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chenziee · 9 months ago

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The Plight of the (not) house cat

This is the second of my pieces for the amazing @opmarcozine! You can find it in the digital add-on 💙

Last chance to grab yourself a copy!

[ READ ON AO3 | KO-FI | COMM INFO ]

—————

The first time it happened, Kotatsu didn't pay it any mind. After all, Ace could hang out with whomever he wanted. The Spade Pirates were now a part of the Whitebeards so it was only right they socialise with them. Kotatsu himself liked to play with some of them… Blamenco in particular was fun, always carrying toys and snacks that he would sneak to Kotatsu when the Spades—especially Deuce—weren't looking.

It was fine for Ace to hang out with the first division commander. Perfectly reasonable.

But was it still reasonable if they were together everyday, every waking hour? Was it still reasonable if Ace seemed to completely forget about everyone else—forget about Kotatsu?

No, he didn't miss his captain and he most definitely wasn't jealous.

Kotatsu simply thought it was unfair. To other people.

He finally reached a breaking point one calm afternoon on the Moby Dick. It was a beautiful day too, just begging for a nap in his favourite corner of the deck—the one that was just secluded enough to give him some peace from the training and fighting people, but still close enough to know if something happened. The sun warmed the wood up all day there as well, making it perfect for the lynx to rest, relax, and enjoy his moment of repose.

But that day, he was shocked and disgusted to find his spot already occupied.

And not only that; it was occupied by the stupid big bird man in his hybrid form, a large book propped up against one of his legs while Ace slept on his lap using a wing as a goddamn blanket. For a moment, Kotatsu could do nothing but stare at the scene with wide eyes and an open mouth, completely frozen in place while the bird flipped a page lazily as if he wasn't completely ruining Kotatsu's day.

That was his spot. His corner, his sun, and his captain. Kotatsu was the one Ace was supposed to nap with, not some ugly blue canary.

Maybe Kotatsu should hunt him for sport one of these days? It was what he deserved.

"Kotatsu? What are you doing?"

Kotatsu didn't even move to acknowledge Skull's confused question. He refused to look away, refused to give up his silent fight. The lynx only swished his tail in annoyance from where he was sitting motionlessly, a few metres away from the… cuddle party, staring intently at the two men in an effort to get them to leave.

"You know you can just join them, right?" Skull asked with something that sounded suspiciously like amusement in his voice.

Kotatsu bristled, an angry hiss that he didn't bother to suppress, escaping him at the very suggestion. Join them? Why the hell should he? Why would he even want to? How preposterous.

Finally, Kotatsu sighed and got up, leaving the two bastards who stole his spot and a smug looking Skull behind in search of a new, nicer spot to nap. As he slowly walked away, however, he came to a decision. He was going to watch this Marco and he was going to make sure Ace remembered where he belonged.

—————

From that day on, Kotatsu made it his mission to keep an eye on his captain. Whenever he sensed there might be foul play at work, he would sniff Ace out… and inevitably find him in the company of that stupid bird. In the bird’s cabin, in Ace’s bunk in the communal cabin, in the kitchen, in the crows nest. The last one was admittedly the worst place by far as Kotatsu, with his four legs and no hands, had no way to get all the way up there—and especially down from there—safely.

Most often, however, they could be found in the infirmary.

Ace would sleep on one of the cots while Marco tended to his patients or they would just chat absentmindedly while Ace sharpened his daggers and Marco worked on the crew’s medical records. Or they would both be on the bed Ace had managed to claim for his own in the few months since they had become a part of the crew.

Just like they were doing right now.

Kotatsu wasn't sure what exactly it was that they were doing but he sure as hell knew he didn’t like it. The bird was resting his back against the headboard with Ace sitting in his lap, the bird’s hands resting on Ace’s thighs with his thumbs rubbing circles into the fabric of his shorts. The captain had one of his hands on the bird’s naked chest, the fingers of the other one tangled in the little hair the bird had left on his stupid, weirdly shaved head.

Their faces were squished together in a way that couldn’t be comfortable in Kotatsu’s opinion. He was pretty sure he saw one of their tongues moving into the other’s mouth and briefly, Kotatsu wondered since when had humans groomed each other.

Not that it mattered to him.

He bristled when he realised neither of them was even going to acknowledge his presence. They didn’t even notice Kotatsu opening the infirmary door and walking inside, nor did they pay it any attention when he meowed in irritation at them. Huffing to himself, Kotatsu looked around the infirmary, his eyes scanning the room carefully until they fell on the cabinet in the back of the room that was full of bottles with herbs, creams, pills, and liquid medications.

A series of loud crashes followed only moments later; glass shattering, shards and contents scattering all over the floor.

“What the—” Ace yelped as he jumped in shock, finally separating himself from the bird.

Said bird wasn’t far behind in his reaction. “What happened?!” he asked with a slight panic in his voice as he whipped his head around to find the source of the sudden noise.

If it were possible for him, Kotatsu would be smirking evilly right then. As it was though, he could only stare the two of them in the eyes when they had finally noticed him sitting proudly next to the cabinet, which was now missing nearly half of its contents thanks to Kotatsu’s handiwork.

“Kotatsu, what the fuck?” Ace asked with exasperation when he managed to process what had happened.

“I hope you realise you’ll be paying for all this, yoi,” Marco told Ace, giving the other man an unimpressed look.

“Why me?!” Ace protested immediately.

A lazy, amused smile appeared on Marco’s face. “He’s your cat. And he can’t very well pay the money back himself.”

“Fuck you.” Ace groaned. “And fuck you, too,” he added, throwing an annoyed look at Koatsu.

Kotatsu only meowed in satisfaction.

—————

To Kotatsu’s horror, the two of them started locking the door after that. That meant Kotatsu was forced to sit in front of the door, complaining loudly and demanding to be let inside. Unfortunately, the door never opened and the single one positive result of this tactic was more pets and treats from the rest of the crew.

However, being reduced to a demanding house cat didn’t sit well with Kotatsu and so, after a while, he stopped trying.

—————

It was about a month of stalking and glaring later that everything changed.

After an ugly run in with a marine fleet, Kotatsu found himself finally allowed into the infirmary again—unfortunately, it was as a patient because of the… minor injury of a broken hind leg he had sustained. He didn’t want to be treated by the stupid bird but since he could barely walk, he could do nothing about it except snarl at him with questionable results and focus on Ace’s warm hand rubbing his ears.

Completely ignoring Kotatsu’s complaints, Marco examined Kotatsu's leg, touching it carefully to gauge the extent and severity of the injury. It didn’t take him long to sigh and nod at one of the nurses, who only nodded back and went to rummage through one of the cabinets.

“Okay, Kotatsu. I have good news and bad news, yoi. Good news, it’s not too serious and will heal quickly. Bad news, I will have to reset the bone so it’s in the right place,” he explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

Kotatsu huffed. He had expected as much; this wasn’t his first fracture, after all. It had happened once before, back when he was kept in the freak show. He still remembered how much the resetting hurt, the pain almost making him pass out. He had never wanted to go through it again… but he supposed at least this time, he had Ace next to him.

“It’s not going to be too bad,” his captain said in a soothing tone when he noticed Kotatsu tensing. “Just sting a little, you big baby.”

Sting? A little?

“Yep,” the nurse, Tate, agreed. “Here I go.”

With wide eyes, Kotasu stared as Tate took a syringe and injected him with something several times around the swollen fracture. This… wasn't what he was expecting. And what he was expecting even less was the numbness that followed—all feeling in the area went away and with it, the pain.

Kotatsu blinked, watching in awe as Marco took an expert hold of his leg… then set it right as if it were nothing and Kotatsu barely felt a thing. It was so different from the freak show treatment that he didn't know how to react.

"See? Not too bad, right?" Marco said with a smile, scratching Kotatsu below the chin briefly. "Now I'm gonna do a quick treatment and Tate will finish you all up, yoi."

Kotatsu chirped in acknowledgement, and only then did Marco nod at him and turned back to his leg. A second later, blue fire crackled in his palm and he slowly, carefully brought it to Kotatsu's injury, letting the fire gently lick at the fur and skin. He waited a moment, gauging Kotatsu's reaction but when the lynx didn't protest, he pushed the flames further.

It was… strange, seeing his leg on fire but not burning. Instead, comfortable warmth spread from the area of the injury, covering his entire leg in the feeling of being huddled into a soft, fluffy blanket in front of a fireplace.

It was surprisingly pleasant; not like the burning heat of Ace's bright red flame. Not like the scorching power that blue flames usually carried. A warm flame, a safe haven, a healing hand.

And Kotatsu had to fight really hard to not start purring.

"There, all done, yoi." Marco nodded in satisfaction when the flames died out. "Tate will wrap the leg up now. No running and jumping around until I say so, understand?" he added with a stern look in Kotatsu's direction.

Kotatsu glared at him, baring his teeth in a voiceless hiss to indicate his annoyance at this treatment. He wasn't stupid, alright?

"Okay, next patient. Take your kitty and go after Tate's done, yoi," Marco said to Ace then.

"Are you kicking me out?" Ace asked in a mock scandalised tone.

Marco huffed out a small laugh. "Yes."

"Asshole." Ace's tone was amused now, obviously fighting back laughter.

"Brat," Marco shot back without hesitation. "I'll see you later."

And when the bird leaned over, pressing his mouth to Ace's in that weird way they sometimes did and that always made Kotatsu bristle and the rest of the crew to tell them to 'get a room,' whatever that meant… Kotatsu was shocked to realise he didn't mind that much anymore.

Maybe the bird wasn't all that bad after all.

—————

"What the hell is going on here?!" Ace asked no one in particular.

In the time since the Spade Pirates had joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he had never once seen Kotatsu and Marco get along. It was always glares and hissing and raised eyebrows and 'Ace, he's sitting on my paperwork again, yoi!'

Nothing, and he meant nothing… could have prepared him for the sight that met him when he walked to the quiet, sunny corner on the Moby Dick's deck. He had expected to find Kotatsu there, ready for a nap and possibly willing to let Ace join him but instead, there Kotatsu was, sleeping soundly while curled up next to Marco.

Marco, whom Kotatsu was ready to eat at the first opportunity, whom the lynx hated and messed around with constantly since they met. Ace had assumed it was because of some cat-and-bird thing but then why did he seem so… comfortable now, huddled under the phoenix’s wing?

It didn't make sense. It was bizarre. It wasn't fair.

That was his spot.

"Ace? Why do you look like you're about to combust?" Skull asked, voice full of confusion as he stopped right behind Ace.

"What—what are they doing?" Ace asked back instead of replying.

"Hm?" Skull hummed. "You mean Kotatsu? Apparently, he likes how warm Marco’s power is.”

Ace didn’t say anything. He simply continued glaring at the scene before him, seething. How dare they? Ace felt like he was being cheated on. By the both of them. At once.

“I feel like I’ve had this conversation already but you do know you can just join them, right?” Skull asked and Ace was positive he had his eyebrows raised under that mask of his.

Asshole.

Shrugging as if it didn’t matter to him, Ace turned on his heel, uttering a simple. “No, thank you.”

As he walked away—while pointedly ignoring Skull’s all too amused laughter—Ace came to a decision; he was going to watch these two and he was going to make sure they damn well remembered who they belonged to.

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pushovermediacritic · 1 month ago

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One Piece Tier List

Not sure how well this will go over on Tumblr, but just in case anyone is interested, I've made a powerscaling tier list including basically every character in the series.

I don't even think powerscaling is in my top 5 favorite things about One Piece, it just really helped my autism to keep it straight which characters are stronger than other characters and by how much, and I kinda got carried away.

Warning, it's big, so I'm putting it under a Read More:

Characters in the same tier are not ordered by strength, just by when they were last relevant. First are the Straw Hats bolded, then other characters. Past characters are italicized.

S+ (Pirate King): Bajrang Gun Luffy, Flame Dragon Torch Kaido, Roger, Prime Whitebeard, Prime Garp, Prime Sengoku

S (Emperor): Gear 5 Luffy, Sakazuki, Garp, Blackbeard, Shanks, Mihawk, Drunken Dragon Bagua Kaido, Bigger Mom, Prime Rayleigh, Sengoku, Whitebeard

S- (Admiral): Gear 4 Luffy, King of Hell Zoro, Ifrit Jambe Sanji, Emet, Future Where I’m The Most Free Bonney, Saturn, Ju Peter, V. Nusjuro, Warcury, Mars, Kizaru, Kuzan, Sabo, Awakened Law, Awakened Kid, Ryokugyu, Kaido, Big Mom, Oden, Gaban, Zunesha, Fujitora, King Punch Elizabello, Sea Kings, Rayleigh, Pre-TS Akainu

A+ (High Commander): Gear 2+3 Luffy, Asura Zoro, Germa+Diable Jambe Sanji, Guard Point Chopper, Jimbei underwater, Yamato, Ryuo Gear 4 Luffy, Giant-Like Future Bonney, Awakened Lucci, Shiryu, Burgess, Weevil, Marco, Hancock, King, Hybrid Queen, Unstoppable Donuts Katakuri, Giant Smoothie, Colosseum Sabo, Pre-TS Blackbeard, Jozu

A (Low Commander): Gear 2/3 Luffy, Enma Zoro, Germa Sanji, Jimbei on land, Dragon Momonosuke, Ryuo Gear 2+3 Luffy, Post-TS Gear 4 Luffy, Post-TS Guard Point Chopper, Prime Don Chinjao, Dorry, Broggy, Kuma, Nika-Like Future Bonney, Ivankov, Lucci, Vegaforce 1, Awakened Kaku, Law, Kid, Guernica, Queen, Sulong Dogstorm, Sulong Catviper, Jack, Katakuri, Smoothie, Cracker, Tsuru, Dressrosa Burgess, Awakened Doflamingo, Vista, Warlord Blackbeard, Ace

A- (Near Commander): Luffy, Zoro, Diable Jambe Sanji, Demonio Fleur Robin, Ryuo Gear 2/3 Luffy, Raid Suit Sanji, Post-TS Gear 2+3 Luffy, Van Auger, Distorted Future Bonney, Sentomaru, Avalo Pizarro, Vasco Shot, Lindbergh, Karasu, Morley, Belo Betty, Stussy, Kaku, S-Bear, S-Hawk, S-Shark, S-Snake, Denjiro, Izo, Maha, Killer, Dogstorm, Catviper, Perospero, Who's Who, Ashura Doji, Snack, Big Father Bege, Biscuit Soldier Cracker, Doflamingo, Fisher Tiger, Rakuyo, Little Oars Jr, Venom Demon Magellan, Shadows Asgard Moria, Raigo Enel, Island Eater

B+ (Tobi Roppo): Zeus Nami, Sanji, Monster Point Chopper, Gigante Fleur Robin, General Franky, Don Sai, Ryuo Luffy, Colosseum Don Chinjao, Post-TS Gear 2/3 Luffy, Post-TS Zoro, Post-TS Diable Jambe Sanji, Young Jimbei, Pre-TS Gear 2+3 Luffy, Nightmare Luffy, Bonney, Atlas, Doll, Mark 3 Pacifista, Pre-TS Nika-Like Future Bonney, Koby, Giant Sulong Bepo, Doc Q and Stronger, Apoo, Drake, Hawkins, Black Maria, Sasaki, Ulti, Page One, Prime Crocus, Oven, Daifuku, Combined Newshi, Judge, Ichiji. Niji, Yonji, Reiju, Urouge, Kyros, Trebol, Pica, Diamante, Shinokuni Caesar, Vergo, Smoker, Post-TS Law, Atmos, Blamenco, Pre-TS Sentomaru, Pre-TS Shiryu, Magellan, Amaru Enel, Noland, Kalgara, Laboon

B: Robin, Franky, Brook, Kin'emon, Hakuba, Post-TS Luffy, Post-TS Sanji, Post-TS Monster Point Chopper, Pre-TS Gear 2/3 Luffy, Pre-TS Asura Zoro, Road, Pre-TS Distorted Future Bonney, Pomsky, Tosa, Prince Grus, Kujaku, Kiku, Raizo, Kawamatsu, Rokki, Kanjuro, Fukurokuju, Inbi, Fuga, Zanki, Kunyun, Prime Hyogoro, Hatcha, Sulong Shishilian, Sulong Concelot, Sulong Giovanni, Sulong Blackback, Sulong Roddy, Nangi, Goki, Juki, Jaki, Young Denjiro, Young Ashura Doji, Young Catviper, Young Dogstorm, Young Izo, Karma, Aladdin, Bege, Sulong Pekoms, Amande, Streusen, Count Niwatori, Opera, Battle Insurance Fist Lao G, Corazon, Bastille, Caesar Clown, Monet, Overdose 2 Hody, Pre-TS Law, Curiel, Momonga, Marineford Shadows Moria, Pacifista, Pre-TS Apoo, Pre-TS Drake, Pre-TS Hawkins, Pre-TS Karmic Retribution Urouge, Pre-TS Kid, Oars, Pre-TS Lucci, Enel

B-: Usopp, Chopper, Cavendish, Bartolomeo, Chinjao, Baby 5, Hajrudin, Ideo, Post-TS Robin, Post-TS Franky, Post-TS Brook, Colosseum Sai, Pre-TS Luffy, Pre-TS Zoro, Pre-TS Diable Jambe Sanji, Pre-TS Monster Point Chopper, Road, Red King, Helmeppo, Hibari, Hack, Bepo, Jean Bart, Ushimaru, Omusubi, Tempura, Sulong Carrot, Sulong Wanda, Shishilian, Concelot, Giovanni, Blackback, Roddy, Onimaru, Babanuki, Holdem, Brulee, Pekoms, Pedro, Montd'Or, Kingbaum, Nusstorte, Viscount Hiyoko, Counter, Cadenza, Galette, Sheepshead, Bellamy, Senor Pink, Gladius, Dellinger, Lao G, Machvise, Buffalo, Tashigi, Small Dragon, Rock, Scotch, Big Dragon, Overdose Hody, Overdose Hyouzou, Steroid Wadatsumi, Surume, Pre-TS Smoker, Inazuma, Hannyabal, Sadie, Sandersonia, Marigold, Pre-TS Urouge, Pre-TS Killer, Pre-TS Bege, Pre-TS Bonney, Moria, Ryuma, Pre-TS Kaku, Jabra, Flashback Saul, Tom, Nola, Kashigami, Crocodile

C+: Leo, Orlumbus, Blue Gilly, Post-TS Nami, Post-TS Usopp, Post-TS Chopper, Pre-TS Sanji, Pre-TS Robin, Pre-TS Franky, Pre-TS Brook, Skypiea Zoro, Drum Island Luffy, Iscat, Sea Beast Weapons, Caribou, Koala, Penguin, Shachi, Heat, Wire, Mink Carrot, Shinobu, Daifugo, Briscola, Poker, Hotei, Wanda, Solitaire, Urashima, Vito, Gotti, Basskarte, Kato, Bobbin, Baron Tamago, Aristocroc, Ginrummy, Viola, Giolla, Sugar, Toy Kyros, Jean Ango, Bobby Funk, Maynard, Brownbeard, Mocha, Steroid Dosun, Steroid Ikaros, Hody, Vander Decken, Hyouzou, Wadatsumi, Heracles-un, Minorhinoceros, Minokoala, Minozebra, Minotaurus, Pre-TS Bepo, Pre-TS Jean Bart, Blueno, Foxy, Wyper, Hina, Mr 1, Crocus, Loguetown Smoker

C: Adult Momonosuke, Suleiman, Gambia, Boo, Abdullah, Jeet, Cub, Bian, Pre-TS Nami, Pre-TS Usopp, Pre-TS Chopper, Living Brook, Pre-TS Low Cola Franky, Alabasta Sanji, Whiskey Peak Zoro, Romance Dawn Luffy, Morgans, Speed, Hamlet, Komachiyo, Mizerka, Fourtricks, Hihimaru, Dobon, Newshi, Diesel, Randolph, Queen/King Soldier, Rebecca, Riku, Elizabello, Tank Lepanto, Kuween, Moocy, Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, Mamboshi, Steroid Zeo, Steroid Daruma, Dosun, Ikaros, Coribou, Pre-TS Koby, Army Wolf, Sphinx, Basilisk, Bacura, Duval, Motobaro, Zombie Lola, Cindry, Jigoro, Inuppe, Perona, Kumacy, Absalom, Taralan, Kalifa, Kumadori, Fukuro, Oimo, Kashi, Big Pan, Ganfor, Ohm, Yama, Kamakiri, Shura, Satori, Pre-TS Bellamy, Ms Doublefinger, Mr 2 Bon Clay, Mutation Wapol, Candle Champion Mr 3, Arlong, Krieg

C-: Kid Yamato, Wicka, Water Seven Usopp, Alabasta Nami, Drum Island Chopper, Baratie Sanji, Shells Town Zoro, Alpha, Bao Huang, Hyogoro, Madilloman, Alpacaman, Gazelleman, Batman, Peachbeard, Rook/Bishop/Knight Soldier, Mansherry, Kelly Funk, Dagama, Neptune, Zeo, Daruma, Sea Beasts, Ankoro, Pre-TS Helmeppo, Pre-TS Tashigi, Blugori, Marguerite, Lola, Hippo Gentleman, Rug Bear, Cerberus, Baskerville, Nero, Ramen's Formal Suit Wanze, Paulie, Zambai, Karakiri Destroyers, Hamburg, Pickles, Capote, Holy, Gedatsu, Braham, Sarquiss, Cricket, Pell, Chaka, Mr 4, Ms Merry Christmas, Bananagator, Wapol, Dalton, Chessmarimo, Mr 3, Momoo, Zeff, Kuro, Buggy

D+: Vivi, Alabasta Usopp, Kid Chopper, Orochi, Pudding, Pound, Pawn Soldier, Kid Reiju, Hammond, Bluejam, Fullbody, Django, Saldeath, Domino, Jurors, Wanze, T-Bone, Yokozuna, Kiwi, Mozu, Lulu, Tilestone, Porche, Raki, Genbo, Hotori, Kotori, Masira, Shoujou, Kuromarimo, Chess, Mr 5, Ms Valentine, Loguetown Tashigi, Alvida, Hatchi, Kuroobi, Gin, Hypnotized Butchie, Lord of the Coast

D: Karoo, Little Garden Usopp, Whiskey Peak Vivi, Kid Ichiji, Kid Niji, Kid Yonji, Shirahoshi, Demaro Black, Dadan, Kid Ace, Kid Sabo, Porchemy, Macro, Gyaro, Tansui, Jerry, McKinley, Mr 7, Ms Father's Day, Igaram, Kung-Fu Dugong, Kureha, Hiriluk, Lapin, Mr 13, Ms Friday, Ms Monday, Mr 9, Choo, Bellemere, Pearl, Baratie Fullbody, Syrup Village Django, Butchie, Sham, Cabaji, Mohji, Richie, Kuina, Morgan, Pre-DF Alvida, Higuma

D- (Average Fishman): Kid Luffy, Kid Zoro, Young Franky, Syrup Village Usopp, Orange Town Nami, York, Lilith, Vegapunk, Edison, Pythagoras, Shaka, Mjosgard, Hiyori, Kid Law, Kokoro, Heavenly Warriors, Shandian Guerrillas, Ms Goldenweek, Johnny, Yosaku, Patty, Carne

E+: Kid Momonosuke, Hogback, Iceberg, White Berets, Pre-TS Cobra, Koza, Genzo, Nezuko, Mayor Boodle, Chou-Chou

E (Average Human): Kid Sanji, Kid Robin, Kid Franky,Tama, O-Tsuru, Camie, Charlos, Chimney, Spandam, Spandine, Tonjit, Pagaya, Conis, Nojiko, Merry, Shells Town Helmeppo, Romance Dawn Koby, Makino, Humans

E-: Kid Vivi, Kid Nami, Kid Usopp, Cobra, Toko, Otohime, Aisa, Kid Koza, Kid Nojiko, Kaya, Banchina, Syrup Village Carrot, Onion, Pepper, Woop Slap

#one piece #one piece spoilers #power scaling #tier list

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thisisallthehattersfault · 1 month ago

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Project "If Oda Won't Give The Rest Of The Whitebeard Commanders Personalities And Backstories I'll Do It Myself" continues

Blamenco is fourteen the first time he meets a pirate.

He’s also fourteen the first time he kills a man, since the second thing happens about a minute after the first. It’s hard to say who’s more surprised by this, Blamenco or the pirate, but later he’ll look back and figure it was probably himself, on account of the pirate was dead, and dead men can’t be surprised. Dead men can’t be much of anything, really. That’s sort of the whole thing about being dead.

Here’s how it happens: He’s in the woods gathering mushrooms with Lana, the pretty daughter of old farmer Scratch. Supposedly Scratch ain’t his real name, but Blamenco’s never heard nobody call him anything but, and usually when folks get an odd nickname they like to tell the tale of how it came to be. Blamenco’s never heard that neither though, so he figures probably the man’s name really is Scratch and folks just say it’s fake to give him a hard time for it.

Anyway. Scratch’s youngest daughter is two years Blamenco’s senior, pretty as a daisy, and sick as a dog more often than not. Seems every time the seasons change or the the rain comes down too hard or a pig farts within a hundred miles of the Scratch house poor Lana’s laid up in bed wheezing and coughing into her handkerchief. Makes her unfit for field labor, but she finds other ways to be useful. Old Scratch comes to the family farm once or twice a month to make trades and get drunk on the porch with Grandpa, and most times he’ll bring baskets and scarves and all sorts of other things Lana made while she was holed up in bed. Grandma sends him back with fabric and good thread and any leftover rattan or willow they might have laying around.

On the days when Lana is feeling well enough to move about she likes to find herself chores to do, and she’s real stubborn about it and won’t listen when her family all tell her she aughtn’t push herself, so it’s happened once or twice that Lana went off on her own to gather herbs or berries or to check hunting traps or what have you and then didn’t come home quick enough and a whole search party had to be whipped up to go and find her wherever she’d collapsed all fevered and exhausted, and that’s where Blamenco comes in.

It’s improper for a boy and a girl to be off alone in the woods like this, but their families have been friends for a good long while now, so nobody’s looking sideways at poor Lana for tromping through the woods with Blamenco at her heels, and he’s big and strong enough to pick her up and carry her back home if the need arises. Stubborn enough to make her take breaks and rest, too, which is more than can be said for Lana’s own brother, who’s bigger and stronger than Blamenco by a good bit but who’s too soft on her by far.

Blamenco doesn’t mind it. The weather’s nice out, all cool and crisp this time of year, and for all he and Lana can hardly seem to be in the same room together without bickering he likes her company, and she likes his. One of these days he’ll even get her to admit it.

So he’s following her through the woods, holding her foraging basket for her and giving her a hand when she needs to hop across a creek or climb over a log or lift up some heavy thing to check underneath. They’re playing Would You Rather, spinning silly choices out of the air to pass the time, and Lana’s got him stumped between licking peanut butter off a hobo’s foot or getting locked in a cage with hungry tigers, and he’s so focused on trying to decide which of those awful things he’d have an easier time enduring (he’s leaning towards the tigers) that it takes him a good while to notice the heavy footsteps tromping through the woods towards them.

He doesn’t think much of it, at first. It’s clear from the sound that whoever it is ain’t used to these woods — branches are crackling and crunching all under their big clumsy feet — but there’s hardly a reason to assume the worst of somebody just for doing some exploring, or maybe the poor fella got lost and is wandering confused trying to find his way back to the path, so Blamenco slows and Lana does too, and they both turn to see who it is causing all that racket.

And then, well. Blamenco knows for sure the man must be lost, ‘cause he certainly don’t look like the sort who belongs in the woods. He’s dressed all fine in a yellow frock and gold rings on all his fingers, and his hair’s even got gold chains braided into it. Damn near every bit of him is sparkling with some kind of pretty thing when he comes all stumbling past the tree line and lands flat on his face on the ground. Blamenco doesn’t think he’s ever seen so many fine things all in one place before, and certainly never all on one person. Lana’s eldest sister Marnie got married to the tailor’s son at the start of the year, and she looked like a real princess at her wedding, but this man probably could have bought her whole dress with just one of the baubles in his ear.

So of course when the man shoves himself upright again Blamenco bows, ‘cause that’s what you do with royals and nobles and rich folk, and says with all his best manners “Good afternoon, sir. Are you lost?” at the same time as Lana bursts out laughing.

Lana don’t mean no harm, but man gets all puffed up offended by it, and Blamenco’s not sure what she’s laughing at anyhow until she points to the ground and Blamenco looks and sees the man’s fancy brocade boots all caked in mud. “Sorry!” Lana gasps, not sounding as sorry as she probably should. “Sorry, just — your nice things are all ruined, sir! What are you doing out here? You didn’t wear hiking boots?”

It ain’t just the boots, ‘neither. The man’s got sticks and leaves all in his hair, and his pretty frock coat is torn like he’s snagged it on something. Blamenco can see why Lana’s laughing about it, all those fine things all done-in by a walk in the woods. They crawled right through a blackberry thicket to get to this clearing, and other than some snarls in Lana’s long hair neither of them are the least disheveled from it. Fancy things may look real nice, but they don’t seem to be all that practical.

That’s about where it all starts going wrong. The man doesn’t seem to take kindly to being laughed at, even in as harmless a way as Lana did it, and he looks angry. Angrier maybe than Blamenco’s ever seen just about anybody who wasn’t the bad sort of drunk. “No,” He says, all seething through his teeth about it. “I didn’t wear fucking hiking boots, you bumpkin!”

He’s slurring a little when he says it, and when he comes stomping closer Blamenco catches a whiff of strong rum off of him, so maybe he is the bad kinda drunk. It’d explain why the man is stumbling confused through the woods in the first place. He comes to a stop in the little clearing and gets his first proper look at Blamenco and Lana and his face does something Blamenco doesn’t like. Something kinda like how the tailor’s son looks at Marnie, ‘cept instead of all warm it’s cold. Cold and hungry.

The fancy man stands up tall and tries to brush some of the debris off himself. It don’t work well — he’s got prickers all stuck deep in his yellow coat, those ain’t coming out without tweezers and a good sharp little knife. He swaggers a step closer, and stumbles a little one the next. It’s early in the day for a man to be this drunk, but maybe nobles don’t have to worry about their chores getting done like working folks do. Either way, he misses the first time he reaches for Lana’s face, which is good, ‘cause Lana doesn’t much seem like she wants him touching on her.

“Hey now,” Blamenco starts. The man talks like didn’t even hear him. “Well well,” he says, all deep in his chest. “You’ll have to forgive me, lovely, I didn’t realize I was speaking to such a beauty.”

Treating somebody nicer or worse based on how pretty or ugly they are is a dumb thing to do, but Blamenco maybe only thinks that ‘cause he’s ugly. Lana never talks much about looks — her own or anybody else’s — but she’s probably the prettiest girl Blamenco’s ever met, and she turns plenty of heads when she’s feeling well enough to go to town. When Blamenco goes with her to carry her bags and hold doors for her people laugh at the way they look together, with her all slender and beautiful and with her long dark hair looking like spun silk and him all pale and fat and following behind her like a troll. Lana always gets real angry when she hears people talking like that, and then she yells at them and tires herself out and has to go lay down with a cool damp rag over her eyes, but Blamenco’s never minded it much. He knows how he looks, and he’s not one to get all bent out of shape at being the butt of a joke. Folks like to laugh, and he’s an easy thing to laugh at. He laughs at himself too most days.

Still. There’s something about the way this man calls Lana beautiful that Blamenco doesn’t like, and that’s unusual. People are always calling Lana beautiful, and Blamenco’s always agreeing, but the fancy man says it like he means something else and more and more Blamenco’s starting to wonder if maybe he aughtn’t just scoop Lana up and take her home, even with this man still lost in the woods and her mushroom basket only half-full.

The fancy man says “What’s your name, pretty?” He tries to touch Lana’s face again. Lana backs away this time, and Blamenco gets a hand on her arm and pulls her behind himself. The fancy man blinks like he’s just remembering Blamenco even exists, and he looks at Blamenco with his face all twisted up and sour, but people look at Blamenco like that all the time, so he doesn’t take it to heart. He hopes Lana won’t try to yell at this man like she yells at the people in town, though.

This fella doesn’t seem like he’d take it well.

#One Piece #whitebeard pirates #Whitebeard Crew #Blamenco #One Piece Blamenco

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mastomysowner · 2 years ago

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Whitebeard pirate by DemonG3

DemonG3 @G3Demon

Narupiti.dg3

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mugiwara-shuenobi · 2 years ago

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#one piece #vista #rakuyo #blenheim #haruta #izou #curiel #blamenco #atmos #whitebeard pirates #eiichiro oda

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mushroomgrenade · 4 years ago

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Happy birthday to my one and only DAD-

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usopp-writes · 3 years ago

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Ah today is the birthday of Vista and Blamenco, so here's a small drabble with the two of them, where I use the February prompt - mirror.

Vista and Blamenco SFW Word count: 605

Ah February 5th, a day to party all day long, celebrating two birthdays on the Moby Dick, well, three, since Haruta insisted that it was fine that he got celebrated a day later. Not that it bothered the two who’s birthday it was, they were just happy that their family wanted to celebrate them. And it would be an all day long celebration, starting with a huge brunch, followed by some games, then cake, dinner and games again, all while booze would float freely down the throats of everyone, making the games after dinner so much more interesting. There would of course be music too, no party without it.

Blamenco loved these parties, it was so great seeing his family let loose and enjoy themselves. Especially the games, which was mostly improvised and some made up on the spot. Like when Atmos suggested jumping in pillowcases or Namur suggesting a waterfall contest. To this day, Blamenco wasn’t sure what the rules were for the latter or how to win the game. They’d all been too drunk to even really think about what they were doing and in the end; the entire deck had been wet and needed to get cleaned up.

A knock on his door, made the large man blink in confusion, as brunch wasn’t for another 30 minutes. He had time to get ready, right? Shrugging, he told whoever it was to enter and smiled happily, seeing it was his fellow birthday man Vista. As usual, Vista looked elegant, though this time he’d a dark blue suit on – still showing off some of his chest – and a matching top hat. Another change was the small scarf, a dark purple one and his cape was blood red. Definitely not his usual attire, but style wise the same.

“You look good.” Blamenco grinned and looked down at himself, wearing his usual attire. He wasn’t one to dress up in fancy clothes or even care how he looked, but maybe he should put a little more effort in his appearance today?

“Well thank you. The scarf is the one Izo gave me last year and the cape was from the year before, also from our dear fashion commander.” Vista chuckled. “He’s been nagging me about using his gifts, so now I am and he might even let me be for a while. To be honest, I should have listened to him way sooner. I look stunning.” He went to take a look in the mirror.

Blamenco nodded, understanding fully what Vista talked about, since Izo also had nagged him. “Well, it is our birthday, so we should be the center of attention. Why not do it in style?” He grinned and went to his closet.

Chuckling, Vista nodded and sat down on the large chair. The size difference between weren’t that much, compared to others, but visible enough. Watching Blamenco changing into a pair of dark blue overalls with the same pig-like Jolly Roger his normal overalls had. The sash was blood red and he even changed his brown shoes to a pair of black ones. Standing in front of the mirror, he put on his hat and smiled.

“Now look at that. We look like brothers.” Vista smiled and jumped down, standing in front of Blamenco. “Even the mirror seems to agree with us.” He grinned brightly.

“We’ll certainly stand out now, brother. Let’s go and get our party started.” Blamenco grinned, pleased with what he saw in the mirror. They might not often diverse from their usual attire, but when they did, there should be a reason and what better reason than a birthday?

#vista and blamenco #sfw #mirror #one piece #broship

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