The question was clearly rhetorical in nature, and Hawkins was clearly looking for one answer only.

The man ducks his head shamefully. “No sir” he replies, his voice barely above a whisper.

Satisfied with the response he got, Hawkins returns the sword to his subordinate, before turning to a grinning Apoo, who was more than pleased with the man getting his just desserts. Just as the longarm was about to say something, something smooth, complementing the blonde’s command over his crew, Hawkins shot forward and grabbed Apoo by the collar, yanking the taller man down so that their faces were barely an inch apart, his expression contorted into a furious scowl. 

“As for you ” Hawkins growls, his grip on Apoo’s shirt tightening until it becomes slightly difficult for the longarm to breathe.

“I’m going to say this once, and only once. Stay away from my crew, or I will take a great deal of pleasure in separating your head, from your neck” the blonde says, punctuating his threat by running his thumb along the front of Apoo’s throat. Apoo swallows nervously as the digit pushes against his adam’s apple, his nail digging slightly into the tender flesh of the other man’s neck. Once finished, Hawkins releases his grip on Apoo’s shirt and steps back before turning away to return to his crew. 

Apoo stands, rooted in his original spot, staring intensely at the back of the man who had just threatened to decapitate him in front of everyone in the dining hall. Apoo’s heart pounds violently against his rib cage and sweat trickles down the back of his neck as the longarm struggles to catch his breath. Ironically, it wasn’t fear or terror that seized the longarm despite the perpetrator having already let him go, but rather a sick, twisted, and filthy jolt of excitement that set his pulse racing. 

A moment of dazed staring passes before Apoo snaps out of it, realizing that everyone was staring at him now, their gazes a mixture of sadistic amusement and confused apprehension. Straightening himself up, Apoo quickly moves away from the breakfast bar and hightails it out of the dining hall, muttering something in response to whatever his vice captain’s concerned question was as he exits the room, trying his best to calm the storm currently raging in his chest. 

Chapter Text

Several days have passed since Apoo’s rather hostile confrontation with Hawkins in the dining hall. Needless to say that after the aforementioned blonde’s rather pointed threat against him, the longarm had wisely decided to keep his distance from the Hawkin’s pirates, and their terrifying captain. Unfortunately for Apoo, it would appear as though keeping his distance from Hawkins did not make it any easier to keep his mind, or his dick, off the blonde for very long.

Apoo had played the memory of the event over and over in his mind a million times by this point. The way Hawkins had moved with such power and grace, drawing him in until their noses nearly touched, the blonde’s delicate fingers wrapped tightly around the collar of his shirt, allowing no room for escape, those gorgeous eyes boring deep into his soul as he spoke, and his voice, a low and smooth song that sounded oh so beautiful on the surface, but also inspired a feeling of danger and caution in all those who heard it.

Objectively speaking, Apoo knew that he was romanticizing everything about the encounter. Given the opportunity, Hawkins would absolutely chop his head clean off if the blonde saw it a necessary thing to do, after all, alliance or not, they were still very much rival pirate captains, and apparently Hawkins didn’t react well to people messing with his crew. Despite this, as Apoo sat across from the fortune teller, completely ignoring everything Kid and Killer had to say about their upcoming plans, he couldn’t help the sudden jolts of excitement and arousal that flashed throughout his body every time the blonde glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

This was another recent development since the dining hall incident that Apoo wasn’t sure what to do about. The flashes of heat and intrigue that shook Apoo to his very core every time Hawkins so much as looked his way were unexpected and unwanted, but at the same time, were not entirely new either.

Although it wasn't a subject that came up very often, it was no secret amongst anyone who knew Apoo that he was not picky when it came to his choice of sexual partners, and this applied to the gender of said partners as well. Needless to say that Hawkins was far from the first man Apoo had ever found attractive, but he was certainly the most… unique, of all his potential targets. His dark and gothic persona, coupled with his long, sharp features and bold choice of tattoos, were almost the polar antithesis to the bright, outgoing, and high-energy types of men Apoo usually went after, and yet while Apoo’s previous flings had managed to elicit little more than curiosity or interest out of the longarm, Hawkins was slowly but surely becoming the only thing that Apoo can think about, his need to reclaim the magician’s trust and good favor, and maybe even something more, growing more and more urgent with each passing day.

Unfortunately these feelings were very quickly beaten down and replaced with dejected disappointment, when Hawkins’ neutral expression shifted into an annoyed scowl every time he noticed the longarm staring at him. 

Looking back on it, Apoo knew he deserved it to a certain degree. Sure it was technically Hawkins’ subordinate who started the whole thing, both the discussion as well as the physical attack, but Apoo could have very easily ended the encounter and gone on his merry way without provoking a fight if he had wanted to. He didn’t want to though, he’d been looking for a fight and Hawkins’ mate had been more than happy to give it to him after just a few playful jabs, and now Apoo was paying the price for his childishness in the form of following the tarot reader around like a lost puppy dog, desperately trying to get Hawkins to talk to him again, which was proving to be an almost futile task.

Oh the things that Apoo would give to see the corners of the blonde’s lips curve upwards whenever their eyes met from across the table, even if it were only for a second, rather than the distrustful glare he was getting now.

“I think that about wraps up everything we wanted to talk about today” Killer says, the sudden presence of his voice snapping Apoo out of his dazed staring. “Are there any questions?”

Naturally everyone present in the meeting remains silent, not wanting to prolong the diplomatic torture any longer than necessary. Killer dismisses them all and exits the room with Kid, likely to prevent the redhead from saying or doing something that could result in any more of the ceiling being blown off. On any other day Apoo would have been more than happy to spend the remainder of the afternoon annoying the ever living shit out of the red headed asshole, provoking him into some sort of physical altercation that ultimately ended in him getting yelled at by Killer, but today, Apoo had a different goal in mind. 

Apoo remained seated in his chair for a few moments, trying to avoid staring directly at Hawkins as he casually waits for everyone to exit the room. Thankfully the blonde magician makes no move to get up from his respective seat, which is exactly what Apoo was hoping for, but the leftover stragglers from the meeting who have yet to leave the room are making getting Hawkins alone so that Apoo can talk to him privately, rather difficult. 

Then again, come to think of it, what should Apoo do once they were finally alone? Over the course of the past week, Hawkins has made his apprehension and hostility toward the long arm more than apparent. Not only has Hawkins refused to talk to him unless absolutely necessary, but he’s also avoided Apoo like the plague as well, going as far as to outright leave a room the second the brunette enters. If Hawkins was trying to send the message that he wanted nothing to do with Apoo at the moment, well he could rest assured that the message had been received loud and clear. With a dejected sigh, Apoo finally relents, deciding to let time mellow out Hawkins’ anger toward him for a little bit, before trying to smooth things over some other time.

Apoo gets up from his seat and exits the meeting room to go find the rest of his crew and bother them until he felt better, completely oblivious to the pair of ruby red eyes that were trained on the back of his head.

For as long as Hawkins could remember, Scratchmen Apoo had been nothing short of an enigma to him, an unknown factor in his life that even his cards couldn't effectively predict. The fact that they weren’t properly introduced to each other until they arrived at Eustass’ secret hideout only served to increase the mystery surrounding this strange and unusual man.

Based on their first encounters, Apoo seemed to be nothing more than a loud, idiotic, and foolish individual, who’s pathological need to be the center of attention, combined with his rather eccentric devil fruit power, had immediately eliminated any mystery and intrigue Hawkins had in the longarm. At least… it did at first, but as time passed, Hawkins learned that there was far more to Scratchmen Apoo than the ridiculous theatrical act he puts on.

Hawkins hadn’t believed it at first when his cards first warned him to be wary of the long armed musician, wondering if perhaps he’d made some sort of mistake, but after observing Apoo a number of times after said reading, the tarot reader had come to learn that the cards had not been lying. Behind the loud and ridiculous theatrical act that Apoo was known to put on, lived a sharp and tactical mind, constantly thinking, constantly scheming, trying to figure out how he can turn whatever situation he’s in to his advantage, to further his own goals. On top of that, his naturally charming and happy-go-lucky personality not only made it easy for him to smooth talk his way in and out of unfavorable situations, but it also revealed a much more sly and cunning side to him that Hawkins had been unable to detect when they’d first met. 

Apoo had never been outwardly hostile or seemed to have any ulterior motives during the times they’ve spoken since arriving at Kid’s base, in fact, Apoo had been nothing short of polite and gentlemanly in all their previous interactions. He clearly had no idea as to how Hawkins powers worked but he seemed to have a certain appreciation for them, which Hawkins admittedly found to be rather odd, and perhaps the smallest bit flattering. However, upon learning more and more about Apoo’s secret cleverness and his innate ability to manipulate those around him, Hawkins couldn’t help but become slightly more guarded around him, not wanting to fall victim to whatever trap the musician was attempting to bait him into.

The closest comparison Hawkins could make to how easily Apoo could read and manipulate the people around him, would be with his own tarot cards, which Hawkins had been using for so long that he didn’t really even need to think in order to use them anymore. Honestly, Hawkins wouldn’t be surprised if Apoo worked much the same way, capable of manipulating the people around him to do what he wants them to do without even having to think about it. A skill that he’s cultivated and mastered to the point where its an unconscious act that’s worked seamlessly into his daily life and interactions.

Learning all this made Hawkins realize that Scratchmen Apoo was not some idiotic fool who just happened to stumble into the New World, like he had originally thought. Apoo was just as much, if not more, of a threat to Hawkins and his own personal goals as any of the other Supernovas, and if the incident in the dining hall was any indication, he was going to have to be very careful if he wanted to keep both himself, and his crew safe, from whatever dangers the longarm posed.

But then… there was the night before that incident to take into consideration as well.

As much as Hawkins hated to admit it, allowing Apoo into his room that night had been less a calculated decision, and more an exhausted oversight. He’d gotten very little sleep the previous few nights due to the “nightly activities” of the various occupants in the rooms neighboring his, and finding Apoo standing at his door at 3 or 4 in the morning on the one night he had managed to fall into a decent slumber, was not helping the situation in the least bit. Hawkins had been absolutely exhausted, and despite his reservations on allowing the other pirate captain into his temporary chambers, the desire to crawl back into his bed and get some goddamn sleep was far greater than whatever danger Apoo could pose in his equally exhausted state. So he caved, and allowed Apoo to spend the night in his room, in his bed, side-by-side next to each other, and… nothing happened. Well, there was the brief moment when Apoo had touched Hawkin’s hair and face as the blonde pretended to sleep in the hopes that any awkward conversations could be avoided, but the touch had been surprisingly soft and gentle, and did not persist any further after Hawkins swatted his hand away, but past that, nothing had transpired between the two captains.

Hawkins still isn’t entirely sure why he’s surprised that nothing had happened in the time between when Apoo entered his room and when the longarm had finally left later that morning. To be quite honest, Hawkins isn’t entirely sure what he expected to happen when Apoo entered his room. A surprise attack maybe? A friendly conversation? Sex?

The blonde stiffens in his seat and shakes his head at that last thought. No, absolutely not. Hawkins has done many things since becoming a pirate that he’d never have imagined in his wildest dreams he’d ever do, but there was absolutely no way in hell he’d ever indulge in such an intimate and personal affair with another rival pirate captain, much less with a man like Scratchmen Apoo.

Now, to be fair, engaging in acts of carnal desire with other men wasn't something that Hawkins was particularly unfamiliar with. Throughout his journey in the Grand Line and New World, the magician has taken on several different lovers from the various islands he stumbled across, people who he could offer, and in turn, could offer him a good time, without the expectation of anything serious of long lasting coming out of it. Although Hawkins can appreciate the beauty and softness of the female variety, he has long since accepted his much greater preference for strong chiseled muscles, calloused hands, deep baritone voices, and the inexplicable rush of excitement and arousal that comes with sleeping with another man.

Technically speaking, Apoo checked off many of the different things that Hawkins found attractive in a man. He was tall, had broad shoulders, a muscular build, beautifully silky looking hair, large hands, a pleasant sounding voice (when he wasn't screaming or shouting, at least), and a handsome-looking face to top it all off. Scratchmen Apoo might not be the picture perfect version of what most people would think a good-looking man is, but Hawkins had never been interested in the cookie-cutter pretty boys that many people found attractive these days. Hawkins liked men, not little boys, and for all his flaws and drawbacks, there was no denying that Apoo had an inexplicable charm to him that the blonde was finding more and more difficult to ignore as Apoo tried desperately to talk to him.

After Apoo had blatantly taunted his 2nd mate into an attack that would have shattered the alliance to pieces, Hawkins had decided to put as much distance between himself, his crew, and Apoo, as he possibly could. The longarm was a threat, Hawkins reminded himself as he watched the longarm exit the dining hall after threatening to decapitate him should he try anything funny like that ever again, and threats were much easier to deal with before they became a problem, rather than after. The only logical thing for Hawkins to do to prevent the musician from becoming a danger to him and his crew, was to isolate himself from the other man until he eventually got bored and stopped trying to engage with Hawkins.

Unfortunately this was proving to be much more difficult than Hawkins had originally thought, as Apoo continued, day after day, to try and get something out of the tarot reader. Honestly, Hawkins was a little impressed with Apoo’s determination. Most people would have abandoned him by how if he’d given them the treatment he were giving Apoo, and yet his voluntary silence only seemed to drive the longarm to try even harder. The look of disappointment and dejection on his face once Apoo finally did give up for the day almost made Hawkins feel bad for ignoring him. Almost.

Oh how the tarot reader hated the small twinge of guilt that flashed in his chest every time he saw the musician staring at him, looking more and more like a kicked puppy the longer Hawkins went without talking to him. Why did he care so much about this? It’s not like he and Apoo were particularly close or anything, their relationship thus far was barely more than tolerable acquaintances, if even that. So why was Apoo acting so strange and clingy toward him all of a sudden? And more importantly, why the hell did Hawkins care?

Knowing that his crew was aware of the other captain spending a night in his room was embarrassing enough as it is, but the fact that Hawkins now had to deal with Apoo’s sudden strange behavior was an emotional trial that he would rather not have to deal with at the present moment, or at any moment really. His crew were good men, who respected and looked after their captain, and Hawkins in turn respected and looked after them, so he wasn’t worried about rumors or gossip being spread to the other crews, speculating what went on the night Scratchmen Apoo managed to worm his way into Hawkins’ room. That being said however, that doesn’t mean that his men were necessarily above discussing their speculations amongst themselves, wondering if perhaps Captain Hawkins had made a new lover out of the rival pirate captain.

The only person who seemed even the slightest bit bothered by that idea was Hawkins’ second mate, who seemed to have a pretty significant grudge against the long arm since his “lovely discussion”, as Faust so kindly put it, with Apoo in the dining hall, and loathed to even think of the possibility that his captain was associating himself with “a technicolored snake wrapped in the scales of deceit” as he had so kindly called him.

Hawkins merely rolled his eyes at the memory and returned to his cards, trying to figure out what the best course of action for dealing with this situation was. Obviously ignoring it and hoping it would go away had proved to be a massive failure thus far, but Hawkins wasn’t sure if dealing with it directly would result in anything better. Should he try talking to Apoo again and potentially run right into the trap the longarm has set for him, or worse, risk rumors of them being secret lovers spreading to the other crews? Or should he just keep ignoring Apoo and remain at a distance from the long armed musician?

With a 92% accuracy, apparently ignoring Apoo was only going to lead to even more unfavorable things unfolding between them, their crews, and even the alliance.

Hawkins sighs tiredly, not liking what the cards were telling him, but also not willing to risk putting his crew in danger over a relatively petty argument. 

Putting his cards away in his pocket, Hawkins finally stands from his seat, exiting the now empty room to go find Faust and compare readings. Hopefully after realizing that Hawkins was not to be trifled with, Apoo would be a bit more respectful and cautious around him and his crew. Although the magician was more than tired of dealing with this stupid situation, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little excited to have some company when he read his cards again. The room was always unusually quiet whenever Apoo wasn’t around to fill the silence.

Hawkins could never quite figure out why this bothered him.

Chapter Text

“LAST CALL FOR THE SUPPLY RUN! IF YOU’RE NOT GETTING ON THEN YOU’D BETTER MAKE SURE A MEMBER OF YOUR CREW CAN GET WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED FOR YOU, ‘CUZ WE’RE NOT DOING THIS AGAIN UNTIL NEXT MONTH!” A member of Kid’s crew yells loudly from the bottom of the gangplank of a ship that was about to set sail for the nearest large island about an hour or so away from where Kid’s personal hideout was. 

Being the HQ for a major group of pirates, the island wasn't exactly a part of any supply drop system that could bring in necessary supplies to stock up the empty pantries, so various members of the crew had to take a trip to various islands at least once every few months to purchase the supplies they need to get by. Since the Hawkins and On Air pirates started staying on the island for the alliance, that number of supply runs they needed to make in order to keep everyone fed and drunk increased exponentially, though the other two pirate crews did pitch in to help pay for supplies as well, which helped. 

Today was the day that the monthly supply run trip would take place, and this time around, Apoo had decided to tag along for the ride, if only to be able to get off Kid’s island and stretch his legs a little bit, maybe explore a new island while he’s at it. To make matters even better, upon walking onto the ship that would take them to the island, Apoo was immediately met with the sight of Hawkins, sitting off by himself in the corner with his tarot cards, who apparently would also be coming along for the supply run.

Recently he and Hawkins have been getting along far more amicably than they were before. Things weren’t exactly back to the way they were before; Apoo could clearly tell that the blonde was still very wary around him, but Hawkins no longer avoided him like the plague, and had even gone back to initiating conversation with him every so often, so Apoo supposes that he should be thankful for that at least.

A wide grin spreading across his face, Apoo makes a beeline toward the blonde, ignoring the confused looks from his fellow crewmen after noticing that their captain has abandoned them. “Hey Hawkins” Apoo greets casually, leaning an elbow against the railing of the ship that Hawkins was sat on.

Red eyes glance at Apoo for a brief moment before returning to the spread of cards in front of him. “Hello” Hawkins greets back, placing another card.

“I see you’ll be coming along for the supply run this time?” Apoo asks, already knowing the answer, but just wanting to hear Hawkins’ voice, even if it's only monosyllables. 

“Yes” the blonde confirms, his tone even and smooth. “I assume you’ll doing the same?”

“Yup!” Apoo says with a nod of his head. “I mean, I guess I could just let my boys go and get the supplies on their own, it’s not like I don’t trust them or anything, but I’ve been getting a little antsy lately so I figured I’d come along and give them a hand in getting everything.”

Hawkins hums in response, an acknowledgement that he’d heard what Apoo had said. 

“What about you?” The brunette asks, “What brings you along today?”

“Much the same reason as you” Hawkins answers. “There are a few things I need that are a bit less common than what you would find on your average grocery list, and require more effort in acquiring. While I’m sure my crew could handle it if I asked them to purchase these items for me, it's usually better for everyone in the long run if I go out and buy them myself.”

“Ooooh, I see. So what are these “less common items” that you need to buy?” Apoo asks curiously, wondering what on earth it was that Hawkins could possibly need to buy that you wouldn’t be able to find at your local market.

Red eyes leave the spread of cards splayed out before him to lock with the Royal Blue ones that are looking curiously at him. 

Hawkins huffs a breath before saying, “I fail to see how that’s any of your business. You aren’t planning on following me around all day are you?”

Apoo shrugs his shoulder. “Who knows. I don’t really have anything specific I need to do, so if you’re planning on doing something interesting I might tag along for the ride.”

Hawkins hums but says nothing further as he directs his attention back to his cards. Apoo busies himself by beginning to talk about everything and nothing while Hawkins continues to read his cards, honestly not really caring if Hawkins is actually listening to him, just glad to have the blonde tolerating his presence once again.

With everyone on board finally ready, the ship departs from port, beginning the journey toward the nearest island for the supply run.

About an hour or so later, the ship finally docks as a moderately sized island that was decent enough to have things like shops, markets, and hospitals, but wasn’t quite big enough to merit a whole lot of attention from the world government, and so was a decent halfway point for civilians wanting a peaceful life, and pirates who wanted to fly under the radar and avoid getting involved with the marines. Once the ship is fully docked, the men all begin shuffling their way down the gangplank and splitting off in various directions to go retrieve the items they were instructed to buy, or just to wander around and see if there was anything interesting to do in the meantime.

“Hey Apoo, where ya goin’?” A member of the brunette’s crew asks as Apoo hightails it off the ship without them.

“I’m going to get a few things, go on without me, I'll catch up with you guys later” Apoo responds, sticking close to Hawkins as the blonde exits the ship, before disappearing into the crowd. 

As the two captains push their way through the thick crowds of people that filled the narrow streets of the marketplace, Apoo takes a moment to look around at the various goods the stalls had to offer, not looking for anything in particular, but just seeing if there was anything that caught his eye. Hawkins on the other hand doesn’t appear to have nearly as much interest in what these vendors have for sale, so Apoo doesn't get quite as good of a look around as he would have liked, not wanting to lose the blonde in the crowd.

After a few moments of walking, Hawkins makes a sudden turn into a small alley between two shops, quickly making his way deeper into the dark alleyway. As Apoo follows behind the blonde, a nervous, slightly anxious feeling settles in his chest, as the pair leave the bright and cheery marketplace, ending up in a darker, dingier part of town, filled with lots of creepy and degenerate looking men who gave him dirty looks every time Apoo so much as casts a glance at them.

“Hey uh, Hawkins? What is it you said you needed to get again?” Apoo asks, leaning in to whisper in the blonde’s ears as they continue to walk down the dilapidated cobblestone road. 

“You’ll see” Hawkins replies, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he looks back at the nervous-looking brunette walking behind him.

A few moments later, Hawkins appears to find the building he is looking for, a tall dark cobblestone building with dark windows, a cracked and worn out sign with a medicine bottle painted on to it, and a wooden roof that looked like it was one light drizzle away from caving in. The front door to the building creeks open before Hawkins can even touch the door knob, and Apoo steps to hide behind the tarot reader as they peer inside the dark and eerie looking building, a sudden gust of cold wind pushing them from behind.

“Well don’t just stand there, either come inside or get lost” An old, gravely voice barks, the man it belongs to still hidden from view from where Hawkins and Apoo are standing.

“Uh, Hawkins, not to question your judgement or anything, but are you sure this is the kind of place you wanna be hanging around, I mean- HEY, where’re you going?” The brunette suddenly yells when Hawkins enters the building, leaving Apoo behind to stand in the alley. Despite his reservations, Apoo quickly follows behind, not wanting to be left alone in this terrifying place.

The inside of the building is much smaller than Apoo had expected it to be, having to duck down so that his head doesn't smack against the ceiling as he enters. As the brunette looks around the room, a chill runs down his spine as he notices a variety of very odd and strange objects that appear to be for sale. Skulls, black cauldrons, various dismembered organs and body parts that are suspended in jars, as well as a few books here and there with symbols on the spines that Apoo has never seen before, but for some reason can tell that they probably shouldn’t be messed with. 

Hawkins on the other hand doesn't appear nearly as put off by the creepy and, quite frankly, terrifying decor that lines the walls and shelves of the tiny shop. In fact, the blonde doesn't even seem to notice the strange decor as he approaches a counter at the back of the small shop, behind which sits an old, decrepit man, counting out money and writing things down on a piece of paper.

“What do you want?” The man asks, not even bothering to look up from his work as Hawkins approaches.

Hawkins pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to the man. “You wouldn’t happen to have any of these items in stock would you?”

The man swipes the piece of paper out of Hawkins’ hand and takes a look at it, his wrinkled eyes narrowing as they descend down the piece of parchment. The old man scoffs, practically throwing the piece of paper back at Hawkins, much to Apoo’s surprise and shock. 

“Ha, typical. You whippersnappers are all the same, coming into my shop and asking for all sorts of illegal substances that you can for a spot of “fun”, thinking that I would stoop so low as to even consider selling such abhorrent things. I’ll have you know that this is a place of healing, and only items that go towards healing can be found-”

Halfway through the old man’s long winded rant, Hawkins reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a large sack of money, throwing it down on the table in front of the man, a few gold coins rolling out onto the counter when the bag lands.

“How about now?” Hawkins asks, his voice as even and level as it had always been.

The old man stares down at the large sack of cash in front of him, casting a wary glance up at Hawkins every so often as he examines the pile of money. “Let me check the back” the old man mutters under his breath, as he hops off his stool and hobbles through a curtain to the back of the shop, leaving Hawkins and Apoo alone in the front room for a moment. 

Apoo glances nervously around as silence fills the room, unsure what to say right now, or if he should say anything right now.

Illegal substances? A spot of fun? What the hell was that old man talking about? Was… was Hawkins buying drugs?

Glancing at the blonde out of the corner of his eye, as he pretended to take interest in the books on the shelf to his right, Apoo surveyed Hawkins, taking in the tall, elegant looking features of the other man. He certainly didn't look or act like a drug user, in fact Apoo wasn’t even sure if he’d seen Hawkins drink before, save for the occasional glass of wine he had with lunch of dinner back at Kid’s hideout, so to find out that Hawkins indulged in illegal paraphernalia, literal drugs that he got from a shady place in the back alley of some random island, was nothing short of a total surprise as far as Apoo was concerned.

What kind of drugs did Hawkins do? How often did he do them? Were they “bad” drugs? Were they even drugs at all? Why was Hawkins acting like he was picking up milk from the grocery store rather than doing a shady deal with a shady old man in an even shadier back alleyway? All these questions and more bounced around in the back of Apoo’s head as he continued to stare at Hawkins.

“Something the matter, Scratchmen?” Hawkins asks, turning his gaze to look at Apoo once the blonde notices the long arm staring at him, an unusually pensive expression etched across his features.

Apoo sputtered, nearly knocking a glass orb off one of the tables as he attempts to defend himself. “What, who, me? Oh no, nothing’s wrong, I was just, uh, you know, looking around, checking out all the… interesting products this guy has in stock...” Apoo rambles on and on, his words trailing off as he casts another glance at all the creepy shit around this place.

Hawkins huffs a small laugh as the other man gazes apprehensively around the room. “Really? Because it certainly seems like you’ve been staring at me nonstop for the part 5 minutes. I take it this isn't what you had in mind when I said I had some personal items to collect, is it?”

Apoo gulps, the question Hawkins asked him clearly rhetorical in nature. “Uh… no, this wasn’t what I had in mind, but given all the weird shit I’m into, I don’t think I’m in much of a position to judge” Apoo says hastily, a nervous smile spreading across his face.

Hawkins raises a questioning eyebrow, but huffs something close to a laugh before turning back to regard the old man, who has finally returned from the back room with a few decent sized bags, that contain the items that Hawkins had requested. Apoo sighs in relief, glad to have said the correct thing and not accidentally upset the blonde. The last thing Apoo needs or wants right now is to foolishly say something without thinking and lose what little good favor he’s managed to gain back with Hawkins since the tarot reader started talking to him again.

“Alright, I have everything you requested right here” the old man says gruffly, tossing the bags onto the counter next to the pile of cash Hawkins had thrown down earlier, before reaching to grab his abacus and begin tallying up the final total. While the old man is busy doing his thing, Hawkins pulls his items toward him and begins to inspect the products inside each one, nodding to himself once he’s satisfied that the bag contains the correct type and amount he was expecting. 

“And with everything here, your total comes out to… 987 berris even” the old man says bluntly, casting his gaze up to Hawkins, who is still going through his purchase.

Without looking up from what he’s doing, Hawkins pushes the bag of money toward the old man. “There’s 1000 in there, you can count it yourself if you like.”

Apoo stands awkwardly toward the front of the shop as he waits for the transaction to be finished, not wanting to rush Hawkins and cause the blonde to make a mistake, but also very much wanting to get the hell out of here and get back to the market where it was safe, and the chances of them being jumped by some crazy drug addict were significantly lower. Soon enough however, Hawkins closes the final bag and stands back upright, a pleased expression on his face.

“I must admit, you’re products are of excellent quality. I’m impressed” Hawkins says, regarding the old man as he counts out the money Hawkins owes him. 

The old man scoffs. “Of course they’re of excellent quality, what the hell did you expect? I’m a healer after all, and thus I provide only the best and highest quality products for my clients. What did you take me for, some cheap back alley dealer?”

Hawkins hums, but otherwise shows no reaction to the man’s words. “Well I was certainly pleased to see that this island had a legitimate shop to purchase from rather than a street name and a pseudonym, but there are still a variety of different reasons why one would want to be careful when making these sorts of purchases.”

“And why’s that?” The old man asks, looking up at Hawkins with narrowed eyes.

A ghost of a smile spreads across Hawkins lips as he leans down to meet the older man in the eye. “Because for every time I’ve been swindled by a shady man in a back alley, there have been 3 times as many salesmen such as yourself, who claim that their products are of the best quality and highest grade, only for me to later learn that wasn’t even remotely the case. Say what you will about the “legitimacy” of your shop, but at least the shady man in the back alley never tried to convince me to pay 10 times market price for oregano” Hawkins says pointedly, returning to his full height once he’s done. The old man looks like he wants to say something in response to Hawkins’ previous statement, but after a moment of his mouth opening and closing, he simply remains silent, albeit visibly disgruntled.

“Whatever, here’s your change, now get the hell out of here” the old man growls, handing Hawkins’ his change and hopping down from his seat, hobbling into the back without another word.

Apoo stares at the retreating man in confusion for a moment before something is roughly shoved into his arms.

“Here hold these” Hawkins orders, passing three of the 6 total bags into Apoo’s arms, before picking up the other three and exiting the shop. Apoo once again stands rooted to his spot in confusion, staring at the back of Hawkins’ head for a moment, before finally realizing that he’d been left alone in the creepy shop, and hightailing it out of the shop after Hawkins.

“Woah, woah, Hawkins wait for me will ya?” Apoo calls as he runs out of the shop, slowing only once he’s managed to catch up with the blonde, but still keeping his guard up in case anything, or anyone, tries to jump at them.

A moment of silence passes between the two before Apoo finally speaks up.

“Sooooo, uh… that was interesting” Apoo comments, unsure of what else to say about whatever the fuck that whole experience just then was.

Hawkins shrugs nonchalantly. “I suppose it was if you aren’t used to it, but with all the “interesting encounters” I’ve had over the years, that one was by far one of the most mundane.”

“Riiiiiiiight” Apoo says slowly, unsure if he wants Hawkins to elaborate on what he means by ‘interesting encounters’.

“I must admit though, I was a bit surprised by your behavior” Hawkins says suddenly, casting the long arm a glance out the corner of his eye.

Apoo raises a questioning eyebrow. “How so?” He asks.

“Perhaps this is simply a case of misjudgment on my part” Hawkins begins, adjusting his grip on the bags in his hands “but given your general disposition and utter obsession with parties, I suppose I assumed you were well acquainted with drugs in their concept and use, though clearly that isn’t the case.”

Apoo laughs out loud for a moment before quieting back down. “Yaaaaa, no, I’m not much of a drug user. I guess I can see why you would think that, I probably act like I’m high on something most of the time, but that’s just my general personality. No, my “acquaintance” with drugs began and ended at a house party I went to when I was 16, where some random chick I didn't even know decided to shove a needle full of… something into the side of my neck, after which I promptly blacked out from an opioid overdose. I woke up in the hospital 24 hours later to my very worried and upset parents threatening to ground me for the rest of my life, and vowed to never do drugs like that ever again. Fast forward 15 years and I've done a pretty good job of sticking to that vow.”

Hawkins huffs a small chuckle and rolls his eyes. “Well I suppose that’s a fairly good reason for being wary of drugs in general, but I assure you that none of the items here are anything like that, and even if they were I certainly wouldn’t try to force them upon you.”

“I never said you would” Apoo says defensively.

“The thought was still there though, was it not?” The blonde asks, casting a knowing look at the long arm.

Apoo stiffens slightly, shifting his gaze away before mumbling “It might have crossed my mind.”

“Well then in that case, you can put your thoughts to rest” Hawkins says with slight firmness as the two pirates continue walking down the street, a comfortable silence falling over them as the hustle and bustle of the main market beginning to grow louder as they approach. 

Hawkins casts a glance at Apoo out the corner of his eye, observing the long arm as he looks around at the various other shops that line the more dilapidated streets of the back alley. In all the time they’ve known each other, Apoo had never once revealed anything regarding his past life before becoming a pirate. Of course, Hawkins had never asked about it before, so it wasn’t like Apoo had specifically attempted to avoid discussing his childhood, but as someone who spoke about everything and anything most of the time, Hawkins had to admit that the lack of stories Apoo shared from his younger years was a bit curious, and made the blonde want to know a bit more about the long arm’s past.

“So what about you?” Apoo asks suddenly, pulling Hawkins from his deep thinking.

“What about me?” The blonde asks back.

“How did you get involved with all this” Apoo clarified, gesturing vaguely to the bags in both their arms. “I mean I know you said that this stuff wasn’t like, ‘hardcore drugs’ or anything like that, but I mean… they’re still drugs, so like, how did somebody like you, get involved with something like this?”

Hawkins remains silent for a moment as he contemplates how he should answer the larger man’s question. 

Hawkins wasn’t the type of man who openly discussed his past with strangers, much less rival pirate captains, but at the same time his relationship with Apoo was rather unclear at the present moment. Were the two friends? Acquaintances? Rivals? Hawkins wasn’t sure, and the uncertainty he felt whenever he tried to figure out anything related to the long armed man was a never ending source of stress and frustration for Hawkins, and it also made figuring out how much he could trust Apoo with the information he does bless the long arm with very difficult, as he wants to give Apoo enough to satisfy his curiosity and make it seem as though they are on friendly terms, but not give away too much and have it come back to bite him in the ass later. It was a delicate balance and one that Hawkins still isn't entirely sure how to manage, but he supposes that if he wants to know more about Apoo’s past, then perhaps the first step to getting there would be to divulge a bit of his own past as well. 

“My mother was a healer” Hawkins begins “from a noble family in North Blue, or at least she was before she ran away to marry my father. She was highly skilled in various forms of alternative medicine, and people from all over the world came to our doorstep seeking treatment from her. Everything I know about medicine and general health and wellbeing I learned from her when I was a boy.”

“Cool” Apoo says with a nod of his head, surprised that Hawkins had actually given him a straight answer, rather than a roundabout answer that went nowhere, or a more blunt instruction to mind his own business. Apoo had always been rather hesitant to ask the other pirate captain about his past, worried that Hawkins would take it the wrong way or wonder if Apoo was trying to find out his weaknesses. Truthfully the only reason Apoo wanted to know more about Hawkins was because he was curious about the life Hawkins lead before he became the notorious pirate captain he is today, and surprisingly enough, today seemed to be the day Apoo finally got a piece of information regarding Hawkins’ past, what luck.

“What about the rest of your family? Are they healers too?” The long arm asks nonchalantly.

“No, just my mother. My father, as kind a man as he was, was far too clumsy and absentminded for such work, and neither myself nor either of my sisters were interested in following in her footsteps” Hawkins responds simply.

Apoo nods his head in understanding again, not wanting to push Hawkins if that was all he was willing to give. As frustrating as it was to get Hawkins to talk to him at times, Apoo found that he genuinely enjoyed talking to Hawkins. The blonde wasn’t easy to talk to necessarily, but getting him to participate in conversation was like a challenge for Apoo, a little game where the goal was to find a topic of conversation that Hawkins found interesting enough to chime in on every so often. It didn’t always work in his favor, but it was times like these, when the conversation seemed to flow effortlessly, that Apoo was glad he kept trying to get close to Hawkins. 

Maybe, if Apoo played his cards right, he’d be able to get even closer to Hawkins, closer to him in ways that made his heart stutter in his chest and his ears go slightly red. Maybe, just maybe, Apoo could use his skills and expertise to charm Hawkins, yes that sounds like a great idea. It would be a long shot for sure, and definitely something that would require careful planning, observation, and execution, but it wouldn’t be impossible, and if Apoo was lucky, Hawkins wouldn't just be a beautiful prize locked away in a safe out of his reach, no, he’d be Apoo’s treasure, his gorgeous prize worth more than all the gold the world has to offer. 

Apoo has found his prize, and he will do whatever it takes to make Hawkins his.

“And what about your family? I don't believe I’ve ever heard you speak of them before” Hawkins points out, forcing Apoo to snap out of his dazed fantasy.

Apoo clears his throat and shrugs his shoulders. “That’s ‘cuz there’s not really much to say about them. There’s my mom and dad, me, and my 8 younger siblings. Overall, I’d say I’m from a pretty average family that lived in a pretty average town on a pretty average island in the Grand Line. We weren’t nobility or anything like that but money wasn't really an object for us and I don’t think I wanted for very much as a kid. Honestly the only reason why I left was because it was so boring there, everyday the exact same as the day before. It was honestly driving me crazy” Apoo admits.

“I see” Hawkins says calmly, taking in what Apoo just told him, pleasantly surprised by how easily this conversation was flowing. Hawkins has no idea why Apoo wanted to come with him to restock the supply of medicinal herbs and drugs he and his crew used on a regular basis, why it was about as interesting a chore as buying bread from the market, but a small part of him is glad that he did. As wary as he still was of Apoo, Hawkins couldn’t deny how easy it was to talk to the long arm compared to… well pretty much every other person Hawkins has had the misfortune of engaging in small talk with. It was nice, and something told Hawkins that Apoo shared the sentiment as well. 

Perhaps Hawkins has been to harsh on Apoo recently, and was basing his entire opinion of the other man on some one-off conflict that the long arm would have likely laughed off and gotten over quite easily. Sure, it never hurt to be cautious, especially around rival pirates, but perhaps he was being needlessly cautious. While the nature of this whole “alliance” was shaky at best most days, Hawkins would be lying if he said that being in an alliance with other powerful crews, however unstable that alliance may be, was reassuring, and relieved quite a few of the fears the blonde often fretted over before entering the alliance. 

Perhaps if things end up going sour with the Kid pirates, Hawkins and Apoo could continue to be allied together, even without the presence of the red headed menace. Apoo was a pleasant enough person to get along with on most days, even Hawkins couldn’t deny that anymore, and the On Air pirates were a powerful and formidable pirate crew, so both their crews allied together could prove to be an unstoppable force that could rival the likes of the Strawhat and Heart pirate alliance. Of course this wasn’t a guaranteed outcome, as his cards have oh-so-kindly informed him, but it is a possibility and one that Hawkins wouldn’t be terribly upset about if it did in fact end up happening. If Hawkins continued to indulge Apoo the way he has been, who knows, perhaps something even more than an alliance could come out of this. Hawkins certainly wouldn't mind if it did.

Hawkins certainly wouldn’t mind calling Apoo his.

Another amicable silence falls over the two men as they finally arrive back at the main market place, just in time to see their crews loading their supplies onto the ship, readying themselves for the trip back to Kid’s hideout. 

Apoo hands Hawkins the bags he had been carrying before returning to his crew, blowing off any and all questions regarding where he had been and what he had been doing. Hawkins in turn heads over to his crew, rolling his eyes when his men practically attack the bags of goods their captain had brought them, all of them eager to make use of their full stock once they return to the ship. 

Despite not speaking for the rest of the day, Hawkins and Apoo continue to exchange glances with one another from across the room, still unsure as to what the other is thinking or where they stood with one another, but unlike before, when the uncertainty had caused tension and discomfort between the two, now there was a feeling of excitement. Neither of them knew what the other wanted or was planning, but that only added an extra level of fun to this whole experience, as well as an opportunity to learn more about the other man, figure out what makes them tick, and use that knowledge to their advantage, not to harm or deceive, like they normally would, but to please, charm, and gain favor. 

Apoo will plan a direct approach, while Hawkins will be more subtle. Apoo will try to sway the blonde with his words, while Hawkins will favor using actions to draw the long arm in. Apoo will wear his heart upon his sleeve, while Hawkins will keep his tucked away in the beginning. Apoo will be the one to fall first, but Hawkins will not be far behind. Only time will tell what happens next.

Their little game has begun, and neither of them are particularly fond of losing.