Probably Won't Get To These For A Few Days, Or Maybe Not Until Early Next Week, But Here's A Tentative

probably won't get to these for a few days, or maybe not until early next week, but here's a tentative meme/inbox call from cora.

i'll pick 1-3 memes from your tag to send in. no cap, though i might be selective about what i decide to turn into threads depending on how many people like this. just trying to gently ease myself back into things.

you’re gonna carry that weight

❄️🪶Goofy Ravens Playing in the Snow🪶❄️

　❝ we weren't around the... nicest folks at the time. i'm sure he's told you all about that, though. ❞ hell, never mind law telling her, he was certain nami got firsthand experience just how unpleasant his older brother's crew was through helping out law in dressrosa. rosinante recalled them being insufferable to deal with while still undercover over a decade ago, he couldn't imagine what they were like nowadays.

　❝ it would have been too suspicious of me to take the kids and run, so i had to get... creative. and, by 'creative', i mean 'treat the kids who showed up there like shit until they run away crying'. ❞

rosinante leaned back and gave her the air to speak & gather her thoughts, eyes receptive to the changes in her face. as much as he wanted to think their circumstances were the same, that was too simple.

the fact of the matter is that he was here, and bell-mere wasn't. law had the opportunity to heal ー to get closure ー directly from him, but nami didn't. there was only so much he could say, and only so much her guilt would allow her to believe. at least for right now, until they could form a bond in their own way.

for now, he'd settle for a bit of levity.

　❝ eh, well... depends. i doubt you were worse than law, unless you're the type of kid to try and stab your mom? ❞

"Why would it be for his own good? You're so ... nice."

He was so sweet, so kind, and she'd only known Rosinante for a short while. It was easy to see his good qualities, and while she had her issues with the institutions of marines, there were decent ones. Her mother was one of them; it was one of the main reasons she would always feel some sort of kinship with marines of the female variety. She wanted to believe there were some who were doing their work for the right reasons; her mother had been one that did. There had to be others that cared about people, the ones they swore to protect. Although it appeared to be easier said than done, to show such compassion.

"I gave her hell," Nami admitted, resting her chin in her palm, continuing to stir her tea. It was an easy way to pull herself away, to lure herself into somewhat of a trance. "I was spoiled. Selfish. You say she didn't regret it, but I dunno." She smiled, albeit weakly, because it was really all she could do. She still felt so much guilt. Guilt for surviving. Guilt for leaving. Guilt for living.

It was amazing that she had opened up so much, in such a short amount of time. She didn't always talk about her past --- she had others who would listen, but there were very few who might relate. How odd it was, that she'd found someone, in him. How much they had in common in their chosen dynamics --- maybe it meant something.

"I bet Law didn't cause you trouble, like I did for her."

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?"