Number Twelve
Sep. 14th, 2011 06:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dethoratsTitle: Deferred (Or Not)
Rating: PG
Pairing: Shanks/Ben
Word Count: 436
A/N: Pure cheese
The first time the thought crossed Ben’s mind, he discarded it immediately. It had been only a symptom of idleness, of boredom reinforcing random speculation and an influence of close quarters and perhaps too much drink. The second time he had the thought, he rejected it out of hand. After all, the subject in question was annoying, mouthy, entirely without understanding of the concept of personal space, drank too much, and was far too full of himself. This particular rejection was made all the easier by the practical joke he fell prey to within minutes of having the first tendrils of the idea creep into his brain. Much the same happened the next twenty or so times the thought reared its head. Each time, however, his reasons for discarding it became weaker. And then they’d put into port at a decently-sized city with a wide selection of people and, for the desperate or simply the expedient, the option of just paying instead of attempting actual interactions first.
He hadn’t cared one bit, hadn’t been interested in the slightest because that thought kept popping back into his mind, his very evil brain now actively expanding on it and tormenting him. So he changed tactics and started discrediting the thought by virtue of the fact that he was NOT that sort of man. Oh no. Five years didn’t mean a great deal in the long run but currently, at least by the standards of his home town, it was a veritable gulf. So…patience was something he generally possessed and was even gaining in through sheer virtue of his traveling companions. He could last this out, let at least two more years pass and then maybe his conscience wouldn’t feel so bad. It would be rough, but he could make it. Maybe he’d even change his mind, not that that seemed remotely likely. Too, he’d get a chance to work on exactly how to broach the subject as there was always the possibility he’d grossly misinterpreted the situation. He would wait.
Of course he was just half of the problem and the other half tended to take what he wanted with both hands and consequences be damned. And he could be quite persuasive when he wanted. Relentless, too. Ben gave in and told his conscience to shut the hell up because Shanks had lived more in his short life than many people did for their total span. Besides, if anything Shanks was taking advantage of him rather than the other way around (at least seventy percent of the time anyway), and making a damn good job of it, too.
Note: based on the timeline at the One Piece wiki which would make Shanks 14! when Roger dismissed the crew and 15 when he was executed. Per my mostly unwritten Parshem fic, Shanks goes back to West Blue to start his own crew and meets Ben shortly thereafter (Lucky Roux is already aboard but not Yasopp). Assuming it takes 2 years for them to succumb to the inevitable, lol, Shanks is still only 17 and I generally make Ben at least 5 years older (he is in Parshem) and sometimes more than that. So yeah, 22 vs 17 and Ben is feeling far too worldly for his own good even though Shanks pretty much has him beat.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Shanks/Ben
Word Count: 436
A/N: Pure cheese
The first time the thought crossed Ben’s mind, he discarded it immediately. It had been only a symptom of idleness, of boredom reinforcing random speculation and an influence of close quarters and perhaps too much drink. The second time he had the thought, he rejected it out of hand. After all, the subject in question was annoying, mouthy, entirely without understanding of the concept of personal space, drank too much, and was far too full of himself. This particular rejection was made all the easier by the practical joke he fell prey to within minutes of having the first tendrils of the idea creep into his brain. Much the same happened the next twenty or so times the thought reared its head. Each time, however, his reasons for discarding it became weaker. And then they’d put into port at a decently-sized city with a wide selection of people and, for the desperate or simply the expedient, the option of just paying instead of attempting actual interactions first.
He hadn’t cared one bit, hadn’t been interested in the slightest because that thought kept popping back into his mind, his very evil brain now actively expanding on it and tormenting him. So he changed tactics and started discrediting the thought by virtue of the fact that he was NOT that sort of man. Oh no. Five years didn’t mean a great deal in the long run but currently, at least by the standards of his home town, it was a veritable gulf. So…patience was something he generally possessed and was even gaining in through sheer virtue of his traveling companions. He could last this out, let at least two more years pass and then maybe his conscience wouldn’t feel so bad. It would be rough, but he could make it. Maybe he’d even change his mind, not that that seemed remotely likely. Too, he’d get a chance to work on exactly how to broach the subject as there was always the possibility he’d grossly misinterpreted the situation. He would wait.
Of course he was just half of the problem and the other half tended to take what he wanted with both hands and consequences be damned. And he could be quite persuasive when he wanted. Relentless, too. Ben gave in and told his conscience to shut the hell up because Shanks had lived more in his short life than many people did for their total span. Besides, if anything Shanks was taking advantage of him rather than the other way around (at least seventy percent of the time anyway), and making a damn good job of it, too.
Note: based on the timeline at the One Piece wiki which would make Shanks 14! when Roger dismissed the crew and 15 when he was executed. Per my mostly unwritten Parshem fic, Shanks goes back to West Blue to start his own crew and meets Ben shortly thereafter (Lucky Roux is already aboard but not Yasopp). Assuming it takes 2 years for them to succumb to the inevitable, lol, Shanks is still only 17 and I generally make Ben at least 5 years older (he is in Parshem) and sometimes more than that. So yeah, 22 vs 17 and Ben is feeling far too worldly for his own good even though Shanks pretty much has him beat.
