#marineduo

“Just like your father when he was your age,” someone said, and Helmeppo shut down. Coby popped something in his neck when he jerked his head around upon hearing the words and feeling Helmeppo’s sudden shift in emotion. The marine doesn’t seem to notice because they’re still smiling, like it means something good.

“You’re gonna do well, kid,” they say and pat Helmeppo’s shoulder before walking off.

Coby is at Helmeppo’s side in an instant, arm around his shoulders. They’re still close in height, even though Helmeppo’s started putting on inches like no other and Dr. Rowland hasn’t stopped laughing whenever he tries to pull out the x-rays that show off Helmeppo’s growth plates.

“Hey, c’mon, we’re supposed to meet with Vice Admiral Tsuru.” The lie rolled off his tongue with ease, and Coby led Helmeppo out.

They walked to where their quarters were, and Coby was silently glad that they were at HQ for once and have a space where Helmeppo can have his near breakdown in locked quarters.

Once they arrived, Coby made Helmeppo sit on the bed and locked the door behind them and then sat down beside Helmeppo.

“I’m not, am I?” Helmeppo said with a tiny voice. “I’m not… like him.”

Coby chose his words carefully. “You’re not,” he said. “Any changing you do has been for the better.” He put his arm around Helmeppo’s back. “You keep wanting to be better, Helmeppo.”

Helmeppo nodded wearily. “Really?”

“Helmeppo you helped out that recruit the other day in the stacks. Your father wouldn’t have done that,” Coby said, and he said it with venom.

Helmeppo never heard Coby talk like that about anyone other than his father. Even Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, who Coby notoriously disliked, didn’t get the same venomous treatment as Morgan.

It was comforting to know that Coby would do it all again just so he could punch Morgan in the face, no matter that Morgan was Helmeppo’s father.

“You keep trying, Helmeppo,” Coby said, voice once more calm. “He’d’ve never done that.”

Helmeppo sniffed. “Yeah. You’re right,” he said. Helmeppo stiffened when Coby hugged him again. “Thanks. For this.”

Send me 💞 and I’ll draw a fusion of our muses!

By Vetica Fuller

Whenever one thinks of the Marines, frequently the image of Strength or Valor comes to mind, but, although these traits are desirable in an officer of Justice, they are not the most important. For, without compassion, they might as well be those of a pirate.

I have not met a marine who embodies this concept more than Lieutenant Commander Helmeppo of the 153rd Branch.

Along with his Captain, Coby, Helmeppo has proven to be one of the fastest rising Marine recruits in many years, climbing from the rank of Cabin Boy to where he is today in less than two years, under the tutelage of Vice Admiral Garp. He is a veteran of the fierce battle at Marineford, and the son of the disgraced Marine Captain Morgan. With his history one might expect him to be rather callous.

However, Lieutenant Commander Helmeppo is the type of man who would willingly risk his own life to save a litter of kittens. In fact, I owe him my own life, for, when I got lost in a snow storm, he helped guide me back to shelter. And this kindness is mirrored in his interactions with fellow marines, like his Captain, who openly expresses concern for his men’s safety.

It is my hope, that, as I continue on my journey throughout the Grand Line, I meet more marines with the same integrity I have witnessed in Lieutenant Commander Helmeppo, a man who is truly Just and Brave.

The pirate’s devil fruit had taken them all by surprise. It hadn’t seemed too much at first, creating bars across wherever the pirate managed to swipe their hands.

Then they’d clocked Helmeppo in the face.

“I-I can’t see,” Helmeppo said, voice tinged with panic. “Coby I can’t see anything.” Hysteria flared in his Voice, and Coby was at his side in an instant, hand gripping the pirate’s wrist, grinding the bones together.

“Reverse it,” he growled, voice pitched low and dangerous. The pirate seemed startled by Coby’s sudden change in demeanor, and tried to pull their wrist from his grasp.

“Let go!” the pirate yelped.

“If you didn’t hear me, I said, ‘Reverse. It.’” His Armament crackled, adding that much more of a crushing force to his grip.

The pirate whimpered, a counterpoint to the panic coming off of Helmeppo that Coby could nearly taste.

“It-it wears off! Eventually!” There was a snapping sound as Coby broke the pirate’s wrist before he let go and turned back to Helmeppo.

“Hey, hey, easy. Helmeppo?” Coby said, pitching his voice low and soothing.

Helmeppo immediately reached out to where he thought Coby was, and Coby took Helmeppo’s hands in his. “C-Coby?” The black bar crossed Helmeppo’s face, spreading out from under his visor. “Is that – is that you?”

“Yeah. It’s me. I’ve got you,” Coby said, pulling Helmeppo into his arms. “I’m not letting you go.”

Helmeppo crumpled, fear and panic over the sudden loss of his sight striking him to the core.

How about Coby cause we all know I love him

“You’re not.”