Chapter 21 - One thing Benn doesn't know
When Shanks had left Sirja's room a few minutes later he had felt better than in years.
He still hadn't found Ace yet, but he had an ally right where they thought he was and he himself could roam the other ports.
He may call Sirja an ally but he really thought of her as something else. The way she had said good night only added to the fact.
She had hugged him, closely and kissed him, hesitantly, on his cheek.
Where his sudden boldness had come from he had no idea, he had hardly had any sake tonight so it wasn't drunken stupidity. But he had kissed her back just as careful. On her lips. And she had smiled. And so had he.
It was then that he came back from his thoughts and found someone waiting at his door.
Benn.
He had probably seen the idiotic grin on his face. Sometimes he wished his first mate wasn't as smart as he was.
'You are playing a dangerous game, Shanks.' Crap, he was being serious. He hardly ever called him by his first name. Maybe he could turn this around and outsmart him just this once.
'Come inside, I have great news, you won't believe it.'
A frown, disbelief, shrugging. Benn followed inside.
'Sirja heard something from Garp she was not supposed to. I think Ace is somewhere very close by.'
They sit down and Shanks explained.
By the amount of excitement his captain had held when he had walked out of the girl's room Benn had been sure that there had been some kind of adultery stuff happened. The more he listened to him however, the more he refrained from this assumption.
Once he had heard everything and saw the big smile on the other man's face he was almost convinced. But he had to ask.
'So you didn't do any dirty stuff in there with Sirja?' The shock on Shanks face was honest as well as his answer.
'No!'
Benn checked his face and saw no lie. Good.
Shanks would never consider two kisses as shy as those to be 'dirty stuff'.