#fellapart

@fellapart

The idiot had gone and hurt himself again, mostly trying to deal with those stupid Straw Hats. There had to be at least six different ways they could have actually dealt with them but no, he had to be the flashiest, most boisterous motherfucker on the high seas.

They were lucky that he'd at least been able to be collected relatively quickly.

She was hunched over, elbows on her knees as she watched him stir. Her expression was calm and even and she sat up once she figured he was actually conscious.

"Welcome back to the waking world, it's been two days." She remarked, getting up as joints creaked in order to retrieve a bottle off her apothecary table and handing it towards Buggy.

One positive about her line of work was that there was never a shortage of jobs. Everyone seemed to want someone dead and there were enough willing to fork out the Berries to employ her. Most typically went to her guild without a preference for an assassin but there were a few that requested her specifically for a job. It was good money and she was damn good at it but sometimes she grew bored with the solitary lifestyle. She’d been part of the guild for almost 14 years and was wondering if she shouldn’t take at least some time off to do something different. 

It was on one of these contemplative days when a flier for a different guild caught her attention. It was well made and had three well known pirates on it; two former warlords and a current emperor. Sunni’s eyes lingered on the emperor’s wild expression and felt a thrill course through her. Upon further inspection of the flier she noticed it doubled as an ad for a bodyguard. Easy enough and perhaps something she may enjoy. There’d be plenty of action surrounding an emperor.

She bid her guild farewell and set out to the emperor’s HQ. When she arrived she found it almost too easy to infiltrate. The literal circus of pirates were too busy partying to have noticed her small vessel glide into an alcove and set anchor. She spent the next hour practicing her skills but moving deeper and deeper into his compound without being seen or noticed. With so many eyes it was a bit of a challenge but she enjoyed it nonetheless and got a look of some of the meatheads applying for the job. Many devil fruit users but with strong enough Haki even they could be outmatched.

starter for { @fellapart }

It was one of those places that had the appearance of being important when one considered the types of clientele it serviced, but was truly just as run down as the rest of them.

Shanks was sure as shit that this place wasn't passing any health code evaluations. But the rum was sweet and no one was trying to challenge him. Or murder him. All of the above were, as he would put it eloquently: quite nice. Probably aiding that last note was his crew, who were scattered about the seedy little island with a seedy little bar. They kept their eyes and ears on him. He trusted them to help keep him from undeserved harm.

Deserved harm, now that was a different story.

The golden liquid swished in its glass as he got lost in his thoughts while sitting alone at the bar. They might not be challenging him, but he could tell some were wary of him. But they weren't on his mind much. There were a few pirates who, on his way up, swore that a life like this would only make one a target. Even your closest allies were ready to take your head, to do you in. Slit your throat in the middle of the night.

It were moments like these that had him almost reconsider his choice of joining the Cross Guild. The yellow-eyed swordsman simply wanted to have at least some semblance of peace and instead got thrown into a tumult of what he could summarize as a circus, quite literally and figuratively. Mihawk couldn't fathom how Crocodile dealt with it, but his patience was running thin, and the worst part was that he couldn't even take a swing at the clown thanks to his devil fruit.

He should have insisted on sailing alone like he always did, and staying on his own like he always did. To hell with it all, at that point Mihawk would have rather spent a lifetime being annoyed by Perona than stay a moment longer on board this damned ship. He craved silence, a comfortable chair and a good glass of red wine.

"Do you ever shut up?" He finally asked, slamming the book he was trying to read, though unsucessfully.

@fellapart asked: "you’re not very good at lying." also hi!

"Was worth a shot." He muttered, eyes finally opening as he looked to his right, taking in the blue-haired male at his side even as he lifted his beer to his lips. Taking a long drink before returning the bottle to the bar before him and shifting his weight slightly. Preparing to defend himself even as he mused. "What the hell do you want Buggy?"

One couldn't be too careful around the clown pirate after all. Which is why he'd tried to claim that he didn't sail with Luffy anymore. His sense of fun was twisted and while he'd been useful in the past, it had only been up until he'd gotten whatever it was he wanted out of the deal.

Life on the sea doesn't come with much privacy, Dolores has discovered. She’s had to adjust, very quickly, to the fact that she’ll catch glimpses (or eyefuls) of her crewmates’ bare hides, and that they’ll see her own. Despite her power to vanish at will, she forgoes the option to remain unseen. Unlike the captain, this isn’t because Dolores gets any thrill from showing off, but rather because it seems unfair when nobody else has the choice. And anyway, it wasn’t such a difficult thing to get used to.

But this indifference doesn’t quite extend to the ship’s captain, who has the benefit of his own private quarters, and in spite of poor first impressions, has earned a bit of Dolores’ liking.

So, when someone among the merry, bustling crew speaks in her direction, Dolores isn’t quite prepared to see almost all of the captain when she lifts her head. Happily, it seems she’s filling out again since being rescued, because a pad of baby fat swells under Dolores’ chin as she jerks her head back in surprise. Not attuned to the beast tamer’s words at the moment, it’s only Buggy’s question that she answers.

“Very nice,” squeaks Dolores, eyes dropping back to the deck.

A beat passes, and Mohji’s part of the exchange finally registers.

the captain of the arcadia stood tall and confident, his hands meeting one another behind his back. there was an air of nonchalance about him, but that was deceiving. harlock kept mostly to himself. the arcadia and it's crew were not really focused on notoriety as it were. but that, in and of itself came with it's bonuses. sometimes to be unknown or underestimated gave you the upper hand.

harlock also happened to be an observant man. he made a point to be aware of his contemporaries and of the potential threat they posed.