"..."
"..."
Veyron didn't know what to say. Her being older, was that a problem? numerically speaking it only made things worse as it just widened the gap between them but at the same time, it erased the moral concept of age as a romantic factor.
'Our relationship is quite complex'.
He had initially seen her as a desired company. But as time moved on he realised that she was the type of woman he had always hoped to find, sadly... it had been too late, by the time he realised a parental bond had been formed even if inadvertently.
"Are you going to sit there running your mind all day?" She sat down next to him where Rayleigh had been, the sun had already dropped colouring the sky with a subtle navy blue shade, the moon covered by scarce grey clouds, soon it would show itself to the night.
"Since you're going to be involving yourself in this operation -without asking me- shouldn't you at least know what this is all about?"
"…" Veyron listened but he wasn't paying attention.
"The festival of the stars is played every year. In it, the celestial dragons descend to Sabaody to showcase their power, wealth and slaves to the masses. It will be two days from now. We have to stay alert at all times. The assault could take place before the event so we have to be alert".
"…"
"Veyron, are you listening?".
"Yes?"
"Did it strike you that much that I could be older than I am?" She frowned.
"Not really… b-but how much?"
"How shameless of to ask me when you haven't stated your age once, I'm the lady here".
"You're right, sorry..."
"…"
A minute of silence engulfed the two with nothing but furtive glances here and there.
"Forty-six?".
"Twenty-nine".
!!!
Veyron gasped but Mihawk smirked, leaning against him even closer much to his surprise.
"W-What?-" She was not a three hundred years old gilf as he expected her to be, turns out she was telling the truth all along.
"It is true that the members of the Dracule Family have long lifespans, but Rayleigh forgot to mention or perhaps he didn't know that we also have low birthrates. I told you my father was slaughtered in front of me when I was a child. It wasn't a lie".
"…" he had been tricked and exposed.
"Now you, forty-six huh?~"
The man in a child's body covered his eyes in shame but Mihawk saw in this an opportunity to punish the disobedient fellow.
"No wonder your hands and tongue were so experienced back then you little pervert," she remarked with a serious expression alongside a whisper; it passed more as a seductive glare than a scold, "It was my first time".
"It was my first time too! I don't have that much experience, seriously!" He couldn't possibly tell her that the passion of that night was merely a result of the desires secluded in his heart for two years.
Veyron noticed their faces were quite close together with a steady breath, he put the black cloak around the two of them and before he knew, they were embracing each other under the shining moon that finally decided to expose itself.
Mihawk noticed that if she didn't do anything things would escalate, she made some slight distance between their lips and started to speak.
"There are two reasons why I don't want you to become public".
"…" Veyron couldn't care any less about those reasons, all he wanted was to kiss her but didn't know if a bold approach was the best choice. It felt like the biggest reason for his apprehension: the age gap, had already been sorted. She didn't mind it.
"The first reason is that the Lunarians are the number one enemy of the world government.".
"And the second reason?"
"I didn't want you to cross swords with anybody else except me. I'm admittedly infatuated by your swordplay, Veyron".
!!!
"Mom".
With her wantonly stating things like that, he could hardly control himself. She wasn't the only one infatuated.
"Uhm" a slight moan was released and Mihawk frowned, looking down to her buttoned shirt where a vicious fleshy snake was playing around, fondling her boob. It was Veyron's hand.
"Mom? Uhm... you're still going to call me that even after what we did?" She put her hand above his, whether she wanted to stop him or lock him in place, he didn't know just yet. The atmosphere was perfect and although her lips weren't close, all he needed to do was retreat as they were technically whispering in each other's ears.
"I was very vulnerable. You remind me of my mom whom I lost at a young age. You comforted me the way she used to, you taught me the way she used to... a bit more aggressively. In any case, I don't want things to change between us".
"So in other words, shameless brat. You want me to keep being your mother, but you also want to touch me like this. You want to hold my hand in public while you fondle and kiss me in private, huh?" Her glare couldn't get any more poisonous. He knew it was not only a skewered request but also a selfish one.
"Sorry. I may not be with you all the time. But wherever you are, that's my home-!".
He didn't even need to wait and make the bold move, it was she who kissed him deeply for what he believed was their first kiss, covered by the black cloak and under the dark clear starry moonshine.
It was tender yet deep for as long as they could hold it.
"Since you want me to keep being your mother, son".
"Yes?".
*SMACK!*
"Ouch! why!?"
"Why are you running your hands, perverted disobedient brat?! I should be punishing you, not rewarding you!"
"I won't do it again! I promise!"
*SMACK!*
"Taking the chance to grope my breasts, you perverted fiend!"
"Hehe~ sorry!"
**
**
The Festival of Stars would take place in two days and all over Sabaody there was expectation, for riches and also, events.
The 1st Grove was the one where the event would usually take place and here there were two individuals casually strolling across, watching the tides of marines involved in the preparation of the event. The marines sent this man a vicious look and yet they didn't take action.
"Tch, these damned celestial dragons. Having all that money for nothing. If I had that much power you think I'd be wasting my time descending to this sh*t hole? All privilege no brain".
The man in question had a golden hook in his hand, he was standing next to a dark-skinned man, smoking.
"Are we going to Alabasta now, Mr 0?" The other individual was a bald dark-skinned man with tattoos.
"No, let's see what the festival has to offer this year. Last time a powerful devil fruit was handed over to some measly slave, perhaps this time we could steal it~"
...
Far away in the distance, there was a stationed marine battleship. There were three vice admirals assigned for the Festival of Stars this year. Momonga was a veteran with more than ten years handling the event but this time around when a problem was expected, two of the 'rookies' candidates to be a marine admiral had been sent as backup.
Borsalino Kizaru and...
"Arara, we have a great audience this year. Crocodile, Akagami Shanks and his crew the Red Head Pirates… am I missing anyone so far?"
"No, sir" Answered a marine lady.
"Anything around the perimeter?"
"Nothing as of now, Vice Admiral Kuzan" Reported another marine captain.
"With Kizaru there we won't have much to do. Keep your eyes wide open" Said Kuzan,
Covering his eyes and preparing to take a nap, leaving his whole crew astonished at how fast he could transfer his responsibilities to someone else.
By far the sleaziest vice admiral, they thought.