The Burning Keeps Me Alive.

ー the burning keeps me alive.

(ind. donquixote rosinante)

<3

big fan of how multiple people are now invested in mine & lala's plot of penguin needing to help cora take care of his injury or law is going to kill both of them lol

　❝ it was a group effort, law. you might not see it that way, but i just gave you the tools ー it was up to you to make something out them and, god, you did. i'm real proud of you. ❞

rosinante hung an arm loosely around law's shoulders, giving one an affectionate squeeze and ever-so-slightly nudging the doctor closer to him. he was trying to be mindful of law's caginess towards physical affection, something he remembered fondly, in a strange way.

he decided to compromise with a lazy, half-hug, but wasn't above being more obnoxious if law decided to squirm. after thirteen years, one hug without a groan, or grumble, or embarrassed protest didn't seem out of the question after what the two had gone through.

　when law directed a question at time, rosinante felt his mind stall, punctuated with a long pause. ❝ i... don't know, ❞ came the reply, equal parts earnest an confused. ❝ i spent the last thirteen years trying to track you down, but now that that's over with... now that dressrosa is safe, and doffy is locked away, i don't really know what to do with myself. ❞ not as a nearly forty year old man, anyway. even all these years later, the dreams of grand adventures he would have with law once they reunited never fully left his mind, but he had to be realistic with himself about how much their situations had changed. it wasn't just him & law he had to worry about now.

　❝ when i was still in my twenties, i kept thinking, when i found you, we'd travel together like i promised, but i don't know. maybe i'm a little too old for that now. ❞ well, it was more that he didn't want to assert himself into law's crew, nor take him away when he clearly had dreams of his own he was working towards. to do that went against the autonomy & freedom he nearly died for him to have.

Brow rises with a look of displeasure in such a nickname for him. " I didn't want to take down Doflamingo for the sake of the people at Dressrosa, you know. " His reasons were entirely selfish, a silent promise of revenge for such a HEARTLESS act of violence against brothers. While Rocinante had shown him nothing but kindness in the days they travelled along, hoping for a single doctor to extend their hand && work to discover a cure, his heart soon coated in a darkness that festered the longer he lived, knowing of Doflamingo's actions.

Now following his heart, beating strongly to his own, steady rhythm, he is somewhat comforted by the fate of the elder of the Donquixote brothers after what happened. Even if it took more than his own careful planning. He came so close… he should have been stronger. A weight finally peeled off of weary shoulders.

Dull, golden hues flicker away from Rocinante, staring at the ground before them. Nothing in particular… simply a way to avoid reading too closely to the other's expressions. " I should be the one thanking you. For giving me that second chance at life." When no one else would. Sparing him from not only his omnicidal, self-sacrificial path, but also the life following after Doflamingo's criminal syndicate. "... Now that it's done, all I get to do now is sail wherever I want to. Maybe become the next pirate king. ... What about you ? "