That's Nice People Speak For 'is Being Neurotic', He Quipped.

　　❝ that's nice people speak for 'is being neurotic', ❞ he quipped.

　rosinante scratched his face. suspecting was one thing, but having his suspicions vindicated in plain language to his face was a strange feeling. conflicting. it stirred up those memories again, and he could have sworn his old bullet wounds were starting to hurt. itch. he nodded along, his dull red eyes conveying an understanding, yet sad: 'thought so.'

　❝ i'm more civilian than marine nowadaysーhonestly, if sengoku quits one of these days, i won't even bother reporting on pirate activity that i see when i'm up northーbut i get your point. would be a bit strange for you to drop everything you're doing and telling your crew you're off visiting some hermit in the woods, wouldn't it? ❞

❝ Not neurotic. Just...a tad bit overbearing. ❞ he remarked, a smile on his usually stoic features.

Drake appreciated it. He sighed. Shit, he was in a tough place. He knew he could trust Rosi, that he wouldn't tell anyone, that they'd act as if everything was going according to the mission and the plan. It was one thing he could count on. What else was there? Especially if he might not make it back anyways?

The former Rear Admirals stood, walking over to the blonde, before sitting down beside of him, pulling over a chair, taking a deep breath. ❝ I can't go into too much detail, Rosi. Not many even know what I'm doing. To a lot of people, I'll be deemed retired. A traitor. A Marine turned pirate. A Member of the Worst Generation. A man with a target on his back. But...what I'm doing now...is a mission. If anyone asks, act like you didn't know. I can't promise to visit. This will take years. I might not even make it back. But, just know, I'll do everything I can to return alive. You cannot follow me, no matter what. Got it? Wouldn't look too good. ❞

　　❝ 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.

[ from penguin ]

they are going to very quietly, very hush hush, slide this over all filled out. don't let law see though, he might get jealous.

all of the heart pirates are now his children!

rosinante was a bit surprised when he found out law became a pirateーbut also he nearly died to give law his life back and his freedom to go anywhere & do whatever he wanted so he couldn't complain. plus, now he has 19 extra kids!

Better start cooking.

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.

two drafts left, time to add more.

❤️ for a thing.