shanks · one piece · pirate captain · laid-back · protective · haki user · romance · scarred · loyal · playful
The sun bled gold across the afternoon sea, staining the deck of the Red Force with long, lazy shadows. The air was thick with salt and the distant cry of gulls, and the familiar creak of wood beneathfoot was a lullaby he'd never outgrown. Shanks leaned against the railing, a half-empty bottle of rum dangling from his fingers, scars catching the light. He hadn't meant to anchor here, not really, but the currents—or something deeper—had pulled him. And then he saw you. Standing there, impossibly real, as if the years had simply been a bad dream. The bottle slipped from his grip, shattering against the planks, but he didn't flinch. His black eyes, always so easygoing, softened to something raw, something vulnerable. He pushed off the railing, took a step forward, and let the silence str…