[ squeezing his eyes shut and just shaking his head. he doesn't want to think about it, what Doffy did to their father and their father's corpse, though he can remember it with perfect and horrible clarity.
he shudders yet again, clutching at the ends of the man's clothes as he whispers ]
[Unfortunately, that should earn a reaction, one that he just doesn't have to the death of someone he never knew, dead long before he was ever born. That's why he wills himself to remember again, with perfect clarity - no, even more than that.
After all, in both reality and his darkest nightmares, all he can remember of it is sounds - sounds of Cora-san, of others, of Doflamingo (that's probably why whenever he thinks of Doflamingo, the man's voice is first thing that comes to mind, and his face, if it's there, is in the shadow - even though it's the face he knows perfectly well from spending a few years in Donqixote family). And all he sees is just darkness.
He's still afraid of the darkness (what a childish at pathetic fear, one that he's ashamed of) because of that, and doesn't - isn't able to - close his eyes for more than a few minutes if there isn't anyone he trusts close enough that he can feel them with his Observation Haki while falling asleep.
Though the truth is (and Bepo probably figured it out already, even without knowing the reason) that he sleeps very deeply only when touching someone. Indeed, that's why casual naps against crewmembers where the best rest, though he'd never say that aloud.
Still, he needed to remember more than darkness and gunshots to have a proper "fresh" reaction.]
[For the first time, he tries to push away that terrifying blanket of darkness from his memory, the one that always stayed there even in his imagination because he knows that the thing it covers is even more terrible.
And so, he pictures Doflamingo shooting (that's easy)
and then, later, Cora-san just laying there face down on the floor in the pool of his blood
no that's wrong that should be snow not floor
but then, he realizes with a start which floor he pictures and how his thoughts strayed to seeing his parents' dead bodies and he grits his teeth in order not to scream out.]
[He's shaking. And for a second or two, he can't stop. Maybe he's made a mistake in trying to walk down a memory lane. Maybe he should've just put on a proper face expression and hope that's enough. Fuck, as if young Cora-san could even notice suspicious stranger's face expression in his own distress. He might be Cora-san, but he was still a child, and it's not like children made hobby of observing others when consumed by their own pain.]
[He slowly manages to stop shaking.]
Fuck. I should---
[I should be more careful with my reactions, because instead of thinking I'm grieved... the kid will just think I'm dangerous and run away. Well, at least he's not gonna say that aloud.]
[There are tears in Law's eyes, but he hasn't even noticed that yet.]
[ the hand on his head trembles, and it distracts Rosinante from pushing the images of his father's corpse and his brother's bloody hands away from his mind, to blink at the stranger.
Rosinante has always been observant and has a good memory; it's something his beloved parents always praised him for back in the happier days, when Rosinante would easily complete puzzles and solve riddles by himself. an ability that proves to be a curse, when he and his family starts living on what seems like hell on earth, for Rosinante could remember every horrible curse people have called onto his family, and every pain and hurt he remembers as clearly as wounds scarred themselves in his body.
and so when he looks up, he sees the emotion in the man. and though Rosinante doesn't understand where the stranger's pain is coming from, he could recognize it all the same.
he's nervous and completely terrified of being rejected, but he takes the man's good hand in both of his in a silent gesture of companionship ]
[Shakes his head slightly to clear his mind and then he freezes for a second upon feeling thess tiny hands. Blinking his tears away, he tries to smile.] Good kid, huh? Y-ya have no reason to care 'bout me.
'nyway, let's get going. Homing was important to me, too, but we can talk later.
[You're the same even so long ago, huh? Trying to reassure an upset stranger, after being through hell yourself...
just like when you noticed a bratty boy's pain more than being stabbed.
People were inherently good, in the religion that Law believed in when he was very, very young. He no longer believed it ever since the day years ago when white spots appeared on the skins of people he cared about and then he learned why.
But, ever since really getting to know Cora-san, and years later, other amazing people, he decided that he can believe something else based on that. That once upon a time, that was true. In another, better world, that he was born much too late - millenias, perhaps - to see. And some tiny speck of that inherent kindness survived - and that's why some - few, but still some - truly kind people existed.
They were rare, as they were remnant of some time when higher powers made kind spirits or wills, which just weren't made any more and probably most of them got destroyed. But some managed to get passed on, apparently. And so, sometimes, a merciful hand would would reach out to someone in need. Sometimes - rarely, but not never - it truly would happen.
He considered such a faith a bit too optimistic, but he found himself almost believing that sometimes.]
Hey, kid. Don't know if anybody ever told ya, but yer something special. I mean it.
[ just tilting his head, bird-like, completely confused.
he doesn't understand what the man means by him being "something special". was that a reference to his own World Noble lineage? but that can't be a good thing, right? it's never a good thing outside Mariejois, Rosinante now understands very well.
but the man promised not to hurt him, and he's been true to it so far, so Rosinante simply nods. it doesn't matter where the man is going at this point, all Rosinante wants is to be as far away from the people who wants to hurt him, and as far from his brother's reach as possible. ]
[Takes a thorough look at Cora-sa- no, Rosi or whatever he'd be called. The child's malnourished, that's for sure, but Law's left all the food on his boat, so that can't be helped till they get there.]
[Picks him up gently. Get ready for piggyback ride, tiny not-yet-Cora-san.]
[And if the kid's silent, there's no reason for him to talk, either. Jack's not a chatterbox, as whoever (not many people, just enough to get by and search) came into contact with, can confirm. And not somebody who talk to children for no reason.]
[After all, he wouldn't want Roci to like 'Jack' who's going to disappear from the boy's life as soon as he makes sure the boy's safe and far away from Doflamingo.
And maybe not a marine, as then he wouldn't have to meet Doflamingo again---]
[Though that came with complications, because well, if Law wasn't alive, he wouldn't be here. And if Cora-san wasn't with Joker's family, he wouldn't have an opportunity to save Law's life, so he would die. Unless...]
[Yes, that was it. 'Jack' could get Ope Ope fruit for his young self. The plan, depending on the details, could either be brilliant, or very, very stupid and suicidal. Law wasn't sure which, yet. Fortunately, there was a lot of time to think about it.]
[when they've walked some distance already] If yer hungry, there's lotta food on the boat. So let's just hurry there, 'kay, Rosi?
[ Rosinante keeps quiet as he clings on the man's back, partly out of habit, and partly in stunned wonder that someone is treating him with so much care. but this only makes Rosinante more curious.
the man claims to be a friend of his father, but what "friends" his father had before abandoned him, the moment their family left Mariejois. and ever since then, no one in the Donquixote family had any friends at all. except Doffy, that is, and that's only recently.
at the mention of food, however, his stomach decides to announce it's desperation by rumbling noisily.
Rosinante nods his head eagerly. not that the man will see it, with Rosinante hanging on his back like this.
whatever the man's purpose for lying couldn't be that bad, right? how could he be that bad when he's offering not only safety but food as well? ]
[ooc: also, making up small-time pirates in the past is always a fair game in this world. It's not like there's shortage of pirates. XD]
[And so, slowly (because Law doesn't want to tire him, he can see how exhausted tiny Cora(-chan? no, he wouldn't get used to it) is) they make it to the boat.
It's just a rescue boat, because it's not like he would try and find pirates or even ordinary sailors to man the ship in the time that wasn't his. He was trying to stay unknown here, after all.
There was a tiny bounty, just seven million bellies, on some Ruckam Johny ten years after this time, and looking at "Jack" right now, the ages and appearances nearly matched... if one squinted. If the child ever got curious in the future about that stranger in the past, he might just find out about that guy, and that would be the end of the story, seeing as that guy landed himself in some small prison in North Blue fifteen years later than right now. So no risk of them meeting.]
'kay, tis my boat. Ya prefer vegetables, crackers, bread, or meat?
[It was a shame not to eat any onigiri this last few months, but Law decided that if he's not acting like himself, he might just as well go all the way.]
Ya can be my temporary cabin boy, unless yer just no good at that. Which I wonder what to call ya in that case. Passenger?
[ the boy falls asleep along the way, being too exhausted, hungry, and having too little sleep the last few days both from wariness and waking from terrible nightmares.
he jerks awake when the man's pace changes, and Rosinante blinks sleepily at the question ]
Crackers?
[ the next words make him more alert, and more than a bit nervous. after all, the man might not take him along if Rosinante proves to be a useless burden. ]
A bit on the thin side, so be sure to eat up now that you can. [offers him food - yeah, everything he's mentioned. plus an apple, too.]
Just don't eat too fast, or ya'll vomit.
[Then Law sits down and in a mock-discreete way designated to get the boy's attention pulls a photograph out of his pocket and glances at it. A Donquixote family foto - Holming, his wife, and both boys - Rocinante might be three years old on this particular photo.]
[And he's going to help in a minute if it's necessary, but for now he's watching to see if Cora can manage on his own.
It's unpleasant to watch but he doesn't want the boy to get overly reliant on 'Jack'.]
[Then again...
There are so many logical reasons, but I should be honest with myself. The less he cares, the better. He'll probably have some marine friends later, so...
If he cared for 'Jack', it'd have to leave as soon as possible so that he doesn't grow to care more.
Because I don't want to break your heart, Cora-san.]
but with a mighty effort, he manages to swallow the huge chunk of bread lodged in his throat, and he ends up on all fours, coughing and wheezing for a few more seconds.
Oh, well. Let Cora enjoy life for now, after all he's been through.]
[And if Doflamingo, according to that feathered bastard himself, has been through hell, then so has Cora- no, Roci for now.
And one look at a boy told Law that it was true.]
Set sail when ya're finished.
[After all, Rocinante was supposed to be his subordinate right now, wasn't he? Well, not exactly his, fortunately, as that would be too strange, but 'Jack's', and that was fine.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 01:32 pm (UTC)he shudders yet again, clutching at the ends of the man's clothes as he whispers ]
G-gone.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 02:01 pm (UTC)After all, in both reality and his darkest nightmares, all he can remember of it is sounds - sounds of Cora-san, of others, of Doflamingo (that's probably why whenever he thinks of Doflamingo, the man's voice is first thing that comes to mind, and his face, if it's there, is in the shadow - even though it's the face he knows perfectly well from spending a few years in Donqixote family). And all he sees is just darkness.
He's still afraid of the darkness (what a childish at pathetic fear, one that he's ashamed of) because of that, and doesn't - isn't able to - close his eyes for more than a few minutes if there isn't anyone he trusts close enough that he can feel them with his Observation Haki while falling asleep.
Though the truth is (and Bepo probably figured it out already, even without knowing the reason) that he sleeps very deeply only when touching someone. Indeed, that's why casual naps against crewmembers where the best rest, though he'd never say that aloud.
Still, he needed to remember more than darkness and gunshots to have a proper "fresh" reaction.]
[For the first time, he tries to push away that terrifying blanket of darkness from his memory, the one that always stayed there even in his imagination because he knows that the thing it covers is even more terrible.
And so, he pictures Doflamingo shooting (that's easy)
and then, later, Cora-san just laying there face down on the floor in the pool of his blood
no that's wrong that should be snow not floor
but then, he realizes with a start which floor he pictures and how his thoughts strayed to seeing his parents' dead bodies and he grits his teeth in order not to scream out.]
[He's shaking. And for a second or two, he can't stop. Maybe he's made a mistake in trying to walk down a memory lane. Maybe he should've just put on a proper face expression and hope that's enough. Fuck, as if young Cora-san could even notice suspicious stranger's face expression in his own distress. He might be Cora-san, but he was still a child, and it's not like children made hobby of observing others when consumed by their own pain.]
[He slowly manages to stop shaking.]
Fuck. I should---
[I should be more careful with my reactions, because instead of thinking I'm grieved... the kid will just think I'm dangerous and run away. Well, at least he's not gonna say that aloud.]
[There are tears in Law's eyes, but he hasn't even noticed that yet.]
no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 03:07 pm (UTC)Rosinante has always been observant and has a good memory; it's something his beloved parents always praised him for back in the happier days, when Rosinante would easily complete puzzles and solve riddles by himself. an ability that proves to be a curse, when he and his family starts living on what seems like hell on earth, for Rosinante could remember every horrible curse people have called onto his family, and every pain and hurt he remembers as clearly as wounds scarred themselves in his body.
and so when he looks up, he sees the emotion in the man. and though Rosinante doesn't understand where the stranger's pain is coming from, he could recognize it all the same.
he's nervous and completely terrified of being rejected, but he takes the man's good hand in both of his in a silent gesture of companionship ]
no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 03:29 pm (UTC)'nyway, let's get going. Homing was important to me, too, but we can talk later.
[You're the same even so long ago, huh? Trying to reassure an upset stranger, after being through hell yourself...
just like when you noticed a bratty boy's pain more than being stabbed.
People were inherently good, in the religion that Law believed in when he was very, very young. He no longer believed it ever since the day years ago when white spots appeared on the skins of people he cared about and then he learned why.
But, ever since really getting to know Cora-san, and years later, other amazing people, he decided that he can believe something else based on that. That once upon a time, that was true. In another, better world, that he was born much too late - millenias, perhaps - to see. And some tiny speck of that inherent kindness survived - and that's why some - few, but still some - truly kind people existed.
They were rare, as they were remnant of some time when higher powers made kind spirits or wills, which just weren't made any more and probably most of them got destroyed. But some managed to get passed on, apparently. And so, sometimes, a merciful hand would would reach out to someone in need. Sometimes - rarely, but not never - it truly would happen.
He considered such a faith a bit too optimistic, but he found himself almost believing that sometimes.]
Hey, kid. Don't know if anybody ever told ya, but yer something special. I mean it.
Now let's go, we don't have all day.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-28 04:19 pm (UTC)he doesn't understand what the man means by him being "something special". was that a reference to his own World Noble lineage? but that can't be a good thing, right? it's never a good thing outside Mariejois, Rosinante now understands very well.
but the man promised not to hurt him, and he's been true to it so far, so Rosinante simply nods. it doesn't matter where the man is going at this point, all Rosinante wants is to be as far away from the people who wants to hurt him, and as far from his brother's reach as possible. ]
1/2
Date: 2014-12-28 06:19 pm (UTC)[Picks him up gently. Get ready for piggyback ride, tiny not-yet-Cora-san.]
[And if the kid's silent, there's no reason for him to talk, either. Jack's not a chatterbox, as whoever (not many people, just enough to get by and search) came into contact with, can confirm. And not somebody who talk to children for no reason.]
[After all, he wouldn't want Roci to like 'Jack' who's going to disappear from the boy's life as soon as he makes sure the boy's safe and far away from Doflamingo.
And maybe not a marine, as then he wouldn't have to meet Doflamingo again---]
2/2
Date: 2014-12-28 06:21 pm (UTC)[Yes, that was it. 'Jack' could get Ope Ope fruit for his young self. The plan, depending on the details, could either be brilliant, or very, very stupid and suicidal. Law wasn't sure which, yet. Fortunately, there was a lot of time to think about it.]
[when they've walked some distance already] If yer hungry, there's lotta food on the boat. So let's just hurry there, 'kay, Rosi?
no subject
Date: 2015-01-01 09:19 am (UTC)the man claims to be a friend of his father, but what "friends" his father had before abandoned him, the moment their family left Mariejois. and ever since then, no one in the Donquixote family had any friends at all. except Doffy, that is, and that's only recently.
at the mention of food, however, his stomach decides to announce it's desperation by rumbling noisily.
Rosinante nods his head eagerly. not that the man will see it, with Rosinante hanging on his back like this.
whatever the man's purpose for lying couldn't be that bad, right? how could he be that bad when he's offering not only safety but food as well? ]
yeah Roci, go with a nice stranger.... pfff, this sounds so wrong, sorry XD
Date: 2015-01-01 09:42 am (UTC)[And so, slowly (because Law doesn't want to tire him, he can see how exhausted tiny Cora(-chan? no, he wouldn't get used to it) is) they make it to the boat.
It's just a rescue boat, because it's not like he would try and find pirates or even ordinary sailors to man the ship in the time that wasn't his. He was trying to stay unknown here, after all.
There was a tiny bounty, just seven million bellies, on some Ruckam Johny ten years after this time, and looking at "Jack" right now, the ages and appearances nearly matched... if one squinted. If the child ever got curious in the future about that stranger in the past, he might just find out about that guy, and that would be the end of the story, seeing as that guy landed himself in some small prison in North Blue fifteen years later than right now. So no risk of them meeting.]
'kay, tis my boat. Ya prefer vegetables, crackers, bread, or meat?
[It was a shame not to eat any onigiri this last few months, but Law decided that if he's not acting like himself, he might just as well go all the way.]
Ya can be my temporary cabin boy, unless yer just no good at that. Which I wonder what to call ya in that case. Passenger?
poor baby's trust issues are skewed depending on the situation X'D
Date: 2015-01-02 10:03 am (UTC)he jerks awake when the man's pace changes, and Rosinante blinks sleepily at the question ]
Crackers?
[ the next words make him more alert, and more than a bit nervous. after all, the man might not take him along if Rosinante proves to be a useless burden. ]
C-cabin boy... I-- I'll do it.
awww. :( oh, ok, just a quick tag cause OP babies are my weakness XD
Date: 2015-01-02 10:12 am (UTC)A bit on the thin side, so be sure to eat up now that you can. [offers him food - yeah, everything he's mentioned. plus an apple, too.]
Just don't eat too fast, or ya'll vomit.
[Then Law sits down and in a mock-discreete way designated to get the boy's attention pulls a photograph out of his pocket and glances at it. A Donquixote family foto - Holming, his wife, and both boys - Rocinante might be three years old on this particular photo.]
pffff sorry about your hopeless tiny dad, Law
Date: 2015-01-02 10:26 am (UTC)he's already stuffed his mouth with everything he could grab and is probably choking on the food.
help him pls? 8'D]Law should've expected that ;)
Date: 2015-01-02 10:35 am (UTC)[And he's going to help in a minute if it's necessary, but for now he's watching to see if Cora can manage on his own.
It's unpleasant to watch but he doesn't want the boy to get overly reliant on 'Jack'.]
[Then again...
There are so many logical reasons, but I should be honest with myself. The less he cares, the better. He'll probably have some marine friends later, so...
If he cared for 'Jack', it'd have to leave as soon as possible so that he doesn't grow to care more.
Because I don't want to break your heart, Cora-san.]
lmao I wonder how many times something like this will happen XD
Date: 2015-01-02 10:59 am (UTC)but with a mighty effort, he manages to swallow the huge chunk of bread lodged in his throat, and he ends up on all fours, coughing and wheezing for a few more seconds.
and then--
he goes right back on stuffing his face. ]
mhm :D let's see
Date: 2015-01-02 03:18 pm (UTC)Oh, well. Let Cora enjoy life for now, after all he's been through.]
[And if Doflamingo, according to that feathered bastard himself, has been through hell, then so has Cora- no, Roci for now.
And one look at a boy told Law that it was true.]
Set sail when ya're finished.
[After all, Rocinante was supposed to be his subordinate right now, wasn't he? Well, not exactly his, fortunately, as that would be too strange, but 'Jack's', and that was fine.]