“Come on, come on! These are the best seats in the place.” Shanks muttered in excitement, gesturing you to follow after him in the darkened space.
Many of the seats in the rows were already filled, as thanks to Shanks’ insistence on getting drinks, popcorn, and snacks to see them through the show, you’d had to wait in the long concessions line. Previews were already playing up on the giant screen.
You follow along, rolling your eyes when he glances back to make sure you’re still there. The smile he flashes you is cheeky, perfectly capturing the man-child you know him to be. He practically collapses into his chair, patting the one beside him to indicate where he wanted you to sit.
“See? What’d I tell ya. You can see the whole screen from here.”
“You can see the whole screen from any seat in the theater.” You point out to him, and he just gives his typical chuckle in reply.
The movie previews continue to play, but most don’t look particularly interesting. Besides, the man you currently accompanied held most of your attention. Him asking you out like this had been a total surprise. A pleasant one, for certain, but not something you’d anticipated.
The whole crew knew of your interest in the captain, and you thought the man who would always have you heart did as well. Surely word got around to his ears on the ship’s rumor mill? His subordinates weren’t exactly tight lipped…but Shanks hadn’t given you any indication that he knew. So you assumed he simply chose not to bring it up in case you would be embarrassed about it. Not that you would be.
So him asking you out was a good confirmation of his feelings to you. Felt pretty good, to be honest.
You’re impressed he manages to go a full two minutes without saying anything at all, the both of you eating handfuls of popcorn and sipping eagerly at the drinks you set in the cup holders.
“Thanks for coming out to see this with me, Y/N.” He flashed you another grin. “Benn and Yasopp didn’t want to come, and I didn’t want to go by myself. It’s supposed to be pretty good! No amount of convincing changed their mind though. Oh well, their loss.”
Your good mood cracked for just a moment. You pause, blinking, then turn a suspicious glare at him.
“Shanks…are you saying the whole reason you asked me out was because all of your first choices said no?”
Shanks’ eyes widened and his smile drooped, and you knew in that moment he was frantically trying to come up with some way to cover up the misspoken words. Typical Redhair. “I, uh, didn’t say that…”
“Yes, you did! That’s exactly what you said.”
The lights hanging around the theater darkened, as the show was about to begin. He held up his hands defensively, one still grasping his bucket of popcorn. “Listen, Y/N, the show’s gonna start soon-”
“So is this a date, or just two friends hanging out? Because when you asked me, you said it was a date! But if you were planning on bringing Benn and Yasopp, then what really is it?”
“It is a date!”
“Shhhh!!” Several people nearby chastised them, but you ignored them in favor of grilling the carefree captain. Your expectations had been so high, you weren’t stopping until you got a straight answer.
“Then why didn’t you just ask me in the first place?”
“Because I didn’t think you’d say yes!”
“But I did say yes, didn’t I?”
“I thought telling you no one else wanted to go with me was the only reason you agreed.”
You sent him an incredulous shake of your head. “Oh my god, are you blind? I’ve been interested in you for months! I would have said yes in a heart beat!”
“You have?” The genuine surprise in his face was honestly hysterical. It should have made you laugh, but the entire situation put together, coupled with the train-wreck start to this whole date, just kind of canceled out the amusement.
“Shhhh!!” Another harsh demand from those surrounding.
“Yes! Did you really not know?”
“No! You never said anything.”
“Hey, can you two take your little confession somewhere else? We’re trying to watch the movie!” Someone in the row directly in front of you spit angrily, turning in his seat to glare at you.
“Why didn’t you say anything if you felt that way?”
“Because I thought you already knew! The whole crew already does, and they can’t keep a secret to save their lives!”
His expression turned exasperated. “Everyone knew but me?”
The man in the row ahead of you groaned. “Oh for fuck’s sake…I’m calling security.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a rough shove, you and Shanks were sent out the back door of the theater, the security guard sending you off with a nasty glare. Offering no more than an irritated ‘hmph,’ he slammed the door shut, leaving you and your oblivious Captain still clutching your popcorn buckets and drinks.
By now it was dark, and the main street had quieted down quite a bit since the two of you entered the building before.
“Well…so much for the movie.” Shanks stated with a sigh, but his lips were curled up in amusement all the same. His disappointment wasn’t enough to offset how funny all this really was, apparently.
“Sorry. I guess I sort of ruined that for you. Maybe you can see it in a different theater tomorrow?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve heard mixed reviews on it anyway.” He replied with a wink, tossing his popcorn into the dumpster next to you and reaching out his hand. “Besides, I’d say knowing how you feel about me is worth getting thrown out of a movie theater for.”
You try hiding your smile, but it was definitely a losing battle. Still, you do throw your popcorn into the trash alongside his and place your hand into his.
Shanks’ grin widens and he pulls you closer, stealing himself a kiss from your lips. Quick enough to catch you off guard. In an instant, it’s over, and he’s already leading you towards the direction of the ship.
The quickly spreading blush on your cheeks is hard to miss. “What, are you expecting me to swoon?”
“Looks like you already are.”
“Ha. You wish, loverboy.”
ns 15.158.61.48da2
