#alcoholtm

                                 « ———————— { 十 } ———————— »  

ikkaku vc: shhhhh, trying to sleep here

"You ever think we're more of a B Team?" Donnie focused on his feet as he strode along the rooftop. Raph and Leo had completed the mission. Alone. Again. There wasn't even a point for Mikey and Donnie to have come along in the first place.

He snorts, his captain needs so much attention, he's so very happy to give though, shifting as he did a simple bend of his knees, lifting him up as he walked. Heading to the figure head he quietly set the other on the rail next to the lions head nearby. Leaning closer to softly put his forehead against the others taking in a slow breath.

His calloused hands slowly go up against his cheeks, holding him gently, and pressing himself forward, kissing him slow and deliberate, not a quick stolen glance.

He pulled away smiling lightly as he ran a hand through the others hair.

“Aye! Dumbatello! Get your shell in here, I need you to look at my glove’s voltage meter. I think I jacked it up on my last patrol and it’s not loading up to the usual capacity.”

          he guessed it didn’t really matter, all of these loose strings and confusing timelines didn’t matter because the one thing that DID matter was finished.   wrapped up, secure, SAFE.   his family, his brothers, HIS timeline -- everything was SAFE.   they won.   that was all that he really cared about.   so when a portal showed up amidst the floating, lifeless abyss of a prison dimension, he simply assumed that it was THAT light, the one that’s spoken about in hushed whispers and anxious conversations.   he assumed he was dying.   maybe he was already dead.   so when he awoke, vaguely, he could have been SHOCKED, except he was too overwhelmed by the feeling in his bones that they were reduced to nothing but dust.   after a few seconds (minutes? HOURS? it all blended together) of trying to collect himself, leo manages to pinpoint that, while his body felt overall like an agitated bruise, most of the pain was coming from his left arm, ribs, and head.    okay, he thought weakly.   totally manageable. 

DUSTY TOYBOX

ლ.    He did not flinch, accepting the words as they tore through his heart. It would’ve been kinder if Luffy had simply punched him, crushed his bones underneath rubber fist. 

     Only, he knew he did not deserve kindness. The cost of the divide between the flags they flew on their ships had been worse beyond anything he’d ever feared. Every night, every time he closed his damned eyes, all he could see was Ace burning. Luffy cracked as he clung onto the stilling body of his brother.

     There was much he could blame and punish Luffy for. For becoming a pirate, for fighting the World Government, for invading Marineford. For worrying him as many times as he’d made him proud.

     But he could never blame Luffy for hating him. Not after this.

( That fearless grin, filled with misplaced faith. “ Take care of my son. ”,  a dying man’s wish. What would Roger think of him now ? )

     Garp lifted his head up from the ground where he’d knelt, rising back to his feet as a surge of bitterness entered his heart. Why, why, why, why. Why couldn’t they have become navy men ? Why couldn’t they have just listened to him ?  He could’ve protected them, he could’ve—  he could’ve—

    They would have suffocated underneath the marines  ( so often, he too forgot how to breathe )   but they would have been ALIVE. Safe. He could’ve...

     As quickly as it came, the bitterness faded, leaving an all too familiar guilt in its steed. He could’ve acted during the Paramount War. He could’ve done something, anything. Dadan knew it. Luffy knew it. He knew it. He was old, already dying. He’d lived a long life, longer than most got to dream about in these troubled seas. What did his decrepit life even mean, if it’d been for one as youthful as Ace’s ?

    Luffy might’ve been the one to hold Ace as he bled, but his hands were the one with blood on them. And it would seem that they both knew it. Good. This was his burden to bear.

“ The marines won’t find this place, ”   the Navy Hero said in clipped tone, professional in all the ways he despised. But what else was there for him to do ?  When he’d chosen his duty, he’d chosen the Justice the World Government so proudly preached, over the ones he loved.

     It was a choice he made long ago, a choice he couldn’t take back no matter how treacherously his heart might beg for it. Ace and Luffy made their choices. He made his.

( he’d never felt so ashamed to wear the coat on his shoulders. )

     His blank expression wavered, mouth opening as if to add more —

 ( I’m sorry. Forgive me. Stay safe. Grow strong. I’m proud. He loved you. I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry. I failed you. I’m sorry— )

—   but for once, he held his tongue. He did not deserve to beg or say more. And if he were to be honest, he didn’t know how to say more. He’d always been a man of action rather than words, but even he couldn’t bring the dead back to life. So he hardened his face once more, ignored the way his heart burned in his chest, and nodded curtly as goodbye as he turned his back around to head for the shore. Luffy hadn’t shattered, and he would take selfish relief in the knowledge that his grandson was safe. That he would grow strong enough to surpass anyone Garp knew, grow to become a pirate even better than Roger. However, until then...