Nightmare (Shanks X Reader)

Nothing to See Here

"Shit!" Your grip on the glass tightened until it shattered in your hand, dropping large shards in the sudsy sink water and making the few smaller ones sink into the flesh.

The gathering in your living room had turned into almost an interrogation with Robin and Nami coming in hot with question after question. It felt like the first time you had finished with a job interview, wondering how badly you did with your quickly thrown together responses and constant pressured stuttering. You'd done the same today and couldn't help but wonder how much of what you said made sense. You stuck to the same story you told your boss but they wanted more details.

And the more they questioned, the more the others seemed interested in your responses. You got it, your friends were frustrated with you leaving out of the blue. If one of them did the same thing, you'd be furious. You took care of each other around here and that wasn't easy to do if no one knew when something came up. But you didn't imagine Robin and Nami being so angry, Robin especially. She liked mothering your group to some extent but the things she asked, how she asked them had you worried.

Why'd you go so suddenly? That was easy enough to answer.

Why hadn't they heard about this family member before? Not so easy. You gave the lame excuse of them liking to keep private.

Why go alone?

A heads up would have been nice. That turned into a bit of a lecture.

Luffy tried to get them to stop at that point, the mood of the room dragging down his own, but Robin was adamant. And what bothered you the most was you couldn't figure out why.

It went on a bit longer and you were sure there were a few contradicting statements made somewhere in the mix but you were by no means prepared for it. Eventually things calmed down enough for a more regular hang out but there was still an underlying tension that wouldn't leave. Everyone was uncomfortable.

When they left, you were hit with a new wave of exhaustion. You were as stressed now as you were when you dealt with your first shift and it showed as you tried to clean up after your friends. Tired or not, you couldn't bring yourself to leave dirty glasses lying around.

Now you were more annoyed that your full set was a glass short than anything else. You ignored the glass hidden in the water and shoved your already cut up hand into it to pull out the stopper, wincing slightly when you made contact with another shard. The water turned the slightest shade of pink as it drained and you let out a sigh as you propped your arm on the edge of the counter, letting the blood fall into the sink.

This by far was going to be your favorite perk of being a shifter. The wounds began to stitch themselves back together right in front of you, pushing out the remaining glass and closing up without leaving so much as faint scars. You'd never scar again, in theory at least. There were a few exceptions to that but they were rare to come across.

When you were sure everything was back to normal, you inspected your hand and tested out it's movements. Completely normal. No pain.

Telling your friends the real story wouldn't have been a worry and would have kept you from having such a stressful evening but the conversation you and Shanks had before you left kept nagging at you.

"(Y/n), one last thing." Shanks grabbed your arm to keep you from leaving the vehicle.

Benn stared at you through the rearview mirror, chewing at the end of a toothpick slowly. The serious look in both men's eyes was the only thing keeping you from telling him to fill you in on whatever it was later.

"I need you to promise you won't tell anyone what you are. I mean anyone."

You chuckled nervously as he squeezed your arm for emphasis. "Not even my friends?"