008 [Action]

[threeswordsoul]

[ There's yet another guy stalking into town from being randomly dumped in the forest today-but this one isn't a New Feather. Zoro is shoes-less and dressed in white, yes, but he does have a shirt-and his three katana are hanging from his hip on a dirty white sash that looks like it was made from ripping off his shirt's long sleeves and tying them

Comments

[allbluebreasts]

[... Well.

Someone looks like shit. Sanji'd only planned to sneak out for groceries then sneak right back home with her errands done. She hasn't been up for visiting, or even more than a few hours at Seventh Heaven with the current mood hovering over the household. Coping comes with time, after all - and sometimes it's just made better with some solitude first.

But this? This proves to be a more pressing reason not to make a beeline home just yet. She shoulders her bag of groceries and approaches, quickly swallowing relief at the sight of familiar green... and then right after noticing he's bleeding like always (what the shitty hell is this?), swallowing--]

The hell did they do to you?

[Alright, so that slipped out]

1/3

[threeswordsoul]

[For a critical few moments after glancing up and quickly taking in the reality of a female love cook, Zoro doesn't just gloss over a difference that doesn't matter to him, as he normally would-he literally does not recognize anything is amiss.

Aside from that question, which could be taken as concern-that's kind of weird. Automatically:]

Che, nothing, ero-witch, it's just a few cu-

[threeswordsoul]

[Aaaaand this would be a complicated flurry of Facial Expressions of Cognitive Dissonance as Zoro realizes that he's reflexively pulling from the wrong reality's set of blurred memories, and therefore (a) he himself is a he, ie not a girl, and thus (b) Sanji shouldn't be one, either.

Which. Fucking duh, but-goddamn this place and its weirdass experiments, anyway. >:|]

[threeswordsoul]

-...I should be asking you that, oi! Which you are you?

[allbluebreasts]

[.... What does that even mean. Her expression flips from incredulous to a vague beat of irritation and then flat-out displeasure, complete with an annoyed fist resting on her hip]

I'm me, you shitty sack of moss! [Except that's not completely fair - everyone else in the crew got to gawk (sorta), and the sooner she explains the particulars, the sooner she can shove him in the correct direction before he dies of frostbite. Pausing... then a tad reluctantly:]

The me who thought she was a woman until everyone else said they remember me being a guy. [There. Done. Now let's gooooo]

[threeswordsoul]

Oh. [A pause, considering.] Don't call me moss, dartboard. [Then-vague wave of the hand is vague.] How d'you remember everyone else?

[allbluebreasts]

Look, shithead - [Since you apparently don't like moss] - can we take this inside first? [She's afraid to turn away even once for fear Zoro might disappear on her... and after losing Nami and Usopp in the span of a few days, it's not just a trickle of anxiety making her impatient.]

[threeswordsoul]

Hah? [Who cares where they talk about-and suddenly Zoro remembers that it is fucking cold, unable to suppress a shiver as the wind blows through the thin cotton of his clothes. These are not goosebumps.] ...Uh. Tch. Yeah, fine.

[allbluebreasts]

... [Yeah, that chill? Suddenly gone. An odd warmth spreads instead, surrounding Zoro and keeping the cold at bay while Sanji watches on with an arched eyebrow.

Nope, not seeing any goosebumps anywhere.]

How long have you been wandering around outside? [See Sanji walk. Follow Zoro, follow. 8|]

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro blinks as he's hit with a wave of heat as abrupt as stepping indoors out of the biting cold, holds for a moment out of sheer...being frozen-then relaxes into it. Okay, fine, maybe the damn spirits are good for something after all. Not that he'll say that, or 'thanks'...but there is a distinct hum of appreciation as his muscles loosen.

Also, he follows Sanji the bubble of warmth without even picking a fight over the term 'wandering'. *__* Warmth.]

...A while.

[allbluebreasts]

[Snort. She figured as much, but the admission is almost a surprise - almost. Warmth will put even the grumpiest of shitheads in a better mood.

She glances over her shoulder, back at him and the trails of red in stark contrast with the white of his garb and the pureness of the snow, making it look all the uglier. But the stare isn't so much concern as it is assessing, now that she's gotten over the immediate shock. It's the shithead, after all - an idiot who gets lost indoors and couldn't bleed himself to death if he tried.

She looks him in the eye, frank and serious] Oi. Shitheads do anything else?

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro bares his teeth for a flashing moment in remembrance, then shakes his head. There's a big, angry predator pacing restlessly behind dark eyes, but he doesn't hesitate, and his shrug is certain as everything he does.]

Don't think there's any damn surprises waiting.

[He was awake and not sedated the whole time, he would remember if they'd pulled something weirder than fucking around with knives and tests, right? ...Still. He flexes and clenches a hand, watching the muscles move under skin, remembering Sanji's parasite and not reacting when a cut on his arm splits again and oozes. Possible they could've put some kind of fuckery in, maybe, slipped a fast one. Better to keep his guard up, at least for a few days.]

...Who knows.

[allbluebreasts]

Hn. [She turns her head thoughtfully, in reply to both his verbal answer and the silent musings. Yes, they don't need any more nakama pumped full of killer chips. And before the thought can get the better of her - even after all these months, it's an ugly reminder of what the Malnosso can do - she shoves it out of her mind; they'll just be careful and watchful, like always.

At least it's nothing ne-- oi oi :| Lineface is on]

Stop giving Chopper more work, Zoro.

[threeswordsoul]

[8|] Che. [He drops his hand.] He'll yell at me anyway.

[...Or he'd better, anyway. Zoro frowns. If it comes down to drawing Chopper's ire for stupidly disregarding injuries-not that Zoro does that he has everything under control-and the little reindeer making...those faces he gets when there are kidnappings and hurts no one could prevent-well, who needs bandages anyway, seriously.]

[allbluebreasts]

[It's bringing up Chopper that reminds Sanji that she has a few things to tell Zoro - things he will not like, and she really wishes she didn't have to repeat again. And a tense form of silence rests on her shoulders when she stares to the front, shoves her arms over her chest like she's got a chill.

Shit, she hates this. But which is cheaper: acting like everything is fine until they get to the house, or dropping the bomb on him now so he knows what to expect?

After a few beats, she ends up choosing the sort of poison Zoro would probably demand.]

Maybe not. [It sounds odd, answering his last statement after so long a pause] Nami-san and Usopp... [quietly] They went home.

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro's stride halts, face blank and mind shifting gears to absorb that hit. Both of them-while he was being held. Stolen. There's the twisting urge to snarl, to destroy things, but, much like when Robin left, the roil of anger and loss is also-maddeningly directionless. They haven't been spirited away from their nakama to be tortured. They're not just not here, they're home.

Where they all should be.

But they're not. They're split. Up.]

...Great.

[The burn of his cuts flares briefly and hot blood drips down his arms to stain the snow as his body tenses and his fists curl, steel-tight.]