Thanks Vergina-spva and MyLadyDay for beta'ing
Benn was just finding a place to park the car, when Shanks exited the bar again, followed by a familiar looking woman.
"...Can't believe you did it a second time," Benn heard her say.
Shanks opened the passenger's door and stepped in, while the woman walked around the car to Benn's side of the vehicle. Benn lowered his window so she could lean inside.
"Hi Makino!" Luffy exclaimed from the backseat.
"Hi Luffy," she replied, before turning to Benn. "So, I heard Shanks kidnapped Luffy again?"
"Again?" Benn looked at Shanks, raising his eyebrow.
"Not kidnapped!" Shanks protested, pouting.
Makino rolled her eyes. "To get to Luffy's house, follow this road, then turn right." She explained the directions to him and made him repeat them. "Good," she finally said. "If you reach Grey Terminal, you've gone too far. Shanks'll know. Bye, Luffy! Behave yourself, okay?"
"Bye, Makino!" Luffy called, even though Benn had already closed the window and she was headed back to the bar.
Benn looked at Shanks, but he was still turned away and pouting. Benn rolled his eyes and started heading in the direction Makino had pointed out.
"Shanks," he asked when it had been quiet for a while, "what's Grey Terminal?"
"It's a cemetery."
"Is that where," Benn hesitated, "Roger is?" He knew next to nothing about Roger, as neither Shanks nor Rayleigh was inclined to talk about him.
"Hm? No." Shanks turned back to the window, a sad look in his eyes.
Benn turned back to the road, dropping the subject. Shanks didn't seem about to open up, and Benn didn't want to pry. He drove as Makino had indicated, and slowed down once he reached the right street, looking for the house number.
"Oh, there's Ace," Luffy suddenly exclaimed. "Hi, Ace!" he yelled, pounding on the window. "Ace!"
Benn stopped the car in front of a house. In the front yard, a boy of about eight was reading a book.
Shanks lowered the window. "Hey, Ace! Remember me?"
The boy, Ace, looked up disturbed, a shocking amount of disdain in his eyes for someone his age. He then rose without saying a word and headed inside.
Luffy stopped slamming on the window – which he by some miracle hadn't shattered yet – and pouted. "Boo. Ace is such a grumpy pants."
"He is indeed," Shanks agreed.
Benn reached back to help Luffy out of the entanglement that was his seatbelt.
"U-oh," Shanks suddenly said.
Benn looked up from what he was doing. "What is it?"
"We've got company."
A large woman had emerged from the house, an unlit cigarette dangling from her lips and a face like thunder. Ace emerged from behind her, looking unsettlingly pleased with himself. With large, resolute paces, the woman walked towards the car, which Benn wouldn't be surprised if she smashed with her bare hands.
"So what ya gonna do now?" he asked.
Shanks gave him a deadpanned look. "Duh, dial up the charm." He turned down the window and put up an – indeed – very charming smile, insofar Benn could judge in the side mirror. "Hello, ma'am. Beautiful weather we're having, hm?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why is Luffy in your car?" she boomed.
"Oh, well, I found him in the park and thought I'd give him ride home," Shanks said innocently.
Benn snorted.
"Hi Dadan!" Luffy shouted. "I was in the park, and then Shanks took me to his house and now I'm here again!"
Benn and Shanks both signed.
"You did what?!" she shrieked.
"I just want to point out it wasn't kidnapping, before you jump to conclusions," Shanks hastily said. "I asked him if he wanted to come."
Dadan narrowed her eyes again. "I know who you are. You are not to come near Luffy." She all but ripped open the car door and dragged Luffy out.
"Bye, Shanks!" Luffy called as he was slung over her shoulder and she retreated into the house. "Come play with me again!"
"Bye, Luffy! Bye, Ace!" Shanks called.
Ace shot a vile look over his shoulder. With his book under his arm, he followed Dadan inside. The door slammed shut.
"Such a grumpy pants," Shanks muttered.
"Well, that was a waste of my free afternoon," Benn said with a sigh.
"Oh, come on, you had fun, admit it," Shanks said.
"Who doesn't have fun with kidnapping?" Benn replied deadpanned.
Shanks gave him an unamused look, but didn't reply. Benn started the engine, hoping he would remember the way back, because he didn't have a navigation system, and he doubted there would happen to be a map of Foosha in the car.
"Benn, mind if we take a detour?" Shanks suddenly asked quietly.
"Sure, why not, while we're here." He sighed deeply.
Shanks gave him a deadpanned look. "Now who's the grumpy pants."
He sighed again. "Where do you want me to go?"
"The end of the street, then right."
Benn did as he was told, not commenting when Shanks placed his hand on Benn's on the gearstick, but also doing nothing to encourage him to remove it. They drove in relative silence, only disrupted by Shanks' directions. Benn wondered where they were going – it seemed Shanks knew where they were, after all – but he didn't ask. Something told him he would find out soon enough.
They were nearing what looked like the edge of the town, when Shanks suddenly told him to stop. They were standing in front of an enormous mansion.
"You can put the car in the driveway," Shanks said. "No one's home."
Silently, Benn did as he was told. As soon as the car had stopped, Shanks undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. Benn immediately missed the warmth of his hand. He turned off the engine and stepped out of the vehicle as well. Leaning on the door, he couldn't help but stare at the house. It was huge.
Shanks was standing a little away from the car, in front of the gate, also looking up at the building.
"Shanks, whose house is this?" Benn asked, even if he had his suspicions, considering Shanks' melancholic behaviour.
Shanks looked over his shoulder. "It's mine."
Benn closed the car door, locking it, and strolled towards Shanks. When he was standing next to him, Shanks continued, "Or it will be mine in two years. Or if I get a degree earlier. I doubt that'll happen soon, though." He sighed. "It was Roger's."
Benn nodded slowly. He had suspected as much, though he had never known Roger was loaded. In fact, he knew very little about Roger, except that he had been a father figure for Shanks in some way.
"I didn't know Roger was rich," he merely said.
Shanks retrieved keys from his pocket and walked towards the gate. "Tell me, Benn," he said, "does the name Gol mean anything to you?"
"Gol?" Benn scratched the back of his head. "Now that you mention it... Wasn't that a mobster some years ago that... You don't mean that Roger?!"
Shanks smiled sheepishly. "I wouldn't call him a mobster, though. I mean, it's an accurate description, but I wouldn't use it." The key creaked in the lock.
Benn followed him silently. He had followed the story of Roger Gol in the papers some eight years ago. Headline after headline had been about this man, portrayed as a monster, a murderer. After many years he had finally been captured by the police, and it had been big news. And then, after a few months in prison, he had been stabbed by another inmate and died.
He followed Shanks through knee high grass, though he noted that it had been walked on recently.
"I took Luffy here on Monday," Shanks said, as if guessing his thoughts. "Before that, I hadn't been here pretty much since Roger died." He paused, before continuing, "I know I haven't talked about Roger much, I don't really like to, and the people most important to me already know the story. Well, most of them." He took Benn's hand again.
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to," Benn protested.
"That's the point, though. I do want to." Shanks stopped in front of the front door and cocked his head to the side. "Do you want to hear my story?"
Benn nodded, suddenly not able to speak.
Shanks grinned and put a key in the lock. "I guess I should start at the beginning," he said. "I was young when my father died. My mom I've never known; she died when I was born. When my dad died, I became... unruly. With no other family, I was put into the foster system. That's where I met Buggy."
"Buggy?" Benn asked. He had heard the name before, enough to understand that this Buggy had been a friend of Shanks', but as with Roger, he didn't know much else.
Shanks took picture frame from the wall and pressed it into Benn's hands. "That's Buggy," he said, pointing at a child with blue hair that was standing next to a kid that was clearly Shanks. "He soon became my best friend. And first boy crush," he added proudly.
"Anyway," Shanks continued, "we both bounced from house to house. Either the foster parents couldn't handle me, or they got a kid of their own. There was always a reason. In the end, I convinced Buggy to run away together. Probably not my best idea, but what do you want? I was twelve. We ended up living on the street for a while. And that was when we met Roger."
"Mind you, I had no idea who he was back then," Shanks said. "I knew him as the guy giving us food, and clothes, and other stuff we needed. Eventually, he invited us to come live with him." He stared into space. They were still standing in the hallway, Benn's fingers clutching the picture frame.
"Those four years were the happiest of my life," Shanks mused. "Roger sent me to school, which I wasn't too happy about back them, of course, but that's where I met Roo and Yasopp, and Makino." He seemed to shake himself from his trance and walked towards a door leading to the living room. Almost all furniture was covered in a sheet, to protect them against dust. Shanks sat down on a piano stool. Benn sat down next to him.
Shanks sighed deeply. "I know how the media portrayed Roger, and I'm certainly not saying that he was a law-abiding citizen, but he did protect the people of Foosha and other places he had influence. And he took care of people the police couldn't catch. I think that's why the police left him alone for a long time, they didn't look too hard at his crimes, because many were against bad people." He sighed again. "Garp always thought I would followed in Roger's footsteps. He either still does or he's sulking he was wrong, and that's why he won't let me near Luffy."
He shook his head. "Well, you no doubt know the rest of the story. Something happened, and Roger and Rayleigh were suddenly arrested."
"Rayleigh too?" Benn asked with a frown.
"Oh, that's right, you didn't know that." Shanks grinned sheepishly. "Don't tell him I told you, but yeah, he was arrested too. He was Roger's best friend and right-hand man, but they could only get him on tax fraud. He served two years. While Roger... They pinned everything on him. Nearly every open case. He got several life sentences. And then..."
Benn nodded and squeezed Shanks' shoulder.
Shanks took a deep breath. "I went to live with Crocus, a friend of Roger's, while finishing school. Things between me and Buggy were never the same when Roger went to prison, and especially not after he was murdered. He moved away the second we received our diploma and I have barely spoken to him since."
A silence fell between them. Benn still had his hand resting on Shanks' shoulder.
"Well, that's my sob story," Shanks then said, way to cheery for the general mood. "Now tell me yours."
"I don't really have a sob story," Benn said. "Especially in comparison to yours."
"It's not a competition. If it was, I'd win most of the time." He placed his hand on Benn's, still resting on his shoulder. "Come on, just tell me."
Benn sighed. "All right. You know how all children blame themselves when their parents get divorced?" When Shanks nodded, he continued, "Well, in my case it's actually true." Before Shanks could protest, he said, "They got divorced not too long after I came out. My mother chose religion. My father chose me."
"That is a sad story," Shanks said. "What about your brother? You have a brother, right?"
"He still has contact with my mother, unlike my dad and me," Benn said. Shanks' thumb was rubbing his hand. Benn didn't like to talk about his parents, especially his mother, which was why he had never pressed Shanks to tell his story either. He was, however, glad Shanks finally knew, and that he had shared his own story. The sense of trust Benn had always felt instinctively towards Shanks had only grown, and they were heading for dangerous territory. Benn decided to change the subject.
Turning towards the piano, he asked, "Do you play?"
"I do," Shanks said, thankfully not pressing the subject. "Roger taught me."
"Play for me."
"It's been like eight years," Shanks protested. "And the piano needs to be tuned too."
"Play for me."
Laughing, Shanks lifted up the sheet and then the lid covering the keys. His fingers danced above them, as if trying to decide where to start. Carefully, he pressed down a key, first one, then the next. The melody was definitely off key, but it did sound familiar to Benn, he just couldn't put his finger on it. As Shanks played, he started to hum along. It was only when Shanks sped up the pace that it clicked in his head.
"Are you playing Sex Bomb?"
Shanks looked at him innocently as his fingers kept pressing the keys. "It's the only song I know by heart."
Benn snorted.
When he had finished the song, Shanks closed the piano lid again, caressing it lovingly before rising. "You want to see the rest of the house?"
Taking Shanks' extended hand, Benn let himself be led around the house. Shanks showed him every room, with the exception of Roger's and Buggy's bedrooms. He told Benn various anecdotes, some of which Benn had heard before, but they made more sense now that he knew Shanks' background story.
They walked around hand in hand, even while they were sitting on Shanks' bed in his room, but Benn told himself that that was just Shanks liking physical contact. It wasn't flirting, just two dudes sitting on one dude's bed in his childhood room holding hands. As one does.
Eventually, it was starting to get dark, and the electricity had been disconnected a long time ago, according to Shanks.
"I'm getting hungry," Benn said, looking down at Shanks, whose head was lying in his lap.
"I think I saw a can of meatballs in the pantry," Shanks said musing. "Do you want some balls?" He blinked innocently.
"I like my balls hot," Benn replied with a straight face – it still wasn't flirting, "which I doubt will be the case here."
Shanks grinned up at him and rolled over so he could sit up. "What do you wanna do then?"
Benn hummed. "It'll take too long to drive home. So maybe we can find a restaurant in the area."
"Benn Beckman, are you asking me out?"
"Maybe," he said before he realised what he was saying.
Shanks grinned again. "Well, I do know some nice places around here." He stepped off the bed, then paused. "Some of them may be fronts for the mafia, now that I think about it. Is that a problem?"
"As long as the food is good," Benn said with a shrug.
"You're a practical man, aren't you?" Shanks said as he helped him up.
"Just not easily scared."
"Yeah," Shanks said with a smile, "I like that about you."
Back in the car, Shanks gave him directions to what was apparently the first restaurant Roger had taken him to, but once they arrived, the place was closed down, and had been for a while. The next two were also shut, and the fourth looked so shady even Shanks said it might be better to find a different place. They ended up in a cosy little pub where both the food and the beer were cheap.
Benn continued to convince himself this wasn't a date, even with Shanks' foot up his pant leg and his own hand brushing Shanks' more than once.
Shanks put away an impressive amount of beer, while Benn quit after one, since he still had to drive back. The food was good, if a bit greasy, and the corner they were sitting in was relatively quiet, though they were interrupted by loud cheering from the match showing on the TV in the back every once in a while.
As they drove back, there was a lot of tension in the air, and Benn's eyes kept flicking from the road ahead to Shanks, who was looking at him the whole time. He didn't say much, though Benn didn't know if that was better or worse.
Benn parked the car in front of his house – he would take it to the university tomorrow to give Rayleigh the keys back. Together, they walked towards the house, Shanks slightly swaying and clinging to his arm. As Benn opened the door, Shanks stepped inside, tripping over the doorstep. Benn caught him, his heart thundering in his ears when Shanks looked at him. Shanks straightened, only to fall against the wall, pulling Benn with him by his shirt.
"Whoops," Shanks said innocently. "I'm so clumsy."
Their faces were incredibly close, and Benn took a few breaths to steady himself as he leaned against the wall, his elbows resting on either side of Shanks' head. "You know," he finally said, his voice sounding lower than usual, even to him, "I don't think you're half as drunk as you pretend to be."
"Is that so?"
"I've seen you put away a lot more with getting a lot less drunk."
"And why would I pretend?" Shanks asked, his hands caressing Benn's upper arms.
"I imagine, to have an excuse to touch me." Benn, however, made no attempt to move away.
Shanks looked up, his eyes glistening with mischief and as clear as ever. "Damn," he said, "you saw right through my master plan."
"If this is your master plan, you should go back to villain school."
Shanks cocked his head to the side. "You think I'm a villain?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Benn shrugged. "Only villains have master plans, right?"
Shanks laughed and let his hands rest on Benn's backside, pulling him closer. "I suppose you have a point." He looked up, his eyes shining, and his pupils dilated. Benn automatically leaned in closer.
"Are you going to kiss me?" Shanks asked, excitedly, and if his excitement hadn't been clear in his voice, it would have been clear with what was pressing against Benn's thigh.
He wanted to. He wanted it so badly. But if he kissed Shanks now, then he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing what that would lead to. And if he did that... Benn took a deep breath, but then pushed away from the wall. "No," he said, "you're too drunk for that."
"Foiled by my own master plan. Well played, my friend," Shanks said, trying to mask his disappointment, and failing.
Benn didn't look back, he knew he would give in then. Instead, he walked upstairs. "Good night, Shanks."
