29th dish - voice

[baratiesbest]

[The transmission begins quite deliberately. It's a voice post but there's not a whole lot being said, almost like the poster just wanted to try out a new way to avoid the bi-weekly electrocution. Or maybe he just wanted to say that he's back but couldn't find the words.

The silence stretches on. Ten seconds.

Twenty.

A minute.

The post ends just as

Comments

[commentlog]

[embracethewaves]

[Stitches, bandages, ice, and a severe-but-well-meaning order to sleep, which was something she hadn't done much of at all since they left on their trip.

It wasn't much to show. None of it did show, except for the last part.

Still, as eager as she was to leave the hospital, she seemed to be good at finding trouble, which wasn't something she wanted more of. She hesitated by the door, staring through the window at the space in front of the hospital. It would be easy to see if people were back to normal, if she checked her communicator, but she didn't... Too much was going wrong. She didn't have the heart. So she hesitated, hand on the door, trying to sort herself out.]

[commentlog]

[baratiesbest]

[As for the cook... physically he was fine. Or, mostly fine. A bad limp, a couple of scrapes and cuts and a bruise across his cheek (courtesy of Ace) - that was it. Nothing that wouldn't be gone in a week or two. Shitty nothings.

He looked a lot worse for wear though as he made his way down the stairs, dark shadows hollowing his eyes and his usually fair hair matted by dust and blood. It was well over midnight by now and he wasn't entirely sure where he was heading except away from here. Gohl didn't really seem like an option but where else could he go?

And then he spotted her, standing by the exit and for just a moment he thought his heart was about to stop again. Umi. As much as he wanted to see her - now was not the best time. Not like this. Not after...

He couldn't turn and leave though. So Sanji kept walking, clearing his throat in order to make his presence known. Better get this over with. ]

[commentlog]

[embracethewaves]

[The hallway was silent. It was late; most people had gone to bed. It was kind of eerie, to be honest; the hum of electricity overhead, the flickering of old wiring...

And then a sound. She jumped, spinning to face whomever it was and--]

Sanji...

[It had been two days, already...and she hadn't even noticed. Caught up in everything -- had it really been that easy to miss?

She wasn't sure how to react. To smile, to yell, even to hit him for being so stupid in the first place... She did very little at first, watching to see what he was feeling.]

Welcome back.

[commentlog]

[baratiesbest]

[It was difficult to describe just how he was feeling in that moment. Shame was in there somewhere, apathy, relief, anger. Of course he did his best not to show any of that, slipping on a hesitant smile as he closed the distance between them.]

Thank you, Miss Umi.

[Sanji paused to look her over, tried to get some idea of what had happened since they last saw each other. She looked tired which wasn't surprising but apart from that he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. But she was at the hospital and quite obviously not for his sake.]

Did you... are you alright?

[emomachine]

...You're back.

[baratiesbest]

Just like I said.

[emomachine]

... [He's not sure what else to say. It was over with now, and he was alive again. It was too late to change anything.]

I'm glad.

[baratiesbest]

['That makes one of us' is what he'd like to say but really, there's no reason to be even more pathetic over this.]

...hn.

[threesword]

[Zoro doesn't waste any time. As soon as he gets back into the city, he goes to the first place he can think to look for Sanji - the hospital. If he wasn't there, he'd head to the Lights... but first things were first.

It didn't matter how tired he was. The trip to the prison camp ha been stressful, without a doubt. He saw things he wished he hadn't, and all the while was forced to be unable to protect the people closest to him from harm.

Again.

There was always failure when it came to the Straw Hats and Discedo. The two were like oil and water - they just didn't agree with one another.

And of course, as soon as they were outside of city limits, everything had gone crazy. Zoro wasn't sure what had compelled him t do it, but he'd listened. All the unlocked messages on Sanji's frequency before his death - he'd listened. He heard the things that Ace said.

The swordsman wasn't about to let someone who wasn't even in their crew to dictate how they should feel

[baratiesbest]

[Sanji was still at the hospital, aimlessly wandering around one of the more secluded areas of the first floor while he tried to make up his mind. He couldn't stay here but going back to Gohl... he'd rather avoid that for the time being.

That wasn't the main issue though. What Ace had said... what he himself had suspected for months, the confirmation he got trapped in that pile of rubble - it was something the cook just couldn't get out of his mind. Dying was never fun but this time around it was almost worse waking up from it.

He stopped. Shifted his weight, wincing as his right leg protested at the movement. Started pacing again in an attempt to clear his mind but in the end it didn't help in the slightest so he gave up and just sat himself down on the floor, leaned back against the wall.

What the hell was he supposed to do..?

And that was how he remained, slumped over with his head in his hands. He really didn't expect company.]

[threesword]

[It took Zoro a while. Quietly making his way through the corridors, Zoro searched. He looked in every room, every corner - well, until he saw a mop of blond hair. And what he saw... Zoro's eyes widened at the sight.

He could see it. The body language spoke for itself. Head buried in hands, discheveled. This was the body language of a defeated pirate. A captain who'd lost his crew; a crew that had lost their ship. It was disheartening, to say the least.

At first, he had been angry. He wanted to hit Sanji for being so reckless. For getting himself killed. For buying into the crap Ace had spouted. But seeing this... his heart sank. Zoro couldn't really understand what it was, but it made him feel terrible.

Instead of taking his initial approach, he went a different route. He unclasped the sheaths of his swords, holding them at his side as he quietly approached the wall, sitting next to the cook in complete silence. His presence was undeniable, but he said nothing. No snarky commentary, no snappy remark. He was quiet. And he waited.]

[baratiesbest]

[It was difficult to miss that familiar presence and Sanji didn't even need to look up to know that Zoro was waiting. For what? An apology? An explanation? Or was he going to break the silence with another lecture, just like Ace had mere minutes after the cook finally woke up?

A fight would have been better - hell, he'd take a one-sided beating any day over this silence. Silence meant room for thinking and he had been doing enough of that for one night. It didn't look like Zoro was going to say anything though.

Sighing he leaned back until his head connected with the wall, eyes closed and hands still. There wasn't really all that much he wanted to say but someone had to break the silence. Might as well be him.]

...sorry.

[pilot_princess]

...Sanji?

[baratiesbest]

...hey.

[pilot_princess]

Welcome back.

[baratiesbest]

(...) Thanks.

Are you alright, Miss?

[creative_lies]

About time.

[baratiesbest]

(...)

Miss me that much?

[creative_lies]

My stomach did.

[baratiesbest]

Oi.

[sigh]

Looks like I can't trust you guys to feed yourselves even for a couple of days, huh?