@waxgentleman 'd For A Thing.

@waxgentleman ❤️'d for a thing.

❝ wow! this is... sturdier than i thought it would be. the wax solidfied so fast, too. ❞

　rosinante marveled at his foot, now encased in a thick coating of wax in the shape of a boot. he rapped his knuckles against it once, twice, three times, hearing a hollow but satisfying knock. hollow, yet sturdy, supporting his injured foot perfectly enough for him to hobble on, and without much pain.

he wasn't exactly sure if wax was meant to be used in this way, at least not on its own. he thinks he remembers his casts in the past being made with fiberglass or plaster. but, eh... plaster was similar enough to wax, right?

　❝ i do have a question, though. this wax is obviously... flammabl,e right? ❞ knowing this poor man's track record with fire, this was an absolutely necessary detail to keep in mind.

@sillygum ❤️'d for a thing.

　❝ i'm surprised law let's you call him torao. did you come up with that nickname yourself? ❞

　not that rosinante was one to talk, near-exclusively addressing his favorite little boy gremlin with some variation of "kiddo" or "little shit" despite the fact that law has realistically outgrown them. perhaps he was making up for lost time. making up for the thirteen years they spent apart where rosinante couldn't (lovingly) annoy him with his dozens of nicknames.

　❝ i think i've heard your crew call him that, as well, so you don't mind if i steal it, do you? i love devising new nicknames for that kid, but a nickname from a friend seems extra special. ❞

　　❝ eh... concussion-consmushun. though, i wouldn't know the square root of 64 under normal circumstances, sorry to say. ❞

rosinante waved off the concern as he always did, but one could never be sure if the dismissiveness was him not wanting to worry others, or the hallmark of a man so desensitized to the traumatic day-to-day happenings that it genuinely didn't register as an issue anymore.

　❝ whichever you want to use is fine. both is fine, honestlyーjust don't use rosinante around law. i guess for thirteen years, he thought of me as nothing but cora, so it throws him off whenever i use my real name around him. ❞

not that rosinante was complaining; there was a brief unease in the beginning simply because the name itself was rooted to his codename within the donquixote pirates. hearing it spoken aloud again upon his reunion with law was like he had gone back to a time & place that he'd rather not remember.

but there was also sweetness tied to it. particularly, the memory of the first time law had ever called him coraーover breakfast one morning, and rosinante felt like he was dreaming. the night before it had felt like the sky was crashing down on him, but just hearing that one little name filled his chest with a new determination.

　so, yeah. rosinante was nice. but cora was something he didn't think he'd ever be able to let go of.

@code01746

Ikkaku smiled at the tall blonde's response and shook her head. "If you had brain damage, I'm pretty sure Law would have scanned you for it long before now," she stated. "I'm more concerned about a concussion you might have gotten from that fall."

His clumsiness had certainly been cause for concern, the first time she'd seen it. Really, she had been worried about possible brain damage at the time, but Law had assured her that the man was "just like that." Of course, Ikkaku had still installed extra fire extinguishers throughout the submarine, though she'd demanded that the smoking inside be kept to a minimum, if not outright banned. The oil, gas, and other flammable things that her job involved had made her very conscious of fire safety and with how clumsy this man was, she feared a lit cigarette going flying and setting something ablaze. Her hair included.

She studied him carefully. Partially checking for injuries, but partially just observing this man who was apparently important to Law's past. Another piece to the puzzle that was Trafalgar Law. She adored her captain, but he could be a frustrating enigma.

However, this blonde, sunny idiot was helping her see things a little clearer. At least, she could better understand why Law put up with his Hearts' idiocy and shenanigans when he held such strong affection for this one. Perhaps they reminded Law of him these past thirteen years.

The thought stirred mixed feelings within her, but then again, she had a lot of conflicting feelings since Law returned from Dressrosa.

"Well, you don't look injured. Still, better to check." She held up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up? What's the square root of 64? And...what's your name?" Ikkaku asked, slightly sheepish. "I know Law calls you 'Cora-san,' but I feel like that name's got some history. What would you rather I call you?" It was something she'd been wanting to know, but unsure how to ask. Sure, Law had introduced his savior to his crew, but it felt odd, calling him the title that Law did without permission. But the name Donquixote Rosinante had its own history attached to it. So she'd rather hear from him what he'd like to be called.

　faced with such genuine protesting, rosinante started to backtrack so quickly, he surprised even himself. giolla, in particular, had been furious with him in the past for shot putting children off the deck of the numancia and into the ocean (with the knowledge they were decent swimmers, of course) yet all she got in return with an indifference stare & shrug.

rosinante didn't blame giolla for yelling; he recognized his behavior was awful and was prepared he'd have to reckon with whatever deity was out there for it someday. but, the way rosinante saw it, it was either force them out of the gang now, or they'd meet an even more gruesome fate in the future once doflamingo had fully molded their minds to his liking.

(though, there was something ironic about a criminal like her caring about the safety of young lives when she has certainly taken more than a handful herself, but that was beside the point.)

but this was someone who was in no position to be concerned, being concerned. the gesture twisted his stomach & amplified his feelings of guilt that he often tried to tamper down by thinking of 'the greater good'.

　【 okay. okay. i understand. i'll season their favorite candies with pepper. how's that sound? they need to be reprimanded somehow, it's unacceptable to do this. 】

Watching the male write that he would take care of the kids, her heart skipped a beat in fear of what he could have meant by that. Finally the other cracked his knuckles to indicate what he meant by that statement panic and fear kicked in. Even though the kids were brats, Stella held no ill will towards them nor wished for them to be beaten. Her mind did not even register what he wrote down next as she was in a full panic attack.

The female's whole body was trembling badly as tears streamed down her cheeks as memories from her time with a Celestial Dragon came rushing back. She remembered how the children slaves were treated and it broke her heart as no child deserved to be beaten. Her body moved forward on its own closer to the other. Her feet knocked over the tray of food and the collar around her neck pulled her backwards from the sudden movement.

Falling to her knees, she quickly bowed on the ground to beg and plead with the male to take everything out on her instead. "P-please do-don't hurt the children!" Her whole body sobbed as she continued to beg him. "P-please no child deserves to be hurt. If you have to hit someone please just take it out on me instead. Just don't ha-harm them!" Whimpers left her throat as her vision was cloudy from her tears as the memories were engraved in her mind.

❝ none taken! ❞

evil as doflamingo was, rosinante wasn't one to revel in his brother's misfortune (at least no more than a sibling usually would) but he understood what needed to be done. he still had trouble wrapping his brain around the whole ordeal. he still had trouble coming to terms that his brother's reign of terror was stopped by a teenager. it was a shock to him but, at the same time, it wasn't. he supposed that was the power of the d. at work.

　❝ and, right? he's so... grouchy. and independent. like a... housecat. ❞ or, a feral stray taken off the street and forced to be a housecat, more accurately. ❝ but tough as nails, too. did he tell you the story about the week we met? about how he tried to murder me? ❞

The idea of a very small Law scowling from under his hat is very easy to conjure and has the man laughing. It’s cute, he’s always been like this, always deadly serious and Luffy knows for a fact they would have gotten along worse as children. “He’s a doctor, should know that’s not good for him.” Luffy’s smile relaxes as he shakes his head. “ ‘M surprised he hasn’t exploded yet.”

“Nope, I don’t think so?”  Luffy had been distracted in the colosseum for the better half of Dressrossa. “Tora-o got kidnapped at some point then I was running all over the city with him.” He sighs, eyes glancing down and away. “He could have told me, already said I’d help him.” Knows he can’t take it personally if Rosinate says Law’s always been that way but Luffy knows he’s reliable, trusts that his crew can and will handle anything thrown their way. “Dunno what he would’a done if we didn’t land on Punk Hazard, he didn’t even have his crew with him.” Did they know their captain was on a suicide mission? What did he tell them he was doing? 

“He’s so stubborn! Just let me care about you idiot.” Hand smacks against his chest, fingers curling into the rough skin of his scar. “I didn’t ask for his help but he did anyway. Dying that day would’a been fine.” Maybe Law didn’t see it with the same weight he did or it was just another day, another surgery. There is no obligation to help Law, no debt to be repaid, no thanks needed.  “Kept my dream alive ya know? I’d kick ten Mingo asses if he asked.”

“Not you, no offense.”