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Mihawk hated that it always rained in Laugh Tale, don’t get him wrong he loved the city that was his home, but he could do without the constant rain and the chill that seeped through your very bones. He didn’t think that he could manage if there weren’t so many coffee shops around the main street. He wasn’t the only one to hate the cold weather, but love the rest of the town and what it had to offer.
When he was walking home yesterday he had seen the sign of a new one popping up close to his office. It never hurt to have one right next door, and if they happened to have great coffee too then he was complaining even less.
“Let’s hope they’re open at this time, though.”
His watch showed it to be 8 AM, when most businesses started to open up. Most of the coffee shops opened at 9 AM, and the one that did open earlier was on the whole other side of town.
He was pleasantly surprised to find that the show, the ‘Red Force’ was already open and seemed to be booming with business.
As soon as he entered, the first thing that he noticed was the smell of freshly grounded coffee and baked goods. The shop had a honey feel with a lot of maroons and earthy tones. There was an interesting set of furniture, which seemed to be pilferage from different homes that had wanted as comfortable looking couches, chairs and lounges as possible and had donated them all to this shop.
The next thing he noted was the redhead that was standing at the coffee machine while making whatever coffee that had been ordered. That wasn’t that surprising, what was, was the fact that the man seemed to be doing all of that with no issue despite only having one arm.
He wasn’t alone behind the bar, there was a big eyed young adult taking the orders at the register. All the while a blond that came from the back kept on putting a cookie or doughnut into his mouth whenever he passed. The last young adult was a man with flower dusted on his nose and apron who came to take notice of what they still had in their window to sell to people buying a coffee.
The three younger men all seemed to look alike enough that Mihawk could see that they were indeed related. The redhead didn’t seem to be alike enough, but that didn’t take away that he could take after the other parent.
The wide eyed teen took orders at a pace that Mihawk feared the one armed barista couldn’t keep up, until he was up and he could see that the redhead could keep up just fine. Reading the nametag of ‘Luffy’ he ordered a large black coffee to go.
He, Luffy, scrunched up his nose at that, but relayed his order to the redhead behind him before telling Mihawk what he needed to pay. It wasn’t even that expensive, which was a relief.
Looking on as the redhead went to make his cup, he was mesmerized by the fact that the man didn’t seem to find any hindrance from the fact that he needed to do everything with one arm. He got a wink, and a view at the nametag which read ‘Shanks’, before he got his coffee and made his way out into the now drizzling rain.
Once in the office building he worked in, Mihawk couldn’t keep the thought of wanting to go back out of his head. Maybe he could go and see if the shop was still open when he finished his work. Nodding to himself, he made his way to his office before grinning at Perona, his secretary when she had a cup from the same shop on her desk.
She beamed at him, nodding at the cup in his own hand, “They’re great aren’t they?”
Mihawk nodded, “You know them?”
Perona nodded, before she hummed, “Somewhat, my cousin Zoro, he’s friends with Luffy. He pointed it out to me last time we went on a family dinner, which was yesterday now that I think about it.”
Nodding once more, Mihawk sat himself at his desk and started his workload. If he could get a lot of work in, he could leave earlier than normal and swing by the coffee shop once more.
—-
Finding that it was still open at 7 PM, Mihawk entered to find the three younger men seated at tables around the shop. All three of them had books opened in front of them while Shanks was manning the bar alone. A grin appeared on his face as he saw Mihawk making his way to the register.
“I take it you liked our coffee, as you’re back already.”
Mihawk felt a smile appear on his face, the redhead’s mood was infectious, in a way that he had never encountered before. Nodding he ordered, taking one of the last pastries still in the window to go with it.
When he was handed his cup, it was once again accompanied with a wink. When he got out of the shop, he looked at the cup to find a messy scrawl on it which read, ‘Shank xxx-xxxxx, call me’.
Blushing, he looked back at the shop to see all three of the younger adults grinning through the window at the front. They waved rather cheeky before they turned back and seemed to say something to Shanks who blushed as well as he glanced out of the room to wave at Mihawk.
He waved back, before making his way home. Putting in the number into his phone before he was even inside of his apartment. Planning on texting the man as soon as he had eaten, it wasn’t often that he got this kind of attention, and even less so when it was such a good looking man.
Texting the number he had gotten, he started with thanking Shanks for the coffee.
He didn’t get a text back that evening, and wondered if he had been given the wrong cup.
Going to bed with a bit of an ache where his heart sat, Mihawk shook his head as he went to sleep. Nothing had happened, if anything he had gotten a number by accident and wouldn’t get any response.
The next morning, he was pleasantly surprised to find an answer waiting for him on his phone, Shanks had texted back that he was sorry that he didn’t do this sooner, but that the day had tried them all out. As such all four of them had crashed the moment they got home.
Seeing the timestamp with the text, which read 4:15 AM, he winced. He could get that if they had been up since then yesterday too that they would be totally beat at 7:30 PM which was when Mihawk sent his own text.
Opening the door to the shop as he passed it on his way to work, he ordered another cup for himself and one for Perona who was running late that morning.
Luffy beamed at him when he recognized him. Adding in a discount while Mihawk watched.
“Shanks-nii told me to do it, so there.”
Mihawk smiled softly at that, so they were all brothers after all. He wanted to ask to confirm, but found the shop so packed that it would just hold up the line even more. Moving along, he smiled as he got another wink from Shanks when he was given the cups. Waving, he exited the shop and made his way to the office. Setting Perona’s cup on her desk as he passed it.
Taking out his phone, he asked Shanks what his relationship was with the younger men that worked in his shop. It took until after 10 AM, and no doubt the morning rush, before he had an answer. One that told him that Shanks had been adopted by the couple that had Ace and Sabo (the two men working in the back), and who were the aunt and uncle of Luffy.
However, with how much Luffy was over at the Gol family, he became another son or brother to all of them.
Shanks went on to tell him that all three were attending college in the city, but had offered to help him out for some extra pocket money. He hadn’t minded, in part because he didn’t want to hire new personnel that would only stare at his arm - or what remained of it - instead of doing their job.
Hovering his fingers over the keyboard, he pondered if asking about the arm was too personal for someone he had just started texting with. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet. This would be too soon, wouldn’t it.
Asking Perona when the woman showed him that it would be too soon, and seemed too much like he was fishing on dirt about Shanks. He didn’t want to give that impression in the slightest so settled with a comment on what a great big brother he was for doing that.
He did look up the Gol family, and found out that they were a philanthropist couple that came from old money. There were rumors they were nobles that had lost their titles, but didn’t let it deter them from living their best lives. The article he found did indeed speak about 4 children, all boys and all very much able to live their life without counting on their parents supplying their income.
He grinned, he could deal with this. It seemed that all four of them didn’t want to be riding on their parents but wanted to make their own way in this world. He could respect that, which was why he texted Shanks to ask if he was up for a date as soon as he was able to.
He didn’t expect to get a text back that he was free on Sundays, as that was one day they didn’t open the shop. That had always been family day, so they all spent it with their respective partners. Up until then Shanks would spend his day with his parents, with his younger brothers joining in on the first Sunday of the month.
—-
That Sunday, he was nervous, but also very much looking forward to his date with Shanks. He had dressed up a bit, nothing too fancy as he had managed to get them a reservation at the Moby, the restaurant of someone he knew from his own college days.
What he didn’t expect was for Shanks to also know Thatch, grinning as he greeted the chef when he came to welcome Mihawk as word reached him that they had survived.
The grin on the man’s lips didn’t make Mihawk all that comforted at the relation Shanks had with Thatch, or with the Newgate family.
As Thatch left, Shanks took great pleasure in telling him that Edward Newgate and his dad were old friends. Drinking buddies and friends from times long gone by. Not only that, but one of Newgate’s sons, Marco, was dating Ace.
“It was so funny when we found out who Ace’s mysterious lover was. I think mom still grins whenever she thinks about it. She had hoped that one of us and one of Ed’s children would get together and tie the families together.”
Snorting, he added, “Dad on the other hand didn’t know how to react to the fact that Ace was seeing someone and how to act once he knew it was Marco who he knew since he was in diapers.”
Looking at Mihawk, he grinned, “Until recently I was the only one without a significant other. Sabo is dating someone in his class, an up and coming family lawyer. While Luffy is seeing someone we know from childhood, Trafalgar Law, he’s a famous surgeon at Laugh Tale Med.”
Grinning a little wider, he added, “That is if you’re not opposed to more dates.”
Mihawk shook his head, “I’d love to. You’re interesting and hot to the boot.”
Shanks blushed at that, grinning at him, before leaning closer to just look at Mihawk. Eating slowly as his food was brought before him already pre-cut, no doubt by Thatch.
“How did that happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Shanks hummed, looking at his gaze which was directed to the stump of his arm.
“When Luffy was smaller, he got into all kinds of trouble. Normally nothing actually happened, but this one time someone took offense to the little kid that called him out. He tried to run Luffy over with his car, but I managed to jump in between and roll us out of the way. Didn’t stop my arm from getting caught under the car. The guy ran into another car and didn’t get very far, but it was enough that I had a mangled arm they had to amputate. It’s been over 10 years now and I learned to live with it.”
Mihawk nodded, “And the man that did it, or that tried to run Luffy over?”
Shanks smirked, “He’s behind bars, as people saw it happen and recorded it. Not only that but dad and Whitebeard were just across the street catching up - by the window at that - when it all happened. They were there before the ambulance arrived, taking Luffy off of me and making sure that the officers who arrived on scene knew what was going to happen to the perpetrator.”
Looking at him, Shanks added, “My parents, nor Ed, are people that throw their money around. But when it’s for someone they love, you bet nothing is enough to protect them.”
Mihawk nodded and smiled at that, they sounded like good parents. People that didn’t let their children get used to the fact that they were rich, and even less that money could buy everything.
Walking out of the restaurant later that evening, he found his hand caught by the one remaining one Shanks had. A soft grin on the other man’s face as they made their way to their cars. It had been an amazing evening.
It was the start of a great relationship, and the start of Mihawk frequently going by the coffee shop when it was opened. He got to know Shanks a lot better, and even got a chance to get to know his little brothers and their own partners - all of whom could be seen in the shop from time to time.