Not Hiding on Purpose, I Swear [Active]

[stretchmeout]

Character(s): Luffy, Larxene
Content: After helping to beat Sin, Luffy is worn out and half-buried under rubble. Won't you please help him?
Setting: Around I7
Time: Mid-Morning
Warnings: Likely none

Comments

[mercurialectric]

There was no way, Larxene knew, she could have moved any of the rocks on her own. Feats of physical strength were not her specialty, although she was no slouch, and even if she had the ability, she didn't want to use up all that energy. So she had brought along some friends.

The Nobodies trailed behind her as she stepped delicately out of the portal, bringing with her the food she'd promised. There was something to be said for loyalty, after all; the Organization only had hers in the most shallow of ways, and she was not about to risk similar connections with those she manipulated.

"Luffy," she called, looking about for suitably large rocks--it certainly would have taken a large one to keep the rubber man down.

[stretchmeout]

"...hello?"

Luffy's eyes popped open, or at least as wide as they could get with the chunk of stone pressing down on him. He'd heard a voice not far away, something he hadn't been treated to for at least a day now; he would have jumped for joy, if his legs didn't feel like melted butter. It was true, Luffy could have moved the titanic piece of stone on his own on a normal day; Larxene bringing food was the best and only way for him to restore that ability.

"H-hello? I'm down...nnnnghhh...here!"

Summoning up every bit of push he had left in him, what looked to be the remains of an entire building suddenly shifted, just a little. With that, it stopped, and Luffy's arms went completely limp.

[mercurialectric]

Larxene was surprised he still had enough energy to yell like that, but with a flick of her wrist the Dusks went to work hauling the rubble--and there was a lot of it. It looked as if she would need to help after all. Dusks were stupid, after all, and not good for much. She would have brought something larger if it wouldn't have attracted undue attention.

Summoning her kunai, she shot them at various pieces of rock with pinpoint accuracy, smiling as they cracked into pieces as she intended, and then leaving the Dusks to their tasks once more. As they finally finished removing the rubble, they disappeared from where they had came. Larxene, dressed in a silky pink sundress, walked over to the now more-or-less cleared area.

"You must have been fighting the monster."

[stretchmeout]

Little by little, the weight on top of him began to lessen as the Dusks mindlessly went about their assigned task and Larxene hammered away at the rock and mortar with quick and precise strikes. Bits of stone crumbled around Luffy's face and he spat, coughed, and sputtered it out of his mouth; he did want something to eat, but certainly not that.

Luffy sighed with relief, laying sprawled out against the uneven and broken stone beneath him. He was still smiling, even laughing a little once he finally was able to catch a glimpse of the light. Weakly, he raised his head up to Larxene, his eyes seemingly struggling to stay open.

"Haaaa...yeah, I was. Hee, and I beat that bastard down!" he laughed hoarsely. "...did you bring me...ahh...some food?"

[mercurialectric]

She had chosen well when she decided to try to make Luffy into an ally, she decided. That creature had required group effort, as far as she could tell, and anything that forced Laharl to team up--well.

"Of course," she said, handing over a basket stuffed full with a little bit of everything.

An odd place to have a picnic, but she would make sacrifices to assure her plans worked as she wished them to.

[stretchmeout]

Blindly reaching off to the side, Luffy's hand crawled finger over finger towards the basket, pulling his hand along up its side and into the open end; once it had latched hold of something, anything, he pulled it back sharply and stuffed whatever it was he had grabbed into his mouth

[mercurialectric]

He ate more than she expected him to by a large margin, but there wasn't much normal about Luffy, so she dismissed it. And when he proclaimed her good, she smiled--sweetly, but there was a hidden amusement in the back of her mind. Oh what a little fake kindness could do.

"There are so many liars here," Larxene said. "They say they're good, but they don't do much to actually help."

She stood up. "Are you still hungry?"

[stretchmeout]

It was disappointing, really, that no one else had even bothered to respond to Luffy's cry for help; he'd barely managed to wedge his 'box' out from beneath him, then flicked it repeatedly until it decided to turn on. Squeaking out in a very hushed voice, he had sent a call out to the people, but no one else wanted to accept the charges.

No one but Larxene, and what a cruel bit of irony that was.

Luffy was already on Larxene's side, and this small kindness was enough to win him over completely. Then she had to go and offer him more food. He would have marched right beside her into hell at that point. "I'm starving! Is there any more?"

[mercurialectric]

"Not here," Larxene said, pleased with his eagerness and apparent trust, "but it shouldn't be a long walk to more. You seem to have recovered somewhat."

In another time, perhaps, she might have been able to be friends with Luffy. As Elenra she might have found him good company. As Larxene, however, he was nothing more than a useful ally, to be manipulated to fight for her.

But while he was useful, she would cultivate his trust, and she doubted most in Paixao would bother to do so for such a strange man.