Drabbles from the Drabble Thread (part 1)
Participated in naye's fantastic Pre-564 Chaos Thread of Doom. Wrote a ton. Completely neglected to move any of it over to my journal for archiving purposes. So. Here it is.
It seemed like a good idea at the time
Ace sighed at the mirror and poked his arm gingerly.
He was never going to live this one down.
If Ace ever got another tattoo in this life, he decided, the artist was going to be stone. Cold. Sober.
~~
Consequences
Gone. Gone. Gone.
Vanished.
They had never really lost before. Not like this. Not together.
Still, they stood by Luffy's decision. Consequences, terror, pain, and loneliness be damned - that Tenryuubito bastard had it coming.
~~
A quiet moment between enemies
Garp runs into Rayleigh exactly once after Roger’s execution.
He could have done without the meeting.
Roger was lively and vibrant and dramatic; as charismatic as he was a pain in the ass. And Garp wonders if everything that thrived under his touch wilted at his death.
Rouge’s death haunts him, but he doubts Rayleigh even knows what happened to her. No, the void lurking behind the Dark King’s eyes is distinctly Roger-shaped.
It’s Ace’s sixth birthday in a week, Garp was supposed to be there yesterday, and Dadan will never let him hear the end of it if he’s late for the party. He has no time to deal with Silvers Rayleigh.
Still… he almost hesitates. Almost asks Rayleigh if his captain told him he was expecting a child. Almost sympathizes.
Wonders yet again what the hell had that contrary bastard had been thinking when he entrusted Garp with his lover and unborn child.
In the end he leaves without a word; if Roger meant for his second to have a hand in raising his child, he would have said something.
Where his grandson’s safety is concerned, Garp is going to trust his old enemy’s judgment.
~~
WB pirates & fire chicken
If Marjane had not been sick, it never would have happened.
If the ovens had not taken advantage of Marjane’s absence to break down, they would never have resorted to drastic measures.
And if Yanick hadn’t been distracted trying to stay on top of his responsibilities as well at their Head Chef’s he would have bashed their fool heads in before they even started.
Among the lessons learned that day, was that Commander Ace made a spectacularly bad cooking fire.
Yanick yelled, the crew complained about getting nothing but cold soup and dry biscuits - the only things to survive the disaster - and the three responsible were put on dish-duty for a month.
To top it all, Ace, absolutely contrite, made himself sick trying to eat all the burnt chicken so it wouldn't go to waste.
~~
Doc Kureha
First, do no harm.
It is more than a precept of medicine, more than an ideal doctors strive for.
It is the law by which they live.
The law she had dedicated herself to.
Hiruluk never learned it.
He left his patients worse off than they first were.
He broke Chopper's heart.
He ate that ridiculous mushroom with all the irresponsibility he'd committed his life to.
And then he died. And somehow, sparked a revolution in a man who could actually bring the change Hiruluk had dreamed of.
If Hiruluk had a code, it might have been: Do all you dare.
He was no doctor.
But perhaps, between both their codes, Chopper might achieve all that they had not.
~~
Une
Free lunch had most certainly been in the day’s plans. Blowing her cover had not.
She shouldn’t have punched that Marine out. She really, really shouldn’t have.
He shouldn’t have talked about her oyaji like that.
Getting a new disguise is a pain in the ass. There aren’t nearly enough female officers around for her to pass herself off as one of them. In she end she concusses a chuusa and steals his outwear. Hopefully no one will look too closely past her fake moustache.
Fortunately, everyone is too distracted by the sludge masquerading as coffee to ask awkward questions about her presence.
Une adds “abhorrent coffee” to her mental list of Teach’s crimes: he might not be personally responsible, but it is definitely his fault she was exposed to it.
~~
Captivity
“Portgas D. Ace, I hereby take you into custody for transportation to your execution ground, Marinford.”
Out of time and out of luck, and Jinbei had never felt so nauseatingly helpless since before Oyaji put Fishman Island under his protection.
“Ace-san…” I’m sorry. I’m sorry I failed to stop this, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.
He would never forget the Ace’s face when he joined him in this miserable cell. The shocked horror, followed by despairing guilt would haunt him for the rest of his life, however long that lasted.
I’m sorry for placing one more burden on your shoulders.
They unchained Ace from the wall and locked his hands behind him. Then they led him away.
Ace didn’t look back.
I’m sorry I couldn’t even comfort you.
~~
Forever
Roger gave the world a new era.
The world gave him forever.
~~
Rouge and Roger: There isn't that much ocean between Baterilla and Raftel
Love, don't tell me that it's morning, can we keep the curtains drawn? I haven't given you fair warning, but my ship, she sails at dawn.
It isn’t until he wakes up to her sleeping face the day he’s due to leave that he feels any regret at all. Then she opens her eyes and smiles at him and the shock of his heartbreak robs him of breath.
He’s never been afraid of death, and now he’s terrified of missing everything he’s about to lose. Rouge, her smile, the way she gently wraps her arms around him and holds tight at the same time. Counting her freckles when she pretends she isn’t looking.
The child.
Less than a year… he might hold out, he’s a dead man regardless but he could live to see the birth of his child. Possibly.
And that would be a betrayal of everything he’s ever believed in, his hopes for the future, and probably the last nail in the coffin for his lover and the tiny life she’s harbouring.
He smiles back a her, and pulls her closer, commits the sensation of her arms going around his neck to memory, and presses his lips to the corner of her mouth.
Imagines the baby in her womb cocooned between them, safe for this moment.
“Good morning,” she says.
~~
It seemed like a good idea at the time
Ace sighed at the mirror and poked his arm gingerly.
He was never going to live this one down.
If Ace ever got another tattoo in this life, he decided, the artist was going to be stone. Cold. Sober.
~~
Consequences
Gone. Gone. Gone.
Vanished.
They had never really lost before. Not like this. Not together.
Still, they stood by Luffy's decision. Consequences, terror, pain, and loneliness be damned - that Tenryuubito bastard had it coming.
~~
A quiet moment between enemies
Garp runs into Rayleigh exactly once after Roger’s execution.
He could have done without the meeting.
Roger was lively and vibrant and dramatic; as charismatic as he was a pain in the ass. And Garp wonders if everything that thrived under his touch wilted at his death.
Rouge’s death haunts him, but he doubts Rayleigh even knows what happened to her. No, the void lurking behind the Dark King’s eyes is distinctly Roger-shaped.
It’s Ace’s sixth birthday in a week, Garp was supposed to be there yesterday, and Dadan will never let him hear the end of it if he’s late for the party. He has no time to deal with Silvers Rayleigh.
Still… he almost hesitates. Almost asks Rayleigh if his captain told him he was expecting a child. Almost sympathizes.
Wonders yet again what the hell had that contrary bastard had been thinking when he entrusted Garp with his lover and unborn child.
In the end he leaves without a word; if Roger meant for his second to have a hand in raising his child, he would have said something.
Where his grandson’s safety is concerned, Garp is going to trust his old enemy’s judgment.
~~
WB pirates & fire chicken
If Marjane had not been sick, it never would have happened.
If the ovens had not taken advantage of Marjane’s absence to break down, they would never have resorted to drastic measures.
And if Yanick hadn’t been distracted trying to stay on top of his responsibilities as well at their Head Chef’s he would have bashed their fool heads in before they even started.
Among the lessons learned that day, was that Commander Ace made a spectacularly bad cooking fire.
Yanick yelled, the crew complained about getting nothing but cold soup and dry biscuits - the only things to survive the disaster - and the three responsible were put on dish-duty for a month.
To top it all, Ace, absolutely contrite, made himself sick trying to eat all the burnt chicken so it wouldn't go to waste.
~~
Doc Kureha
First, do no harm.
It is more than a precept of medicine, more than an ideal doctors strive for.
It is the law by which they live.
The law she had dedicated herself to.
Hiruluk never learned it.
He left his patients worse off than they first were.
He broke Chopper's heart.
He ate that ridiculous mushroom with all the irresponsibility he'd committed his life to.
And then he died. And somehow, sparked a revolution in a man who could actually bring the change Hiruluk had dreamed of.
If Hiruluk had a code, it might have been: Do all you dare.
He was no doctor.
But perhaps, between both their codes, Chopper might achieve all that they had not.
~~
Une
Free lunch had most certainly been in the day’s plans. Blowing her cover had not.
She shouldn’t have punched that Marine out. She really, really shouldn’t have.
He shouldn’t have talked about her oyaji like that.
Getting a new disguise is a pain in the ass. There aren’t nearly enough female officers around for her to pass herself off as one of them. In she end she concusses a chuusa and steals his outwear. Hopefully no one will look too closely past her fake moustache.
Fortunately, everyone is too distracted by the sludge masquerading as coffee to ask awkward questions about her presence.
Une adds “abhorrent coffee” to her mental list of Teach’s crimes: he might not be personally responsible, but it is definitely his fault she was exposed to it.
~~
Captivity
“Portgas D. Ace, I hereby take you into custody for transportation to your execution ground, Marinford.”
Out of time and out of luck, and Jinbei had never felt so nauseatingly helpless since before Oyaji put Fishman Island under his protection.
“Ace-san…” I’m sorry. I’m sorry I failed to stop this, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.
He would never forget the Ace’s face when he joined him in this miserable cell. The shocked horror, followed by despairing guilt would haunt him for the rest of his life, however long that lasted.
I’m sorry for placing one more burden on your shoulders.
They unchained Ace from the wall and locked his hands behind him. Then they led him away.
Ace didn’t look back.
I’m sorry I couldn’t even comfort you.
~~
Forever
Roger gave the world a new era.
The world gave him forever.
~~
Rouge and Roger: There isn't that much ocean between Baterilla and Raftel
Love, don't tell me that it's morning, can we keep the curtains drawn? I haven't given you fair warning, but my ship, she sails at dawn.
It isn’t until he wakes up to her sleeping face the day he’s due to leave that he feels any regret at all. Then she opens her eyes and smiles at him and the shock of his heartbreak robs him of breath.
He’s never been afraid of death, and now he’s terrified of missing everything he’s about to lose. Rouge, her smile, the way she gently wraps her arms around him and holds tight at the same time. Counting her freckles when she pretends she isn’t looking.
The child.
Less than a year… he might hold out, he’s a dead man regardless but he could live to see the birth of his child. Possibly.
And that would be a betrayal of everything he’s ever believed in, his hopes for the future, and probably the last nail in the coffin for his lover and the tiny life she’s harbouring.
He smiles back a her, and pulls her closer, commits the sensation of her arms going around his neck to memory, and presses his lips to the corner of her mouth.
Imagines the baby in her womb cocooned between them, safe for this moment.
“Good morning,” she says.
~~