Yeah. I Knew Everyone, In A Way. At Least In The Old Days, Not So Much Now. My Adopted Father Used To

　　❝ yeah. i knew everyone, in a way. at least in the old days, not so much now. my adopted father used to be in a pretty high position with the marines, so i got shipped a lot of places and worked with a lot of people. ❞

　it genuinely had been so long since rosinante had spoken to anybody about his former life with the marines he often didn't know where to start. but not here; bellemere was a focal point, a rare connection he had with this girl and her story. somehow, he knew everything he wanted to say, but had no idea what to say at all. would this be stressful? comforting? cathartic for him, but painful to her? was he pushing too much to even want to bring this up?

but he couldn't help himself. when the subject came to law, oh, he could talk for hours.

　 ❝ my kid found me, actually. we didn't... start off in the right place, though. i doubt it was as sweet a story as it was with your mom & your sister; i kept trying to get rid of him for two years, i wasn't planning on getting attachedーfor his own good, he shouldn't have been around meーbut it just... happened. it was hard, and i... almost died a couple times, but i don't regret a day of it. i'm sure your mother didn't either. ❞

Talking about her mother always brought a sickening swirl of emotions. Happy, sad, anger, bitterness. It was odd, wasn't it? That she and Law each had a marine in their past. She had never attempted to talk about it with him --- neither of them were particularly the types to open up about that sort of thing, on the other hand. Nami only did, when people asked --- and it just so happened, Rosinante was one of the few brave enough to do so.

Her hands placed politely on her lap --- occasionally, she reached to stir the tangerine tea, although she didn't feel much like drinking it. She was much too captivated, by the thought of speaking to someone who had memories of her mother. They were so hard to come by, now, especially since she was so far away from Genzo and Nojiko. Even when she had shared a village with them --- Nami was permitted to only rely on her own memories. Some of which, were the memories of others --- stories passed around the village, which she had caught wind of, by happenstance.

"Did you know her? --- My mother, I mean..." Nami questioned, eyes lighting up. Despite how large the institution of marines were, she couldn't help but hope that Rosinante knew her. That he had stories to tell, about his time with her. There was only so much Nami could squeeze from the Cocoyashi villagers.

"A kid came along for you, too... hm, don't tell me you found yours in a war-torn, destroyed village, too." A sardonic tone and a soft smirk. She handled it in the only way she knew how: a wry sense of humor. A little good will went a long way, too, but there were several reasons she chose not to open up about her past. It was a quick way to make anyone uncomfortable.

@chillin-at-partys-bar ❤️'d for a thing. (smoker)

　❝ i'll be lucky if i don't get discharged for that, never mind demoted. ❞

　rosinante dangled one leg off the side of his bunk while the other was curled up to his chest, gripped tightly as he subconsciously tried to tamp down his anxieties.

maybe he was being a bit hyperbolicーafter all, being the adopted son of an admiral awarded him way more leniency than others in his ranksーbut sengoku could only save him when he screwed up so many times, surely. only so many times he could convince rosinante's superiors that his son's tendency to accidentally light his surroundings on fire when he tries to light a cigarette totally doesn't make him a liability. rosinante was just waiting for the day it happened at this point.

❝ but something that flammable shouldn't have been on the tween deck at all if they're gonna complain about it. everyone knows that's the best place to smoke. ❞

reading the manga to compare scenes was a mistake because i'm now burdened with the knowledge law is supposed to be in tears when he says this to doflamingo.

also, for reference to be used in said longform thing i'm writing, i am doing... math.

by the end of rosinante & law's six month trip, he has ~15 maps with an average of what looks like 4-6 hospitals marked off on each.

so, over six months (~182 days), rosinante took law to at least 60-90 hospitals, which is roughly a new hospital every 2-3 days.

Children need some fresh air! (Especially if they have just recovered from a disease).

Rocinante: "Law! Come on, let's go outside!" Law: "Not now, Cora-san." Rocinante: "But your friends are waiting for you." Law: "They are not my friends!" Rocinante: "Too late, I already told them you are coming!" Law: "Fine, we'll play… But you'll be sorry, Cora-san"

　　　　❝ ...something like that. ❞

　his voice still remained unfocused, sounding as if it were coming from somewhere off in the distance and not from his own throat. the scent of smoke brought him back, and he realized the ominous quality of what he had just said. he felt exposed, like he was wearing too much of his heart on his sleeve in the moment. he panicked.

　❝ not... not the 'cooties' part, the 'going after his bounty' part. ❞ wait, why did he say that? of course she wasn't serious about the first partーshe was joking. sigh. clumsy body, clumsy tongue, it turns out. he tried to tamp down his embarrassment, shifting focus to his coworker's face.

　❝ i don't think i could. at least not on my own; my fruit isn't really cut out for direct combat, and the higher-ups say he's a monster. apparently, he ran a gang with territory stretching all over the north blue islands since he was a kid, and i guess he just wasn't satisfied with that. makes me wonder what he's after. ❞

"You don't have cooties, do you?" Such sarcastic questioning was followed up with a long inhalation as the crimson-haired marine stepped beside her companion. Grey eyes scanned the posters, landing on the one she thought he might have been eyeing. "Ugly bastard, isn't he? Thinking about going for his bounty and ridding the world of one less shitty pirate?"

Taking down pirates- bad pirates- not one's that fought for a better life for everyone- were the entire reason she had become a marine in the first place. Her one eyes drifted away from her fellow marine had been eyeing to move to that of Shiki. The moment she'd heard news of his plight and looked upon his mug she knew what she wanted to do with herself for the first time in her life.