Chapter Text
~ Years ago in Fuusha Village, after Luffy ate the devil fruit~
“Well, we’ll go ahead on our date then, see you guys later!” Luffy watched as Makino’s friend took the hand of the man that had arrived and did a very girly giggle at something he said as they left the bar. The young rubber boy looked at his glass of juice for a moment with a frown before looking up at Makino who was a bit red faced at something Shanks had said.
“What’s a date?” He asked the two adults who, unbeknownst to Luffy, had been flirting but dropped it as they turned to Shanks’ little shadow.
“You don’t know what a date is? And you call yourself a man.” Shanks teased without hesitation, twinkling his fingers while making a face at the boy that grew flustered and insulted of being teased about it.
“YAH, SHITTY SHANKS!” He yelled and more or less growled at the redhead but blinked before laughing as Makino swatted the captain’s face with her towel, but not hard, more of a joke than anything, and smiled as he sputtered. “Oh, nice one Makino!”
“Thanks.” She grinned at the boy and ignored the whiny captain as she smiled gently at Luffy. “To answer your question, most of the time a date is something you go on with a person that either you want to get to know with hopes of a romantic relationship blossoming or with someone that you already know and that you have developed romantic feelings for. What you do on a date can differ from eating something at a cafe, picnic, to going somewhere fun or to experience something new together.”
“Romantic?” Luffy tilted his head at her, having caught up on that word in particular, and she nodded empathically.
“Hmhm, as in you like someone romantically. It’s like you really like someone the best of everyone you know and, if so inclined, want to kiss and give as well receive affection with.”
“Ew, kissing?” Luffy stuck out his tongue and blushed as Makino petted his head with a small laugh.
“Yes, kissing.” She shared a look with Shanks who winked at her and chuckled as she hid a blush by looking down to wipe at one of her already clean glasses.
“Amongst other stuff that you’ll learn about when you’re a young man.” Shanks continued where she left off, earning the boy’s full attention and Shanks smiled softly. “Luffy, listen well.” The boy nodded with a surprisingly determined look. “Someday, you’re going to have a lot of friends and maybe one of those friends you will have is special.”
“Special?” Shanks looked at Makino though she failed to notice as she was attending a customer and smiling widely at something they said.
“Yeah… Simply put, they're best friends you want to kiss and hug a lot, like what Makino said but… For the future, when you’re an adult, remember this.” Without looking away from the woman who had captured the heart of a pirate he continued. “The person who captures the heart of a pirate is someone very special. They are the beacon in a storm. They are your home away from home. They make you smile by just being near. You want to share everything with them. They are the person you want to tell everything to and you never tire of hearing them talk. As a pirate Luffy, you go on many adventures but eventually they all end in one way or another but with this person your adventure is ever changing and constant. It is far greater than One Piece itself.” Luffy watched as Shanks immediately smiled wider as Makino returned and the two shared a kiss as Shanks made kissy faces at the younger woman, making her laugh before giving in. Luffy made a disgusted face at their kissing, not really getting all the gibberish Shanks had spewed but shrugged it off, he’d never have to worry about it because he was never going to like a girl, ever! They had icky girl germs and he didn’t want that!
___Several years later, post time-skip after a week into their reunion___
“You’re not a girl.” Luffy said to Victor as the designer was fixing up his captain’s beloved hat. Victor paused in his stitching to look up at the gangly man that sat beside him out on deck, the feminine man’s glasses were down on his nose and when his nose twitched Luffy immediately and carefully pushed up his glasses for Victor.
“Thank you.” Victor blushed a little with a smile before tilting his head. “And yes, I’m not a girl. Why the random declaration though?” He asked as the captain hummed.
“Just thinking back on something, I promised myself to never date a girl.” Victor blinked, not sure what to say really but Luffy continued on, sounding serious if not perplexed for once. “But you’re not a girl so…Let’s date!” Luffy grinned that way that was just so him, so carefree and endearing, and Victor dropped everything he was holding as he gaped at the captain.
“W-W-W-WHAT!?” He stuttered out, face going alarmingly red and fingers shaking as he couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
“What do you mean by, what? When you like someone you date them, right? So let’s date.” Luffy said oh-so-matter-of-factly that Victor nodded dumbly before shaking his head and grasping the captain by his shoulders as he faced him on his knees.
“Wait!? You like me? Like me like me? Like romantically like me? Like you want to kiss me and stuff like me?” Victor asked to make sure just what the gangly man meant.
It wasn’t really that strange to ask if you knew the captain and his erratic ways, Luffy did whatever came to his mind before it was even a full thought so Victor wasn’t really sure what to make of this sudden declaration. Victor himself had struggled on the best way to actually come clean to his captain about his own, as much as he had begun to love the captain more than a friend there was no rosy glass hiding the fact that Luffy was quite dense in general. Victor hadn’t even been sure if Luffy swung his way, or anyway really, though Victor suspected that Luffy was demi if not ace. But his hesitation had stopped him from actually doing or saying something about it - hissing and kicking Zoro’s shin whenever the swordsman teased him for it.
Zoro had been the first one to notice Victor’s growing feelings for their captain, Nami was surprised to learn she was the third to know after Zoro and Robin respectively but really unless when it came to directions Zoro was very observant though many tended to forget or overlook that quality of his. While Zoro tried to dare Victor into just doing it and getting it over, Robin was more understanding and let him figure it out on his own space and Nami was great for brainstorming with. Robin and Zoro had actually mentioned a change in the captain regarding Victor but he had been too insecure to really rely on it or pay any thought but right now in this moment, Victor realized they might’ve just been right all along.
“Yeah, so let’s date.” Luffy said with a shrug and Victor didn’t know whether he wanted to cry out of frustration or relief about his devil-may-care attitude about this all.
“Luffy, this is serious for me okay. This is not something you can just joke about or laugh it off, because I…” Victor brought back his hands to grasp at his thimble necklace, thinking back on what his parents had before the death of his mother and looked back at Luffy who had actually sobered up as he saw the action. “I’ve liked you… Since… Since Skypiea and… This is serious for me, I’m not saying it isn’t for you nor am I trying to minimize your feelings it’s just… I know many people aren’t kind to people like me for loving who we love and being with me, being two guys in a relationship, can be a real eyesore for many… I’m… Scared but I want to be with you, like a lover but… Is that what you want? Like, truly.” Luffy was silent for a moment, still looking at Victor’s hands clutching the necklace until his knuckles turned white but Luffy knew that the thimble was safe from harm. Luffy put his hand on Victor’s, hearing more than seeing the tiny gasp leaving Victor’s lips.
“... Sorry it took me so long… And that I wasn’t clear…” Victor blinked as a tear fell, yet he said nothing as the captain continued and gently stroked Victor’s skin with his rough, calloused thumb. “It’s new, these feelings, and difficult… I wasn’t sure what it meant at first… I never felt this way about anyone, I never wanted to do the things I want to do with you with anyone… But the two years we were apart I thought back a lot, about my childhood at Foosha Village and I remembered Shanks telling me about this kind of stuff… Thinking about it, it made me realize that I didn’t like you as just a friend and crew member… I don’t really know how to do anything but if I’m doing it with you, I figured it’d be fun! You’re really good at teaching me stuff and I figured we’d deal with it together. So, whaddya say?” Luffy grinned, not being able to contain it as it grew on his face and the hand that wasn’t on Victor’s raised his chin so he could meet their look. “Wanna date?”
“... Yes… Yes I do…” Victor smiled, wobbly but true as tears fell and Luffy felt that fluttery feeling in his chest as he usually did when near Victor. He had an urge, something he had seen couples do but never wanted, until now. He pulled Victor's head close and met him halfway, pressing his lips against Victor’s - he really didn’t know what to do now but it felt great, really great. He parted from the kiss after a while, looking at Victor who had closed his eyes during it and blinked them open halfway.
“Did I do it right?” Luffy asked softly, unsure and for once donned a blush of his own as his heart thumped in his chest, palms sweaty and he realized with a start he was nervous. He wanted to do it again.
“Yeah, it was a perfect first kiss.” Victor returned just as softly, coming close as he released his necklace and put his arms around Luffy’s neck. By instinct Luffy pulled Victor even closer, setting him on his lap and laughed a little as Victor let out a squeak of surprise at the position. “L-Luffy!?”
“What? It’s much more comfortable like this, right?” The captain asked, liking the way Victor’s legs wrapped around him and the way he felt on his lap.
He looked up at Victor, Victor who was so much shorter was nearly head to head with him now. Luffy never really cared about how anyone looked or noticed stuff, he had bruises still after not having noticed Nami had changed her hair, but he realized that Victor had quite a lot of freckles over his nose and cheeks. His eyelashes were also really long, pretty, and as the glasses dipped down on his nose Luffy thought that he was cute. The urge came back and just like before, Luffy went in for another kiss but this time Victor wasn’t as passive.
As their lips met, Victor, while not having the most experience in the crew he still had kissed and made out with before, tilted his head and moved their lips. Luffy, quickly learning, moved with him as they molded their lips over and over again and as they parted for breath, both their lips were red and swollen. “Wow… That was even better!” The captain cheered and as Victor laughed, he went in for a kiss and the taste of Victor’s laughter was better than any meat.