Gonna Level With You: Situation Hasn't Improved And, Emotionally, I'm Very Much A Tired, Cracked Egg.

gonna level with you: situation hasn't improved and, emotionally, i'm very much a tired, cracked egg. so chaos gremlin wilder might need a few more days to return to form.

BUT ー i did manage to do all of my drafts** on both here & cora. like, a total reset to zero for the first time in months. whew.

thank you for all the patience, and sorry for all the whining about my situation the last two months. i'm sure you're all sick of hearing about it OTL, so thank you for putting up with me when i've really had no one else to commiserate with.

ー the burning keeps me alive.

(ind. donquixote rosinante)

it's kind of wild for one piece to sell rosinante's devil fruit as this "mostly useless & lame" thing outside of infiltration/stealth missions or getting a lil peace & quiet, as if the idea of someone making it physically impossible for you to hear them while they hunt you down is not a terrifying as shit concept.

yeah, it's not gonna matter much if he's standing right in your line of sightーbut, if he's not, then what? where is he? you don't know.

he could snipe someone from a treeline 100 feet away, or turn off the lights, walk up behind you & snap your neck and no one would hear a goddamn thing.

do you want to deal with someone like that? i don't.

　❝ ...maybe, ❞ rosinante muttered, as if he didn't already know the answer of what doflamingo was after himself.

he'd known the answer since they were both children, still living in that dirty shack and hated by the world. when doflamingo promised him one day he would 'fix things' for the two of them and then, days later, took what little of their family the boys had left and destroyed it instead.

the commander's chest tightened and suddenly, just as he was regretting giving up his last cigarette he had on hand, it was as if she had read his mind. he gratefully took it, pacing the speed of his inhale in an effort to mask the acute panic he had inadvertently triggered himself into.

　❝ i don't work well on teams, though. you know that. ❞ well, technically; it wasn't as if he prided himself on working alone, or hated other people ー people tended to just get hurt more often when he was around.

A snort and a flick of ashes, Bellemere offered the tall man his own cigarette back. Or at least a hit off it, considering he likely needed it more than she did. It was the nicotine that did it for her, having picked up smoking, gambling at bars with men twice her age, attempting to appear much older to avoid suspicious from the bar tender.

"No one would expect you to," she offered, along with a clap on the back. "That's kinda the whole point of the marines, right? We're a team and all that..." A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, because she didn't entirely believe that... not anymore. Not really. If they were truly all on the same team, she'd imagine men like Donquixote Doflamingo and Shiki the Golden Lion never would have been allowed to amass a following at all.

Bellemere shrugged. "Power. Isn't that what they're all after in the end?"

    ❝ patients are a lot easier to talk to when they're asleep. ❞ the gremlin is definitely glaring up at Cora with those menacing amber eyes that always seem to be shadowed beneath the brim of his hat. ( little Law )

　❝ well, sometimes patients wake up when they hear noise, ❞ rosinante replied, tone neither annoyed nor mocking, but instead like he was playing along.

well, he primarily woke up because the pain medication he was given was starting to wane, but it wasn't a lie. for the last few nights, he was deliberate in not using his devil fruit powers; not only was his stamina running on fumes he couldn't afford to waste if he wanted to recover enough for them to finally get off minion within the week ー law said he would need at least two weeks, but rosinante was sure he could convince him if he kept being on his best behavior ー but it was too risky not to be in total awareness of his surroundings.

rosinante was heavily injured, and law ー having to split what little energy he had between caring for himself and caring for the older man ー wasn't better off. they were vulnerable, and the sounds around them were really the only indicators the pair had to potential dangers. he may not be able to defend law in his state, but they could still make a break for it.

that pain in rosinante's ribs alone was enough to knock the smile off his face, but the marine was doing his damnest to not let that show.

　❝ i didn't hear what you said, though. honest! at least i don't think so. i can never tell what words i dreamed up versus what someone actually said to me while i'm half-conscious. ❞

[ ATTENTION ]: sender, having just noticed something strange or remarkable, calls for the receiver to get their attention. (this one. said quietly, but with a frown as he holds up a newspaper to indicate a headline he's just picked up on.)

　rosinante didn't immediately hear law calling his name, back turned with several paces of distance between them. the sound of rushing water didn't help either.

the pair had camped next to a stream last night and he was taking full advantage of that, still half-dressed and scrubbing his upper body with a washcloth. 'freshening up' via a sponge bath with icy river water would never be the ideal when soap, hot water heaters & plumbing existed ー but when options were limited, it was important to get creative. besides,

he was fine with this; there was an odd nostalgia about having no other option but to bathe in the river. after a moment, law approached his shoulder, newspaper in hand, pestering him again to look. when rosinante did, their frowns matched. he clicked his tongue.

　❝ ...all right, so... we can just go ahead and check that hospital off the list, then, ❞ he muttered, sheepishly.

whoops. word clearly traveled much faster on this island than the older man thought; news of the pair's 'reign of terror' ー well, let's be honest, it was rosinante raining terror on people ー at the hospital they had visited the previous morning was already on the front pages. and if the news coo had been able to pick out law amongst the trees and successfully deliver the paper, there was little chance that the town they were heading towards (the last on rosinante's list for this island) would already be expecting them. a big safety risk. best to skip the town altogether and get an early start on the next one.

　❝ but, uh... look on the bright side ー we're lucky the news coo saw you and dropped that for us. so, we're prepared! imagine if we didn't know and walked into a trap, right? could have been a tough situation to get out of. ❞

they had enough food to last them another week or two, right? he'd have to check.