Lunch after that went fairly decent, Shanks supposed. The food was good, and the company was just as good in his opinion, even though Mya was somewhat reluctant to start up a real conversation again after he'd tried to pry information about James out of her.

Sure she still spoke to him, but only when he asked a question or something.

For instance, he at one point asked her how she had gotten started in her line of work. Her reply to his question was, "I've always liked designing and making things. When I was younger- even before my grandfather was killed by the marines," She paused at that point and looked more than a little bit uncomfortable at even mentioning the incident in passing, causing Shanks to reach out automatically and take one of her hands in his and give it a gentle squeeze to show that she didn't have to continue if she didn't wish to. Though he would very much like to hear what she had to say about the subject. "Sorry. It's still somewhat hard to mention that even in passing." She said apologetically as she blushed a little bit and stared down at their hands, clasped together on the table for a moment before clearing her throat and deciding to go a different route.

"When I was just a little girl, I used to love all sorts of things crafts. It didn't matter what they were- Sewing, embroidery, jewelry, lotions, soaps, and all manner of other things. I even went through a phase as a kid where whenever I would pass a blank space on my grandpa's walls- I would go running to my room, get some crayons and markers and come back to the empty spot and fill it with really weird, and really colorful doodles."

"My grandpa would come by it later once I was done, and look at the once empty space and just shake his head and say- I'm glad that I didn't get her any paints. She'd have finger painted the whole house by now."

Shanks snorted in an effort to hold back a laugh. That definitely sounded like something her grand-da Avery would do and say.

"After a while, grand-da got it into his head that I was going to grow up and go into business for myself. So whenever his friend would come back from...wherever he'd go. My grand-da would see to it that I had learned some new skills and made a ton of stuff, and he would sell it all to his friend and put a majority of the money he made off of the guy back so that I would one day have enough to..."

"To do what you loved." Shanks finished for her. Mya merely smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Yeah. But I sort of deviated from the plan a little bit when I met this boy," Upon hearing this from her, Shanks somewhat perked up in his seat, not wanting to hope too much that his mite was speaking of him. "He was my first love. I don't recall his name or his face or anything really about his appearance at all. But I can remember some of the things we did together before he left the island."

"I recall that the first time I met him, he went out and caught a garden snake and chased me through my grand-da's home and out of it and around the back yard until the guy that had been taking care of him grabbed him and smacked him really hard upside the head."

Shanks didn't dare laugh at this since he recalled how pissed Gol had been at him for making her cry. Not only that but the blow to the head he'd taken that day had damned near concussed him.

"It took some doing, but he gradually warmed up to me. And after that we were practically inseparable. We went everywhere together, we did everything together and then one day he just...left. And then the marines came, and when I woke up in the hospital all I recall thinking was, 'I wonder why he isn't here?' And for a long time after that, I sort of felt as if I had been abandoned. I had to go through so much. Retrain my body and mind- years of physical therapy..."

Shanks wasn't sure what to say to her after she had mentioned the whole abandonment thing. He supposed in a lot of ways, his absence could very well be seen as such. Especially given their history together.

Still, one thing had him a wee bit curious. Even though they were sort of skirting the details. He wanted to know where she'd been shot and just how extensive the damage had been.

"Lass, I wanna know something. And I know it's difficult to speak of, but please humor me. I'm not doing this to be hurtful or cruel. I-I've heard around the village from a few who know you that ye were...injured... C-Could you tell me where?"

Mya was silent for a good while, seeming to contemplate his request before finally giving in and lifting her free hand to her long bangs and pushing them back so that he could see.

There on her forehead, almost a little bit to the left of dead center was a puckered red star-like shape from where the bullet had entered her skull, but what really shocked him wasn't the small mark nor the placement of it. It was the ugly jig saw like marking that formed a sort of makeshift square next to it.

"The bullet spattered a good portion of my skull and brain on the ground before I got any help. I was told that the marine that tried to help me scooped up as much as he could of the fractured bone and shredded tissues and tried to hold my head together."

Shanks made a mental note to find out who the marine had been so that he could both beat him within an inch of his life and thank him for helping his wife as he slowly stood up, and pushed his chair back so that he could move around the table.

He knew that despite how Mya was acting about the injury, she was probably more than a little bit self conscious about it. After all, most pretty women didn't like scars being on their face's. They tended to think that having them for some weird reason, made them less of a woman.

Reaching out, he carefully brushed aside her hand and replaced it with his own. Threading the silken strands of her bangs through his fingers before leaning down and took a brief moment to debate with himself whether or not it was worth it to possibly be bludgeoned to death by the table that they had been eating at, and then finally decided on 'worth it' and pressed his lips against the small red star-like scar and then pulled back and said somewhat nervously as his gaze shifted between her and the table, "If you want to kill me for kissing you this time, then I'll allow it and die a happy man."

"Nah. I think I'll let it slide this time," Mya said and nearly sniggered at how he slumped over in relief. Obviously happy that his life was safe for the time being. "Are you done eating for now?" She asked out of the blue as she eyed his plate for a moment.

He'd eaten a majority of his steak, his potato's were gone, his soup was missing, and there was little else for him to finish up. Where as she had slowed her eating out of habit and as such hadn't finished anything beyond her soup and salad and picking at the rest of it.

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Very well. I'll go and pay the bill. If there is anything else that you want, now is a good time to say something."

"D-do they have anything sweet?"

"Pie, cake, tarts and other things."

"Oooh. Can I get one of everything and a large chai spice tea to go?" He asked, sounding almost like a little kid in a candy store. So much so that Mya couldn't resist laughing at his antics as she got to her feet and nodded her head.

"Sure, sure. I think I'll get a pumpkin pie, and a bit of chocolate cake and a large chai tea to go too. Especially since I'm not sure when I'll get to eat again."

Her words seemed to have wiped the grin off of his face somewhat as he watched her walk off and then waited for James to come by and collect their dishes before he grabbed the lad and told him to get a to go box for Mya's food.

If his wife was having trouble finding time during the day to sit down and eat, then he'd have to start seeing to it that there was food everywhere she turned- if need be. He did not want her starving herself because she was overworking.

A few minutes after James- the name still made Shanks long to spit and scrub his tongue with something akin to sandpaper- returned and boxed up what was left of her food, plus some extra ranch and honey mustard for her to dip her steak in, all while gabbing on almost endlessly about how much she seemed to like the stuff with her food since she never really ate any kind of meat without it.

Unless she was eating sandwiches. In which case she substituted them out with mayo and horseradish sauce. Lots and lots of horseradish sauce. For some reason that Shanks didn't understand- the lad seemed to find her liking the stuff humorous. He may have asked about it, but decided that he didn't want to be hearing the lad's voice for much longer anyways.

The lad may have made some mention of some other things, but by then Shanks had tuned him out and was simply waiting on his woman to come back with their sweets so that he could walk her to her shop and perhaps finally get the chance to look around.