Fic Post: Sabãody Blues
Title: Sabãody Blues (it was all I could think of)
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 299
Pairing: Hachi/Caimie
Rating: PG for dark themes
Prompt: Hurt/Comfort
Spoilers/setting: Set at Sabãody not long after chapter 513: however, it also alludes to parts of Hachi's past that's been revealed in the most recent issues of the current story (Fishman Island arc).
ETA: Unsure whether this works. Concrit very welcome.
She tries hard, but Caime just isn't strong enough to support Hachi's weight, especially not on land; so in the days after the slave auction and the Strawhats' scattering, he has to rely on Shakky or Rayleigh to help him get around, or stay put. But Caimie still spends most of the day helping; changing his bandages, helping him eat and wash, getting things for him while tail-hopping. Whenever he tries to make her stop she looks so unhappy he gives up; and truth is, her presence is calming to him.
But he's no longer simply the happy takoyaki seller. She knows what kind of things he's done, now. Hachi wonders if he even has the right to be friends with someone like her.
He knows she gets nightmares. One time, he asks her about them. She flinches, then looks down.
"I…I feel so dumb," she mumbles. "It was just a few hours, when I was caught. I wasn't even hurt. Like you. And the others. I shouldn't have nightmares like that." Her voice sinks down, almost inaudible.
"Nyuu…" He's always been clumsy with words. But he tries. "Hours… hours can be like years sometimes, the way they hit you." He looks straight at Caimie. "They were selling you. I've freed slaves. I've…" his voice grows thick; he forces out the words, "helped enslave someone. Don't say it didn't hurt you."
She swallows sharply. "O-okay." Her voice is still shaky.
"Anyway, nyu…" He twiddles his thumbs. "If you have another nightmare, you can wake me up, or sleep in my room, won't bother me."
Caimie smiles, a small but genuine smile. "Okay."
Soon, she curls up with him on those bad nights, light and soft and always careful not to jostle his wounds. It helps keep the insomnia away.
Medium: Fic
Word Count: 299
Pairing: Hachi/Caimie
Rating: PG for dark themes
Prompt: Hurt/Comfort
Spoilers/setting: Set at Sabãody not long after chapter 513: however, it also alludes to parts of Hachi's past that's been revealed in the most recent issues of the current story (Fishman Island arc).
ETA: Unsure whether this works. Concrit very welcome.
She tries hard, but Caime just isn't strong enough to support Hachi's weight, especially not on land; so in the days after the slave auction and the Strawhats' scattering, he has to rely on Shakky or Rayleigh to help him get around, or stay put. But Caimie still spends most of the day helping; changing his bandages, helping him eat and wash, getting things for him while tail-hopping. Whenever he tries to make her stop she looks so unhappy he gives up; and truth is, her presence is calming to him.
But he's no longer simply the happy takoyaki seller. She knows what kind of things he's done, now. Hachi wonders if he even has the right to be friends with someone like her.
He knows she gets nightmares. One time, he asks her about them. She flinches, then looks down.
"I…I feel so dumb," she mumbles. "It was just a few hours, when I was caught. I wasn't even hurt. Like you. And the others. I shouldn't have nightmares like that." Her voice sinks down, almost inaudible.
"Nyuu…" He's always been clumsy with words. But he tries. "Hours… hours can be like years sometimes, the way they hit you." He looks straight at Caimie. "They were selling you. I've freed slaves. I've…" his voice grows thick; he forces out the words, "helped enslave someone. Don't say it didn't hurt you."
She swallows sharply. "O-okay." Her voice is still shaky.
"Anyway, nyu…" He twiddles his thumbs. "If you have another nightmare, you can wake me up, or sleep in my room, won't bother me."
Caimie smiles, a small but genuine smile. "Okay."
Soon, she curls up with him on those bad nights, light and soft and always careful not to jostle his wounds. It helps keep the insomnia away.