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Chapter Text

It has been 6 months since Rosinate died.

4 years since he went undercover with The Family. A year since he reported a sickly child joining. A year since his reports stopped.

6 months since his body was discovered alone, riddled with bullet holes, in the snow of Minion Island. 5 months since his grave was raided, body stolen. 3 months since Sengoku's last visit to Mariejois.

3 months since Shamrock got the news.

He stares at the books scattered across his personal desk, riddled with symbols and warning signs in a language he can barely understand.

It has been 6 months since Rosinate died.

~

Shamrock takes another deep breath, pulling air through his lungs and breathing it out as steadily as he can.

𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧. 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭. 𝘔𝘶𝘵𝘵. 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦—

He considers, briefly, slamming his head into the desk. As if that would stop the thoughts trained into him. He simply raises his head from his hands to stare at the (𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯) borrowed texts.

"If this doesn't work," the knight mutters nonsensically to himself "I'm going to kill someone off-duty." He stands, chair squeaking in protest as he sorts through the books he gathered, separating those which seem to work from those that clearly don't.

Cerberus raises it's heads in the corner and whines at him. He really needs to stop letting the damn mutt out of it's blade just to relax, but...

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘨, 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳! 𝘊'𝘮𝘰𝘯, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘬𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘢𝘵!

Shamrock rubs the bridge of his nose and fights back the choked feeling in his throat before turning to his face his pet "It'll be okay, Cerberus..."

He places the books in front of him on the floor as he settles. The beast rises from it's bed in the corner to sit beside him.

"We'll get him back."

~

𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘕𝘔𝘗

The book falls to the ground pathetically after being hurled at the (thankfully rather thick) wall. Shamrock growls under his breath and drags a hand through his disheveled hair, glaring at the pattern painstakingly drawn onto his floor.

The accursed non-fuctioning symbol, from that stupid useless book.

The knight groans again, laying back again Cerberus "Why can't things ever be 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺" He adjusted a bit, laying a hand between the beast's center-head ears as it blinks at him. "I 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦 those books. They're supposed to be about the intricacies of Abyss, they're supposed to be helpful in learning how to use it for 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 you need!"

Shamrock glares down at the pentagram, ignoring Cerberus's worried whine. His gaze softens after a moment, melancholy "I just... want him 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. Abyss is supposed to allow you to do anything, and he's 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 to me. You know that!" A holy knight ranting nonsensically to his zoan-blade dog about his traitorous dead partner, what a wild situation.

Cerberus gets to it's paws, annoyingly letting it's owner fall onto his back with a quiet protest. It paces around the circle a bit, sniffing curiously. It raises it's heads and barks softly at him.

Shamrock hauls himself to his feet "What, what is it? Did I miss something?" He steps closer, leaning over the symbol the zoan stopped at.
He squints, silver eyes going dull with shade as he studies the patterns again.

The knight gasps "Haki. That's the Poneglyphic for 𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘪." Shamrock may not know much of the ancient language, but he knows enough to recognize certain symbols.

He (admittedly stumbling in his haste) makes his way around the pentagram, scanning carefully for any other familiar glyphs. Cerberus retreats to it's bed in the corner, two heads resting while the third keeps watch curiously.

He settles back, kneeling where he was previously and glancing over the records again. "𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘪... That's the one Poneglyphic I could recognize, and it was repeated several times... Is that what I was missing?" He glances at the etching again, dull coloration almost mocking in comparison to the vibrant glow the art in the books depicts.

Shamrock smirks slightly, shoving the books to the side and settling more comfortably. Cerberus lays it's third head down, trusting that it's owner has everything handled.

"Alright, My Crow, let's bring you home..."

~

If anyone ever tells you that death is even slightly interesting, know that they are lying to you.

Rosinate does not know how long he has been walking. It is dark, there is smoke, and he is still walking.

He thinks his chest hurts, it should considering the amount of blood on that stupid heart-patterned button-up Doflamingo gifted him.

𝘋𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘺... 𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. Rosinate knows he's dead by his brother's gun, he remembers that entire situation disturbingly clearly. He can't help but be curious though.

Besides, being lightly curious about his maniac brother is better than addressing the bone-deep terror that sinks it's teeth into him anytime he thinks about what might've happened to 𝘓𝘢𝘸.

Rosinate hopes he's okay. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘋. 𝘏𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. He misses being able to talk, he doesn't know why he can't here, but everytime he tries nothing happens.

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. He considers. He also spares a thought for where the Grim Reaper might be, but he doesn't really want to know.

Rosinate's been walking. It's dark. There is smoke. He's been walking.

D̸̢̮̫̰̥̗̘̱͉͙͙̺̫̏͒̅̌o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓️ṉ̵͓̬͈̞̥̭̥̇̓̔͋

𝘏𝘶𝘩?

He pauses, stopping in his tracks and glancing around the empty (save for the smoke) void. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰?

D̸̢̮̫̰̥̗̘̱͉͙͙̺̫̏͒̅̌o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓️ṉ̵͓̬͈̞̥̭̥̇̓̔͋️q̷̢͙̤̄̃̀̓̄́̽u̴̢̠͎̲̗̮̤̥̪̖̦͈͕͛̈́̀̒̒̄̚͠i̵̢̢̡͚̩̞̥͕̜̻̫̩̐̈͘͜️x̵̨̞̳̟̰̗̦͈͈͙̻͎͉̫͓̌̎͒͑͠͝ͅͅo̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜

Rosinate blinks, head pounding as he frantically tries to understand 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

D̶͔̭̪̻o̯̱̊͊͢ṇ̤͛̒̍q͉ͬ͋̇ͥư̡͕̭̇ỉ͔͖̜͌x̛̘̠̹͋o̯̱̊͊͢t̲̂̓ͩ̑ẹ̿͋̒̕ R̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓️ş̵̛̳̍̃̏͆̏̂̎͌͘͝͝͝͝i̵̢̢̡͚̩̞̥͕̜̻̫̩̐̈͘͜️ṉ̵͓̬͈̞̥̭̥̇̓̔͋â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? He never wishes more than right now that he could just 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬.

R͉̜̎͡͠o̯̱̊͊͢s̠҉͍͊ͅỉ͔͖̜͌ṇ̤͛̒̍ā̤̓̍͘t̲̂̓ͩ̑ẹ̿͋̒̕

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

R͉̜̎͡͠o̯̱̊͊͢s̠҉͍͊ͅỉ͔͖̜͌

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳? Rosinate turns, heading in the direction he thinks the voice is in. The smoke is thick.

M̴̨̦͓̰̌͆̉̃̄͆͜ͅy̷̧̰̲͍̝̘̗̩̑̇͐̾̽̏͊͑̇̃̉͜

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? Rosinate blinks, the smoke irritating his eyes as it gets thicker. The voice is closer now, so he has to keep walking.

M̴̨̦͓̰̌͆̉̃̄͆͜ͅy̷̧̰̲͍̝̘̗̩̑̇͐̾̽̏͊͑̇̃̉͜ ️c̸̛͕̯͂̐̓͗͊͛͝ŕ̶̛̰̱̈́̀́̑̿̾͛͂̈́͗̓̈́̒͘͝️o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓ŵ̵̨̢̳̞̤̝̖̠̘̩̞̘̭͍̘̐́̈͑̈́̐̂̔̽̓͋̂̔ͅ

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵...

M͉̅ͮ͒ͤy҉̃̀̋̑ c͕͗ͤ̕̕r̴̨̦͕̝o̯̱̊͊͢w̦̺̐̐͟

𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦...

𝙈𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬

𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳?! Rosinate is running, shoving through the smoke so thick he can't see himself through it, fighting through every stumble because 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳!

𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙢𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶? Questions race through his head as breathing gets tougher in the haze.

Wait... Breathing?

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙈𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬.

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. That is Rosinate's last coherent thought, as his center of balance fails him and he falls through the smoke choking his lungs.

~

Shamrock coughs, frantically reeling his Conqueror's Haki back in as smoke billows from the pentagram, flooding his room. Cerberus doesn't even twitch, annoying mutt.

He gets to his feet quickly, backing up and reaching for one of his back-up blades. He spares a quick glance behind himself. 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.

The knight grimaces briefly at the thought of his coworker, but if they're awake, they're either in their room or down in the training grounds. He shifts his attention back to the pentagram, which is slightly visible through the slowly clearing smoke.

Alongside the pentagram, however, he can vaguely make something out. Something that makes the breath catch in his chest once he makes it out.

A body. Somebody. Laying right in the center of that accursed symbol.

Hope is not a trustworthy thing. Shamrock has never bothered with believing in anything but himself and Saint Imu. But right now? He'd pray to 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 for that to be who he hopes it is.

The smoke is still clearing, but he can't hold back his voice anymore "... Rosinate?" The knight would normally despise how his voice shakes over a single word, but his hands are shaking anyway and he can barely think, no time for embarrassment.

The body shifts, chest rising and falling on an inhale, though no sound is heard.

The smoke finally clears enough, and Shamrock fights back tears at the sight of the lanky figure with a mess of blonde hair. The tears stop trying to fall, however, when he takes in the rest of his love's appearance.

𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴—

Shamrock turns his head slightly, gazing at the (𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴) book he'd left lying open on the floor.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐢𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐲𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝘖𝘩

~

Rosinate's body 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴. Mainly his chest, but everything hurts. He groans lightly, allowing himself a bit of relief at hearing his own voice, since the weird death-void denied him even that.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦—

His eyes shoot open and he stares up at a marble ceiling ironically decorated with dragons & clouds in painted gold.

He shifts again, attempting to sit up, only to fall right back down again at an unexpected amount of weight on his back. Honestly, it feels like his entire center of gravity shifted.

"What the hell—" Rosinate grumbles, turning his head to glance over his shoulder once he manages to sit up steadily.

The giant black wings twitch almost mockingly under his stunned stare. The tail curls, and now that he's paying attention, the weight of horns on his head is impossible to ignore.

"𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙐𝘾𝙆—" Rosinate knows where he is, knows that shouting is probably a horrible idea, but he can't help it because, genuinely, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬.

He looks around frantically, running through possibilities in his head while smoke clears from the room. There's a pentagram underneath him, and someone standing nearby.

His wings flare subconsciously, almost sending him falling onto his back again, but Rosinate manages to stay steady as he squints through the clearing haze.

𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳, 𝘳𝘦𝘥-𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴—

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙈𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬

Rosinate blinks in shock and the smoke finishes clearing. Shamrock stares him. He stares at Shamrock.

𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. His first coherent thought about this is concern, because of course it is. But he's right to be concerned, he thinks, considering the tears dripping steadily down the knight's face.

Rosinate shifts again, sitting a bit more comfortably and opening up his arms with a hesitant smile "Hello, My Clover"

~

Shamrock cannot hear him, which is very upsetting when he 𝘤𝘢𝘯 see Rosinate's mouth moving, can make out 'My Clover' when t̶h̶e̶ d̶e̶v̶i̶l̶ his love offers an embrace.

The knight drops the sword, uncaring for the way it clatters loudly in the silence, and stumbles forward. He's not ashamed to admit he crashes into his lover's arms, wrapping his own around his back (𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦)

He can feel Rosinate breathing, and even if he can't hear the words of comfort he's undoubtedly offering, that's enough. The holy knight, trained weapon, one of the most dangerous people in the world—

Sobs. A single choked sound, muffled by his lover's chest, forces it's way from his throat in the same manner tears force their way down his face. He can't stop now, the sobs and cut-off wails the only noise in the room besides the blood rushing in his ears.

Rosinate is rubbing a hand down his back, a glance up proves that he is (of course) trying to talk him down. Shamrock almost snarls at the unfairness, mentally cursing that blasted fruit "𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, Rosinate..." He manages, tucking his head back down to continue sobbing like a child.

He can feel Rosinate's breath catch briefly, before the lanky bastard shifts, tugging Shamrock into his lap and bringing his new wings forward to wrap around them both.

It's quiet, he can't hear the distant hustle of servants anymore. It's blessedly quiet, he can feel Rosinate's breathing, can feel his embrace. The tears running down his face refuse to stop, only intensifying with the overwhelming sense of 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺— 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦—

"𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, My Clover..."

Oh. That's his love, his heart, his everything. That's his voice. What a lovely thing it is.

It's hard to think.

Blessed quiet.

His arms go limp from their grip on Rosinate's back, but he barely registers it.

𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵...

So

blessedly

silent...

~

Rosinate panics a little, adjusting his grip when Shamrock goes limp "My Clover?! I know you can't hear me for whatever reason, but what the hell—"

He shifts, nudging his love to sit up a bit so he can get a look at his face (still doesn't untuck his wings from around them both, however. It doesn't feel right to do so just yet)

Shamrock's eyes are beautiful color, a rusted grey akin to sun-warmed steel. Right now, however, a purple-tinted haze has clouded over them, highlighting the blank 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 of the knight's expression.

Rosinate blinks shifting his wings lightly as he reaches to cup his lover's face gently in his hands. "Calm... Is this..."

𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘶𝘴-𝘺𝘰𝘶-𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴.

He blinks rapidly, scrambling to understand what that thought was. It felt like a thought of his own, but also... not? Distantly, he recalls when he first ate his fruit. The voice in the back of his head (𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭) that informed him of Silence, of what he had just foolishly eaten.

𝘏𝘶𝘩 "Huh." He repeats aloud, only to himself. Rosinate glances at his tail, wings. Adjusts his grip on Shamrock so he can run a hand over his horns. "𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 Fruits... Well, you did always say the Abyss was demonic in nature" He mutters in his love's general direction.

Rosinate's brain finally catches up and he winces at himself "Right. Right, need to fix this..." He grumbles a bit, cradling Shamrock's face gently and narrowing his eyes at the purple haze. "Ah... How do I—"

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

The fact his Devil Fruit's thoughts and his own are starting to not sound very seperate should probably be concerning, but Rosinate doesn't care at the moment, he just wants to help his love.

"Alright then" He snaps his fingers, the sound only audible to himself and—

~

—Shamrock jolts, brain firing belated warnings as he can 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. He groans, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, wincing at the warning pounding of an incoming migraine.

His brain scrambles to readjust itself, but it helps that he's still cradled in Rosinate's lap, still wrapped in those warm wings.

He twists slightly, glaring up at his appropriately guilty looking partner. He sighs and thumps his head against his chest "You die for six whole months, I bring you back, and the first thing you manage to do is accidentally Silence my brain. Some things never change" He grumbles, accepting the hand trying to hold his despite his complaining.

"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰."

Shamrock startled again, eyes shooting open from the resting half-lid he had them at as he stares at his love. "Okay... I heard that. But not— verbally? Was that telepathy?"

Rosinate, to his credit, looks equally confused and startled. He blinks a few times before shaking head as if to clear his thoughts "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵... 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵? 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦???"

His Crow winces lightly, probably at whatever look is on the knight's face right now "𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬... 𝘋𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴... 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦?"

Shamrock blinks, buffering a bit as he turns the hypothesis over in his head "You were always clever, Rosinate. You're most likely correct, since Imu-sama can also communicate telepathically and well..." The knight does not want to be rude to his love, but there isn't a not-rude way to glance down at the tail.

Rosinate grimaces, untucking his wings from around them to instead fold them against his back as well as he can. It's a bit awkward due to their size, but it's managed.

Shamrock smiles, feeling tears tempted to trace his face again "However, I am simply... so glad to have you back."

Rosinate smiles at him, cupping his face gently with his free hand despite the claws. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳."

~

Getting up is a chore with his new center of gravity, his unnatural clumsiness, and the fact that the person helping him up is roughly a meter shorter than him.

Rosinate gets up only to fall right back on his ass 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 before managing to stand steady, wings spread awkwardly as counterbalance.

He glares a little at his grinning partner "𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 3 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴." He hisses out through the telepathic connection.

Shamrock huffs another laugh before eyeing up his wings and squinting "Actually, love, that would be 5 new appendages."

The devil blinks, confused as he twists lightly to glance at his wings again. Finally, after a bit of confused squinting, he notices it. Underneath the large pair of wings, there is a smaller pair closer to his hip.

"𝘏𝘶𝘩. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭?" He mutters, opening and shutting his new wings experimentally, curling his tail lightly.

His partner steps forward, reaching out to run a hand across one of the larger wings. Rosinate shudders, but thankfully Shamrock doesn't notice. "I don't think so. You're allowed to feel however you want about your new form."

Rosinate squints, tucking wings again as he eyes his beloved carefully "𝘋𝘰... 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘸..?" It's hard to hide emotional-tone through telepathy, he's quickly discovering, unable to hide the insecurity underlining the question.

The knight stares up at him, looking vaguely offended "Of course. You're beautiful, Rosinate. The only reason I was hesitant was because I was unsure 𝘺𝘰𝘶 were comfortable, My Crow."

He can't help but giggle a little at the nickname "𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?" He says playfully.

Shamrock laughs (what a beautiful sound) "Ah, you do. Now come on, you simply must see your 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴" The knight grabs Rosinate's wrist and begins dragging him over to a mirror

The devil tilts his head in confusion "𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥—" He stops, staring at his reflection. It's one thing to be aware your appearance changed drastically from the last time you saw it, it's another to take it all in.

His tail and wings he's had a moment to get used to, and he can see them himself. His horns, while he could feel the way they curled like a rams, he couldn't see the heart-shaped arrow tips that he notices now. It reminds him of that dumb hat he'd made.

His eyes are what Shamrock wanted him to notice. They 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 changed. purple sclera and irises blending together, contrasted by vibrant blood-red slit pupils. He glances down at Shamrock next to him, and embarrassingly notices his pupils dilating to circles in his peripheral.

Rosinate turns back to the mirror, deciding to finally address the last noticeable change. He raises a clawed hand, cupping his own cheek lightly as he stares.

A large patch of white extends down his face, like paint or make-up applied messily. Bright blue tear-like markings stand out under his eyes, with blood red sharply drawing his face into a smile.

The silly make-up look he had crafted to better fit into the Family, now permanent. Rosinate's chest aches lightly as he tries and fails to pick apart his feelings about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

"Beautiful."

The devil blinks, turning to glance down at Shamrock again, stunned out of his spiralling. His everything simply smiles up at him

"You're beautiful. Simply thought I'd remind you" The knight teases leaning into his side and allowing Rosinate to wrap a wing around him.

He stares into the mirror, allowing a genuine smile to join the marking.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦"

~

Shamrock couldn't get rid of the soft smile on his face.

After Rosinate had gotten reunited with Cerberus, they'd all ended up tangled on his bed. The dog had finally gotten off, currently set just at the foot of the bed in blade form, leaving the knight and the devil to finally curl up together after years of not getting more than a moment to themselves.

The red-haired weapon of a man rested his head against his lover's chest, enjoying the soft feeling of his breathing, despite the lack of sound and heartbeat. The pair of wings he was laying on and other set draped over him like a blanket were as soft and warm as that silly cloak Rosinate was so attached to.

Speak of the literal devil, Shamrock raises his head to gaze up at him. His love's gaze was distant, half-lidded as he mindlessly combed his claws through the tangles in red waves.

"What are you angsting about now, love?" The knight inquired, shifting to prop himself up more, he suspects this isn't going to be a short conversation.

Rosinate looks startled at the questioning, but lets out of a huff of laughter "𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵... 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨." He pauses on the last part, gaze drifting again.

Shamrock pouts a little "About? I am allowed to be worried about my partner who went and gotten himself killed so recently." It comes out a bit harsher than intended, and he grimaces.

Thankfully, Rosinate smiles at him, seemingly understanding the slip in tone. "𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵." He sighs, adjusting to sit up, still keeping a wing wrapped around the knight.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘬𝘶'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴—" The devil's breath catches, eyes widening as he seemingly realizes something.

Shamrock is confused for some moments, until his brain helpfully dredges up those sparse calls from Rosinate's reportless months, about the sickly child he'd gotten attached to.

The sickly child the knight was unable to find, simply because he had no idea where the kid was going.

But...

Rosinate turns to stare at Shamrock, emotions dancing in wet eyes. "𝘓𝘢𝘸. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘸. 𝘏𝘦— 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸— 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢, 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—"

His beloved chokes on the next inhale, telepathy stuttering with his emotions "𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳— 𝘏𝘦'𝘴— 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙— 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙢—"

Shamrock jolts forward, wrapping his arms tightly around his crow, careful of the wings. He shushes him gently as the embrace is shakily returned "It's okay, I know, my heart. We'll go. We'll find him. We'll..." He takes a breath, considering before he exhales the sentence

"We'll find 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘯"

~

The North Blue is cold. Rosinate knows this as a fact, but he's always run unnaturally warm, and now being what he is... He can't feel it.

He glances down at Shamrock as the pentagram beneath them fades (apparently being a devil of the Abyss counts the same as being Marked when it comes to teleportation, who knew), who shivers lightly even under the cloak and armor.

The devil smiles affectionately, tucking a wing around his beloved "𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨?" He can't help but tease, trying to fight back the anxiety twisting in his chest.

His clover glares playfully up at him "Freezing, love. But your wings are warm, thank you." Shamrock runs a hand along the primary feathers and Rosinate exercises every scrap of composure he has to fight back puffing up like a chicken.

He chuckles, adjusting his wing to rest more comfortably before nudging Shamrock. They begin to trudge through the thick foliage (yes, the North is cold even in spring), Rosinate keeping his tail raised off the ground and other set of wings folded tight.

"You said he should still be here?" Shamrock questions, glancing up. The blonde pauses, picking through his words. He still hasn't told the knight about Law being a D. He doesn't really want to.

Rosinate nods at the question "𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨." He curls his tail subconsciously, adjusting his wings. There is so much he hasn't told Shamrock, simply due to the fact he knows he won't be happy about 𝘢𝘯𝘺 of it.

𝘋 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯. 𝘍𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳. 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘖𝘱-𝘖𝘱 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵. The devil grimaces, thankfully that the red-head is too busy glancing around the forest to notice his expression. He really isn't looking forward to 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 conversation.

"I assume I'll be needing to call out to the kid, since you cannot." His beloved's voice startles him out of his silent spiraling yet again, and he glances down. After a second to consider, he nods. "𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴."

They trudge through the forest a bit farther, getting close enough to the town to see it before changing course. Considering what happened during those 6 months (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵), it's unlikely that Law would be in the main town.

They pause a good ways from the populated areas. Deep enough in the forest that it's only rarely that people venture out, but not too far that getting supplies would be impossible. Rosinate turns to his partner "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮."

Shamrock nods, then pauses "Doesn't trust them because of what that Vergo man did to you, or something else?" He inquires, genuine curiosity sparking in those sun-steel eyes.

He's never been more grateful that he's a good liar. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮." The falsehood comes easier than the truth, smooth and unbothered.

The God's Knight, who would certainly 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 if he knew what the devil kept close to his chest, nods and takes a breath.

Chapter Text

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘬𝘪𝘥!

Law's eyes snapped open, breath caught in his throat, uncomfortably reminding him of worse days. He sat up, thin blankets sagging off of him as he coughed quietly to clear his windpipe.

He glanced around at the thin wooden walls that did truly, absolutely 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 to fight back the northern cold. They all would've gotten sick by now if it wasn't for— well— that 'they all' part.

Law glanced down, fighting to hide the smile that tempted his features. Shachi and Penguin were curled up next to him, intertwined like cats, still wearing those dumb hats they near-never took off. Shuffling a bit to glance behind him, Law found Bepo still completely asleep, acting as the collective pillow of the so-called 'cuddle-huddle'.

As for the blanket— He dug his fingers into the soft feathers of the oversized coat. Law 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 something was wrong, that Cora-san was lying, when he put the damn thing in the chest with him.

He sighs, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes and shoving those overwhelming emotions back in the box where they belong. Getting up slowly as to not wake the others, Law adjusted the thin blankets enough that the others would stay warm even while he took the coat with him.

With him to do what? Well, the town isn't very welcoming to 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 like himself and Bepo, and Shachi & Penguin don't exactly have the 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 reputations, so hunting is really their main way to get food.

Law trudged through the thick foliage, incredibly greatful that he'd managed to get the Amber Lead out a couple months ago now. If he hadn't, this wouldn't even have been possible for him.

It's been 6 months. 5 since he got the Amber Lead out. 4 since he met Bepo, 3 since he saved Shachi & Penguin.

It has been half a year since 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢-𝘴𝘢𝘯—

He shook his head, shoving those pesky emotional thoughts back in the box while carefully checking traps.

No time to think, focus on surviving.

~

"Trafalgar Law!"

Law startles, nearly dropping the rabbit he just pulled out of a trap. Immediately, he whipped his head around, searching for the source of the unfamiliar voice.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘉𝘦𝘱𝘰, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪, 𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯... He grimaces, tucking the rabbit into the cloak and crouching down slightly. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.

Law darted into the foliage, hiding among the bushes. Thankfully it's spring, so the cloak and brush hide him pretty effectively. He could hear whoever was shouting his name clearer now, along with the sound of boots trudging through the undergrowth.

"Trafalgar! Come on, kid, I'm not a Marine! I just want to help! Law!" The person finally stepped into view, and Law squints in confusion.

𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 red hair, brighter than Shachi's, partially braided. Silver eyes scanning around. A fancy cloak and shining armor, a sword at the hip.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸??? He blinked in confusion. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯!

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨... 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

Law snarls under his breath, reaching for his pitiful hunting knife. No way he's letting some stuck-up, rich ass, wannabe knight take him anywhere. Not without a fight.

The guy stops walking and begins glancing around. "Law? Kid, seriously, I was told you didn't leave the island but I'm starting to doubt it... Trafalgar Law!" He looks concerned, which makes absolutely zero sense.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?! Law briefly considers Shachi & Penguin, but shoves that aside. They owe him too much for saving their lives. Wolf might've let something slip, maybe? But no one in town listens to that man's ramblings...

He shakes his head, going back to monitoring the knight, who scans the undergrowth once again before sighing loudly "Okay, where ever you are, it's not in this area. Time to regroup" He grumbles to himself, beginning to stalk off back the way he came.

A rational person would probably take this chance to retreat back to their home-base and gather their friends to flee the island.

...Law is, admittedly, not the most rational person. 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. A worrying possibility starts making itself present. Did Doflamingo hire this guy? Is The Family seriously still looking for him?

He shuffles slightly, staying crouched in the foliage as he trails the stranger. Reminds him vaguely of stalking a deer.

The weird knight guy keeps walking, occasionally cursing as the ridiculous cape he's wearing gets caught on the foliage. Not like Law's one to talk about ridiculous cloaks, but Cora-san's always moves through everything so smoothly despite the feathers.

𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭... Law pondered, briefly glancing back at the bushes he was stalking through, finding most stained with ash.

When he glances back, the knight has drawn his sword and made his way through significantly more of the dense forest by simply cutting down everything in his way. Law curses under his breath and scrambles after, keeping quiet as possible, only allowing himself to move when the stranger does.

What he wouldn't do for Cora-san's Devil Fruit right now. What he wouldn't do for 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢—

He shakes his head, keeps following. The knight eventually makes his way to a clearing, and Law decides to climb a nearby tree. He knows this clearing and he's climbed this tree before, he practically knows these woods like the back of his hand after being here for so long.

Once he's stronger. He'll get out of here, and 𝙥𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥—

"My Crow!" Law startles at the red-headed stranger's sudden shout. An odd shout at that, 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 '𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸' 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦? "I couldn't find him, are you 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 he's on the island?"

The guy seems to talking to thin air, until Law squints and notices the lanky figure sitting beneath a shadowed tree. Glowing purple-and-red eyes stare out menacingly, their brightness contrasting with the deep shadows of the forest and making the figure impossible to see clearly.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬. Law thinks smartly. His previous theories are burned out with this new piece of information. The knight has a singular ally, and it's some freak with glowing eyes who lurks in the shadows.

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵?? 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦??? Law shifts on the branch, tucking more of the cloak around himself carefully. Best to stay as hidden as possible.

The knight sighs after a few moments of silence. "I know, I know. I trust you. The kid's sick and doesn't know how to sail. But there's a chance he could've decided to anyways, or at worst gotten kidna—" He suddenly cuts himself off as the shadowed figure rises from their rest, extending out—

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴?! The nerdy part of Law's brain is excited and curious about the anatomy. The logical side is saying screw it, grab the crew and run. He's more leaning towards logic when—

The shadowed, ridiculously tall, feather-wrapped figure steps out of the shadows, briefly tripping on his own tail. He shakes messy blonde hair away from his eyes and squints down at his companion, clown-like markings exaggerating his features.

Law can't breathe.

He can't breathe because whatever that thing is, 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢-𝘴𝘢𝘯.

But that isn't possible. Cora-san died. Law heard it, felt it, knew it when the 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 around him fell and he could hear his own screams.

"I'm sorry, My Crow. You're right, your boy is likely smarter than trying to sail on his own. And slavers don't come around these parts, thank Im— uh... The Blues, yes that's the term. Thank the Blues." The knight's voice cuts through Law's impending panic attack as he continues talking to the (silent) figure-that-is-not-Corazon.

Not-Corazon seemingly huffs in amusement, but it's hard to tell with the lack of sound. He tucks his wings around himself like (𝘩𝘪𝘴) a cloak and twitches his pointed ears playfully. The red-head scoffs. "Don't bully me. We have a mission here, Rosinate."

Law chokes back a breath that might've been a sob. He knows what Cora-san's real name was, overhearing it on those calls and the occasional loud shout from Doflamingo whenever Cora-san set something on fire back at Spider Miles.

Nostalgia tears at his throat as Law continues staring at 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺-𝘯𝘰𝘵 Cora-san. The horns, wings, and tail make him look like those depictions of the Devils within Devil Fruits from encyclopedias theorizing about them. He's read enough of those since getting his own Fruit.

The knight opens his mouth, probably to suggest looking somewhere else, which would give Law time to reel in his emotions and 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙, but Not-Corazon suddenly freezes and raises a wing to cover his companion's mouth.

The knight makes a muffled noise of confusion as Law holds his breath. Not-Cora squints those odd eyes, glancing around carefully.

His gaze darts upwards.

Law always knew Cora-san was freaky observant when he needed to be, he really should've expected this.

They hold eye contact for a couple seconds. Gold speckled with grey and purple with blood red pupils.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦-Cora's wings suddenly sag downwards as he visibly slumps on an exhale of relief. The knight glances up as well and takes his hand away from his sword with a soft huff.

Law glares, tightening his grip on the hunting knife. Deja-vu pricks at his head, memories of a knife driven in Cora-san's abdomen making themselves known.

Maybe-Cora smiles, opens his mouth before pausing and frowning. He glances pitifully at his companion, who just sighs tiredly. "Hey Law, kid, mind coming down from there and saying Hi?" The stranger says carefully, like reciting a script or repeating what's been asked.

Law just continues glaring for a couple seconds, before deciding to take a risk in the way his f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶s̶ crew hate. He reaches carefully and climbs down slowly, keeping the cloak wrapped tight around him to hide the knife. Never takes his eyes off the duo for a second.

The knight steps forward and Law almost growls "Back off!" He hates how his voice trembles, hates how his vision is blurring lightly as he avoids looking directly at Maybe-Cora. He grips the knife tighter, not revealing it yet.

The red-head pauses, then steps back, glancing at the devil and gesturing. C— 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 Cora-san huffs and steps forward, slowly making his way towards Law.

He can't stop shaking, his breath feels light, the knife in his grip is as grounding as the stolen cloak wrapped around him.

The winged maybe-not-stranger crouches in front of him, smiling so softly it defies the markings trying to make him grin. The tear make-up is a marking on both sides now, Law can't help but note.

He reaches out slowly and rests his hand on Law's head gently, taps a finger on his hat three times, and says something slow enough that he can read his lips and tell what he meant even with the Silence.

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘢𝘸.

His breath catches. He drops the knife (𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥) and collapses pathetically, abandoning the cloak and allowing Cora-san to pull him into a hug.

Law hits Cora-san lightly on chest as he sobs "You lied! You said he wouldn't kill you, and you lied!" He cries like a child, like the childhood he lost twice over. He can barely breathe, only acknowledging the sobs and wails and Cora-san lightly rubbing his back.

Those odd, iridescent wings wrap around them tightly, blocking out the world Law hates so much. It's warm, and quiet, and Law still can't breathe—

"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮, 𝘓𝘢𝘸, Calm down..."

𝘖𝘩—

~

—Law blinks, the Op-Op fruit hissing annoyingly in the back of his mind, right behind the headache. He winces and looks around, briefly confused as his brain catches back up.

𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. He remembers. It seems to have only been a few seconds, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 that was. Cora-san's wings are still wrapped around them, with the dead-man-walking himself smiling awkwardly down at him.

Law punches his chest again, for good measure, bringing up his other hand to rub at his drying tears "That's new, you bastard. Didn't know your Fruit could do that." He grumbles, just to make a point.

"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺! 𝘖𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳."

He startles, blinking rapidly "What the fuck??? How are you speaking in my head??" Law glares up at Cora-san, hoping it hides the intellectual curiosity he knows is sparking in his eyes.

Cora-san chuckles "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴..." The lanky bastard pauses, seemingly picking up on the fact that Law has zero context for the situation.

"Okay, ignoring all that for now, became you 𝘢𝘳𝘦 going to explain this later—" Law rubs his head and shifts a bit, tapping Cora-san's wings until he folds them back out of the way. "Who the hell is the knight in shining armor?" He hisses out, gesturing at the red-headed standing awkwardly nearby, holding the cloak Law had dropped.

Cora-san just looks at his companion, who startles a bit "Ah, right. My name is Figarland Shamrock. Rosinate is my... Partner." The guy— Shamrock— seems deeply out of his element. Also, partner?! "I was the one who brought him back."

Law blinks at that. He twists, staring up at Cora-san, who gives him a gentle smile and nod of confirmation. He pauses to think, then turns back to Shamrock.

"...Thank you."

~

After a bit more discussing, they decided to let Law lead them back to where he's been hiding out with the crew. He's not the most excited about explaining this to them, but that can wait.

He adjusts the cloak around himself, glancing back at Cora-san and Shamrock. He tried to offer Cora's cloak back, but the idiot had made an excuse about it 'probably being a pain to get on around his wings'.

Law's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, the cloak is comforting even with Cora-san back.

𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢-𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. He's still trying to wrap his head around that. He's changed, (𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘓𝘢𝘸'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰) but he's 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

With a partner. He didn't expect that. Law glances back again, this time eyeing Shamrock. The knight holds his gaze steadily, refusing to move his hand from his blade. 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 He decides.

Cora-san keeps tripping over everything, wings getting caught on branches no matter how close he tucks them and tail just generally getting in the way. He's cursing through the telepathy and Law's trying not to laugh. Even if he did laugh, he can see Shamrock trying not to as well, so it would be hypocritical to call him out.

"𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰..." Law startled a bit at the hum of telepathy from Cora-san "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘸?" The question was undertoned in way he couldn't quite describe, but it was all 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦—

"Yeah." He spoke quick, cutting off his own thoughts before this whole situation could give him a migraine. He was already barely tolerating the buzz of the Op-Op fruit in the back of his head (𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵?) "There's three of them. Four of us, whatever. They're alright." Law spoke carefully, glancing over his shoulder at the duo.

Shamrock finally took his hand off his sword, staring with an unreadable gaze that sent vague shivers up Law's spine. Cora-san was smiling, softly enough that it stood out against the blood-red marking.

He ducked his head as the hum of telepathy rudely lit back up "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘥, 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴." The knight turned to Cora-san at that last bit "He never said 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, my crow."

Cora-san pauses and levels his partner with a look, while Law straightens up "Yeah. They're... Just my crew." He states as firmly as possible, trying to pretend his hands aren't gripping the cloak so hard his knuckles are turning white.

Cora-san sighs, purposefully pushing the noise through the telepathy so that they both hear it. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

"HEY!" "Crow..."

~

The second they reach the base (𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦), Law has to throw up a room and switch a thrown stone for leaf. Cora-san startles behind him, and he vaguely registers the sound of Shamrock unsheathing his sword, but he doesn't care at the moment.

"It's just me, you idiots!" He yelled through the thin door, knocking in a pattern (𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩) He recognized Shachi's voice on the other side as he yelled "Who's with you, Captain?! Hostages or pursuers?"

Law groaned and shoved the door open, ignoring how it smacks Penguin in the face. "Seas, you guys are so dramatic! You seriously think I'd bring anyone I didn't trust back here?" He grumbled, stepping inside. Behind him, Cora-san has to duck to get through the door and Shamrock puts his sword away.

Bepo peaks his head out from where he was hiding in the corner, wedged between the wall and crumbling old desk "Sorry Captain..." Law briefly registers the knight taking a breath behind him and Cora-san shifting his wings, but doesn't pay it any mind as he wanders over to his friend.

He boops Bepo on the nose, then offers to hand to help him up "No apologizing, you guys didn't expect me to come back with—... Guests." He glances back, eyeing Shachi and Penguin, who are standing defensively between the strangers (𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮) and himself & Bepo.

He groans loudly "Stand down you two, I'll explain." Law states firmly, using his Captain Voice™ as Penguin insisted on calling it.

Speak of the asshat, "Cap, I trust you and all, but that's a literal demon and some rich guy. What the fuck." He's pretty sure Peng's glaring at him, but the hat hides his eyes too well.

Law bristles a bit "Don't call him that— Ugh, whatever. Let's just get this over with." He grumbled and dragged out the shitty uncomfortable chair that went with the desk, sitting down harshly.

~

Cora-san is sitting against the wall, smiling awkwardly.

Shamrock stood guard by the door, leaning against the frame, silent as a statue.

Law lounges in the chair casually, waiting as his friends (sat in a semicircle in front of him) get their bearings. No pun intended.

Shachi is the first one to snap into it, lightly slapping himself "Okay, okay, okay. Let's see if we've got this straight." Bepo and Penguin also manage to shake themselves out of their stupor, and they quickly takes turns going over everything.

"The creepy mute devil's your 𝘋𝘢𝘥?"

"... Yeah, whatever, close enough."

"And used to be a normal devil-fruit-user guy until he got murdered?"

"Yup."

"And that rich knight guy is his partner?"

"Apparently. Trust me, I'm not happy either." Law ignores Shamrock's offended noise.

"And rich-knight-guy knows some creepy occult stuff and revived your dad???"

"That's how they explained it at least." He offers a half-hearted shrug, eyeing Cora-san who simply shrugs back.

Bepo fiddles with his paws. Shachi adjusts his glasses and briefly pulls off his hat to run a hand through his hair. Penguin flops onto his back with a huff. "Life got so much crazier after you tore your way into our lives, Captain."

Law can't hide the laugh that tears from him, short as it may be. Shachi laughs with Penguin, and Bepo giggles a bit.

Suddenly, Cora-san shifts around in the background. He offers Law a quick warning "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴" before—

"𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙢."

~

Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo are groaning collectively, still complaining about headaches from Cora-san's little trick while Shamrock looks over the prey Law had collected earlier.

Law himself is looking disappointedly at his friends, waiting. They continue groaning and Cora-san continues apologizing.

Finally, Bepo regains the braincell and turns to him "Law, uh sorry, Captain? Can your Fruit make headaches go away..?" That makes the dynamic duo pause their whining and turn to him with wide, hopeful eyes.

Law groans. "Cora-san, you made me too soft." He grumbles as he waves his hand, and with a quick room, his crew all sigh in relief. Cora-san chuckles like an asshole "𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

"What do you kids want?" They all pause, glancing over at Shamrock and the pile of prey. "To eat, I mean, of course." The knight shifts awkwardly, still clearly out of place. He seems to relax a little when Cora-san offers him a smile, 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴.

Penguin's hand shoots up "Rabbit! Rabbit! Law's shit at cooking it, but I'll bet actual beri that you can do it better, even if you're a rich guy" Law makes an offended noise and is rudely cut off by Shachi "Yeah, rabbit stew sounds good!" He grins, sharp teeth on display.

Cora-san gets up and wanders over to his partner, settling between the prey-pile and the shitty excuse of a fireplace "𝘐 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵." He glances over, raising an eyebrow.

Law groans, still a little betrayed "Yeah... Rabbit sounds fine with me." He grumbles a bit.

Shamrock nods, still looking at Law & the dynamic duo "What does the mink eat? Does it need anythi— ACK—" The crew blink, stunned. Of course, they were going to hit him themselves if he finished that sentence, but...

Cora-san coils his whip-like devil tail back, settling it down on the ground behind his flared wings. He's glaring lightly, and dim lighting plus his odd eye color makes him look... a bit terrifying, honestly.

"𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝙢𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨, 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵?" He hissed, telepathy undertoned obnoxiously with 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. The knight winced, rubbing his head and nodding before taking a breath.

"Ah, Bepo, was it? What would... You like to eat?" He was still awkward, and the crew was still upset, but Cora-san seemed to relax once Bepo nervously replied "Uhm... I don't eat... furred animals— Sorry!" He tucked his paws over his head nervously.

Shamrock looks lost, and Cora-san just sighs and glances at the crew. Law startles and clears his throat "We usually go fishing for Bepo, but we also have some vegetables and stuff from town. He doesn't need meat everyday." He explains, allowing the familiarity with the logic behind everything settle his nerves.

The knight eyes him, then nods, turning back to the prey and grabbing a rabbit. "Could you kids go grab whatever you use for cooking, and those vegetables— ah, please? My crow, mind lighting the fireplace?" The red-head seems more relaxed once he's given control of the situation.

Cora-san smiles ever-so softly "𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳" Shamrock smiles back and Law scoffs while he turns to help the others grab their supplies.

𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢-𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺... He muses as he helps Shachi yank the pot out from where it got stuck by a bad angle in their supply chest again— 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

~

𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬. Law thinks, annoyed as he digs into the frankly delicious rabbit stew. Shachi and Penguin are making appreciative noises beside him, Bepo is actually muttering a compliment or two, and Shamrock seems stunned under the praise for something so casual.

Law raises his head, glancing over at Cora-san, who's leaning by the window, staring outside. His tail is twitching, wings angled down slightly, the primary feathers brushing the floor. He squints, determined to eventually (𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘶𝘩, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥—) learn what any of this new-body language means.

Cora-san senses his stare again, somehow, tilting his head slightly to give him a smile before returning to his vigil.

Shachi's voice cuts through his thoughts "I thought rich folks didn't learn how to cook for themselves? This actually pretty good!" Penguin nods in agreement "Yeah, we thought you wouldn't know what seasoning was, or something!" The duo laugh, Bepo smiling lightly and Law smirks.

The knight sighs, half-fond half-annoyed, "I've been trained how to care for myself in dire situations. It's rarely been necessary, but I believe it to be a useful skill." His voice is almost monotone in it's calmness.

Bepo shifts lightly, ears twitching "You talk weird... Sorry!" He yelps, ducking his head a bit when Shamrock's silver gaze snaps to him. The red-head frowns lightly before glancing up to make eye contact with Cora-san.

Cora-san gets off the wall, wandering over and sitting down with the circle, raising a clawed hand and lightly petting Bepo's head "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦, 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴" He expertly defuses the situation, lightly teasing his partner, who turns almost as red as his hair.

Law can't help but laugh with his crew. It's so nice. It's cold outside, but not in here. Not with Cora-san. The crew are laughing with him and Cora-san is 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. He grins up at his maybe-not-quite-Dad, who stares for a second before grinning right back.

Shamrock is smiling at the little group, more fondly at Cora-san. It's a disgustingly sweet look on the face of someone so serious, and it sets them all off laughing again, especially when Cora-san turns his goofy soft grin back at his partner with a 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭.

Law is happy. He's home. He's 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦.

The sun filters through the cloudy sky, beaming through the half-broken windows and warming the home around him.

One day, Law will take his crew, and he will take down the fool who tried to 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮. But for now, in the warm light of the midday sun, he doesn't care.

Cora-san wraps his stupid, oversized wings around all of them, dragging them into a cuddle-hug, cradling Law to his chest as the giggling dies down.

Yeah, Law doesn't care about Doflamingo right now.

His family is here, and nothing will 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 take that from him again.