callada | Open RP post

Can't say everyone's good at making decisions. I'm guessing it's not usually a conscious choice, though maybe for some it's a bad habit.

[Look, he's spent enough time around students of all ages to know that as brilliant and wonderful as people are, they're also just complete morons sometimes. Such is the paradox that is life. He gets the coffee out, pours it into the machine, spills some of it across the counter but nothing too crazy to add to his list of blunders in the last few minutes. Cleans it up easily enough as he talks, then looks over to where Law was, doesn't see him, looks down and - ah. Poor thing.]

Balancing needs and wants is tough. You've got more self-control than half the people I've seen around campus.

I have extremely specific vices.

[ It's half quip and half absolute truth. Don't anyone ever go through his room. (Which is more his office now, for as much as he actually sleeps the night in it, but shh.) ]

Ugh god. Carbs. What do we have. ...That isn't cereal, I feel like I'd be able to hear that too loudly in my skull right now.

Mm, too crunchy.

[He says wisely, then sets the coffee to brewing and stoops to have a look in the fridge because he's pretty sure- ah.]

Still have some rice left over from the other night, how's that?

[Without waiting for a response, he takes the container out and sets it on the counter, then sorts through the pantry for the salmon flake furikake.]

Warm or cold?

Shit. You're my hero. [ He lifts the sunglasses only in that he slides his fingers up under them to rub carefully over his eyes. ] Warm but not hot. Jesus. I stand firm in my assertion that the undergrads who do this every weekend aren't human.

[ Really he knows very well it's that teens and younger adults are basically elastic, but close enough. ]

They're also not likely to make it through med school.

[Look, he knows the statistics well enough. It's not that the every-weekend-partiers are bad kids, but most of them aren't serious enough to even get into such a demanding program in the first place. They sleep in, skip classes, come to him with desperate last-minute demands for help if they're even slightly dedicated while the rest never even show their faces inside the library unless dragged in by a friend. Not the sort of students who get top marks, and the medical school only takes those with the very best grades because competition is too fierce for anything less.

He sticks the rice into the microwave for long enough to warm it through, and leans back against the counter as he waits. He takes the opportunity to smile warmly down at poor Law on the floor, too. Even this comes across as sort of endearing, mostly because it's a rare enough event and he enjoys the opportunity to dote without being scolded.]

So if I'm your hero, do I get a cool hero codename?

[ That assertion brings a smile to Law's lips that tries its best to be a smirk and fails. What would otherwise be a sort of earned arrogance melts in favor of the fact that, coming from Cora-san, that's just straight up a compliment and he knows it. It's praise wrapped up in kind of a nothing, and that's what makes it sweet. ]

[ It breaks to a grin, though, and he pulls his hands away from his eyes and looks up at the other through his sunglasses. ]

Hmm. If you want one. What kind of codename would you pick?

Guess that depends on what my superpower is. And let me tell you, it better be cooler than warming up rice for you.

[Speaking of, the microwave beeps, so he pulls out the bowl, gives it a stir with a spoon to make sure it's not cold in the middle, and artfully (he wishes, there's nothing special about this) sprinkles the furikake on top, then reaches over to set it on the counter above Law for whenever he's ready to actually sit up and come eat.]

I know, it's pretty impressive, but I can do other things too, like shelve books.

[That's definitely even more impressive.]

What's a cool way to say - oh. Oh, how about, "The Broker." You know, like an information broker!

[That sounds way more important, very cool, and on second thought he regrets it because it's way too easy to make jokes about him breaking things.]

Edited 2020-09-10 04:30 (UTC)

[ Law considers getting shitty with the other man about the shelving books comment, even if it is a joke. Needling him into admitting he does have a goddamned super power when it comes to his profession. But Cora-san picks up his own slack, even if he fumbles a little on the execution, and the words die on Law's tongue. Instead, there is soft laughter that he doesn't entirely mind rings his head a little. ]

You can broker information as your superhero code name and broke-r the villains' equipment as your alter ego.

[ And everything else. ]

Or vice versa.

Maybe I'll be one of those secret twist characters when it turns out I have more than one alter-ego. They might all figure out that the quiet librarian is also the masked vigilante, but it's just a red herring when he's the one behind every scene setting up everyone right where he wants them.

[He's animated as he says all this, looming dramatically and gesturing to show his expansive underground reach. Sounds cool! And not one word of it is serious. Probably. Just a big funny joke and not something he'd ever seriously consider if life started to take a darker turn.

Hm.]

You want a hand up?

[ Law smiles dopily up at the other upside-down during his whole spiel, utterly adoring of his grandiosity and just hungover enough not to hide any of it behind a smirk. ]

You'd certainly be the last person anyone would expect, with all your usual outward displays. Hm. I can see it, though.

[ He groans, though, before lifting a hand toward the other man. ]

I'd like to stay on the floor a few more hours, but I also know I shouldn't.

Ah, but that's why it's so perfect, right?

[He says, smug, as if it was all part of the plan all along. For his cool alter ego, it sure would be.

Rosinante extends his own hand down, having to bend somewhat to reach Law way down there on the floor, then firmly tugs him upward and catches him with an arm around his waist to sweep him into his arms. Sometimes he is actually capable of being graceful and suave, and it further backs up his point in this fantastical conversation.]

The outward antics are a distraction from what's been really going on the whole time. They underestimate me, and never find out the truth.

[Very funny, the whole thing. He laughs it off, then lets Law go so he can eat.]

[ Law would have thought he'd never be the kind of person to enjoy being swept close like this, that he'd find it unerringly irritating, but somehow, with Cora-san, it makes his heart flutter. Even if it does also pull another rush of red into his cheekbones and ears, and he finds himself reaching for the brim of the hat that isn't there before instead smashing his forehead against the other's chest. ]

Like I said... I can see it.

[ Help, he's becoming a sap. A weird conjectural nerd of one, but a sap nonetheless. ]

[ And enough of one that even though Cora lets him go, he stretches up on his stockingfoot tiptoes and catches the other's jaw in his fingers so he can press a kiss to his cheek. ]

So how do I fit into that little scenario of yours? [ He snickers, absolutely deflecting any further sweetness to duck away and heft himself onto a stool at the counter. Ugh, wow, that's more off-balance than he likes being. ] Am I completely oblivious, or in the know? Somewhere in the middle?

Hm, good question.

[He leans down on the counter, arms folded beneath him. It's a very deep lean but he makes it work. At least the bar height is easier than a standard height table for him, so it's a good compromise between their two sizes.]

You start out oblivious. But you figure it out eventually, and never say anything since you don't want me to worry about you knowing, I guess. And then later there's some dramatic reason I need to reveal it to you, but!

[He makes a dramatic upward sweep through the air with an arm, as if performing some sort of reveal.]

You already know. Cue music, or fireworks, or... something. It's very romantic.

[ Law snickers behind his grin, nose wrinkling with the breadth and depth of it, though most of the crinkle is hidden under the bridge of his sunglasses. ]

You're cute. And you're right. I'd keep any of your secrets, even from you.

[ The rice is the perfect temperature, and he sighs softly as he finally starts to physically relax. ]

Hey... Thanks. You do a lot for me. ...Besides this, I mean.

Besides haul you home at strange hours and tell ridiculous stories? You know, I've seen a lot of med students come and go. A lot of them burn out. Makes me wonder if the ones who don't are the ones who have someone looking after them.

[It's not a serious thought, just an observation. A curiosity, nothing more. The other students aren't his problem. And Law in particular could probably scrape by without anyone, though he imagines it would be a lot more stressful.]

Glad to do what I can, that's all. You'll be one of the best out there, with or without me.

Run-ins with the Marines were commonplace when you were pirates with any kind of bounty. When you were The Heart Pirates? More so.

Not commonplace was the current din going on onboard.

It had been an almost boringly regular sea battle; the only reason Law hadn't ordered the Tang to simply dive when they were first fired upon was that the crew was antsy, and a little winning violence often did them good. Law himself had barely engaged, keeping an eye on the ruckus from the deck of the Tang, ready with a twist of fingers should the need arise. It would go as usual: the marines would be cocksure, the Hearts would subdue them, and they would - now that Cora-san was back with them - always leave most of them alive, most of them heavily bound, disable the rudder. Loot everything they could except enough provisions for the week or so it would take them to be noticed missing and rescued. It would get morale up, restock them on supplies, give the crew some needed venting and exercise.

The moment their own cannons rushed back into clear, decisive booms was noticed by every Heart Pirate on both ships.

It had been Shachi's idea - have Cora-san silence their guns, both confusing opposing ships and leaving less din for them to deal with on their end, leave orders to be heard loud and clear.

But Cora-san had stayed on the Tang as well, and he had apparently noticed a crow's nest sniper that Law's keen senses had missed, with his gold eyes focused on Jean Bart on the opposite deck.

Noticed and stepped between Law and the bullet.

Three of their long guns rang out in tandem, deafening in the previous silence, to match the physical rumbles that still gently shook the ship.

Cora-san had been the one to take the bullet, but Law felt his heart stop all the same as the taller man lurched and started to crumple.

There was a beat, after those booms, of horrible, unfabricated silence on the decks of the Tang. Cora-san seemed to fall into his arms in slow motion. He was so much easier - horribly, gut-wrenchingly easier - to catch like this, than all the times he was still trying to catch himself mid-stumble.

Three things, precisely, stymied the blaze of fury that demanded Law bring up a Room sizeable enough to encompass the full battle and slice the entire Marine ship in twain.

One: The cold chill of panic, the stutter of breath in his chest, that made him feel horribly small and twelve years old all over again.

Two: Years of experience with sea battles reminding him he had people on the opposite deck.

Three: Those booms of cannon, still echoing in his ears, telling him that Cora-san was at best unconscious, and that meant he had both no time, and no Devil Fruit energy to spare.

He had exactly enough time to meet the eyes of those crew still onboard, looking to him for a change in orders. Because they all knew, rightly, that there would be. As Law opened his mouth, he tasted a heat in his throat usually reserved for the blaze of battle when Kikoku was out of its sheath.

"Sink them."

Cora-san couldn't object, could he?

Then, the bubble of blue, Room, Shambles, and he and the other man were in the medbay with Cora-san on the table instead of his lap. Two attendants were already scrubbing in. For him, this first:

"Scan."

Nicked his heart. But only nicked.

"Mes."

Now, with that bullet in his hand - now, he no longer felt helpless and twelve.

"Chest compressions," he barked, and went to scrub in himself. "Bring him up or die."

In truth, at the time, there hadn't been much thought to it. Things were manageable, even if there was always an element of risk in these engagements. It was risk they could handle, and had handled dozens of times already. Rosinante took no enjoyment in raiding Marine ships, but he understood the benefits, and so stood back, keeping his ability active and occasionally firing off shots just to keep the soldiers from finding ways to turn the tide. Nothing lethal, at least not intentionally.

But obviously they'd had other goals. Some marksman had wanted to make a name for himself, or had just gotten lucky. And Rosinante, well, he can't snatch bullets out of the air, so he'd done the only thing he could, as one big, durable target.

Same weak spots as anyone else, though.

Unconscious doesn't always mean completely unthinking, it turns out. For what feels like a very long time, he thinks he's swimming. Did he fall overboard? No, there's no water here, no light. The gunshot echoes in his ears, haunting him like a wisp of a memory, and he dreams of his father.

Eventually, the sounds of the operating room reach him. He screws his eyes shut against the light coming in through his eyelids, then coughs, mouth dry. His head feels like it's full of cotton.

"Law?" he croaks, and manages to open his eyes. Is Law all right?

It's an agonizing few minutes, keeping that heart beating manually. Law forgoes the machines, knowing the Tang could at any moment need the electricity to dive if things above should go south, without either him or his patient to intervene - knowing that should the engines need to race on, there is whatever infinitesimal chance the medbay machines could stutter. So it's his most well-trained crewmates with fingers laced and arms pumping on that barrel chest, and his own mouth on Cora-san's mouth, breathing the strongest breaths he can give at proper intervals. It feels obscene, not sexually but because it is so painfully unsexual, unsensual, mechanical and utilitarian and it isn't right, isn't how things are supposed to be when his labored breaths are passing those painted lips.

He can feel the other's pulse right itself, in the thump where Cora's throat brushes his wrist, with his hand on the other's jaw to keep it tilted, and it's like his own heart restarts as well. The relief that washes over him pulls the briefest, softest smile to his face, and for the first time in decades, without thinking, he thanks whatever gods there might be. The automatic cough is the sound of the White Lead church bells in Flevance.

And then, his name, and he's torn between sweet rapture and hysterical fury.

"You idiot," he answers, barking out of his mouth before the gentle I'm here that half-wanted to answer can make it to his lips. So much the better, as his surroundings rush back and he remembers he has an audience.

(He does not realize he has lipstick all over his mouth. That will be an embarrassment for later, one he'll feel despite knowing all parties present are well aware it's the result of contact purely utilitarian. Hell, maybe that'll make it worse.)

"Transfusion," he snarls at the others, nearly elbowing them out of the way so he can move to the other's chest and begin pulling it apart, painlessly as possible with the Room still up, and get to that injured, stupid, reckless heart. "Type S." As though they don't know, as though his attendants don't know every blood type of every crew member as well as he does, but he's working on fury and the automatic, default assumption that everyone around him is an idiot, right now.

"Don't look down unless you want to see your own organs," he returns his attention to his patient. "I can't believe you. How dare you." And the default state of verbally tearing everyone a new asshole. This is what stress does to a man.

Don't look down - well, of course he looks down, it's hard not to. What is it about being told not to look at something that makes his eyes immediately do that very thing? Especially since none of this feels very real, which is probably the result of some very powerful painkillers.

He glances down, then immediately regrets it and closes his eyes, feeling nauseous - though that also might not have anything to do with any of that. He feels nauseous anyway, vaguely, as much as he feels anything right now. He'd probably go pale, too, if he wasn't already suffering from blood loss. How much did he lose, he wonders idly? Dumb thoughts, intrusive, when he can't think straight. He tries to raise his arm and flop it across his face, but it feels like lead, and he gives up pretty much instantly.

He also knows better than to take Law's verbal assault too seriously. Yeah, okay, he could have gotten killed. He knows that. But Law could have gotten killed if he hadn't moved, and isn't that worse for everyone? It's not just about the two of them, it's about the whole crew.

And it's also about the two of them. He'll protect Law no matter what. Always has, or at least, he's always tried. It's practically a reflex. Like breathing.

"'M I gonna make it?" he mumbles, which might just be very very dry humor but he actually isn't sure if he meant it as a joke or not, which probably means both. His head is in a very weird place right now and he's looking forward to having some clarity back once Law has him all fixed up.

Which, he's pretty sure Law won't let there be any alternative, so he'd better make it, he decides. Can't let Law carry saving him all on his own little shoulders, Rosinante will pull through by sheer will and stupid Donquixote stubbornness, and that's final.

The decision is coupled with one more effort to move his arm to reach toward Law. He doesn't quite manage, but the gesture counts for something. Law's busy, anyway.

" - Don't be absurd." The break is almost inaudible, but only almost. Because, well, of course there's no alternative.

But that doesn't stop Law from so fucking clearly remembering blood on snow, and his small, stupid hands gesturing over Cora-san while yelling nonsense magic spells as though that was how devil fruits worked.

But that was then, and this is now, and now, he knows very, very well how his fruit works.

"You're in my medbay. And you're fucking lucky, is what you are." With the Room up, with his fruit, it's much easier, faster, far less (literally) traumatic to pull off skin and rib and muscle and find that little nick in the wall of Rosinante's heart. (While it's theoretically possible to just pull the heart out whole, work on it externally, Law's never liked the idea of doing that operatively - there are so many variables, so many things the heart does and controls and reacts to, that he much prefers to work on it in its environment, where he can see immediately anything that goes wrong. Popping it out uninjured is one thing; this is, emphatically, different.)

"And you should be under full general anaesthesia, probably, but right now I feel like yelling at you." No, it's because there's no time and because he doesn't really want to risk slowing down the organ he's operating on and risk it seizing, but he's going to be an ass about it.

And besides heating up leftover rice and brewing coffee. I mean... it all adds up.

[ Cora is probably not wrong, honestly. ]

I could have found an off-shift janitor's closet to take the world's most uncomfortable hangover-nap in, or texted Bepo or Roronoa and hoped one of them was awake at this godforsaken hour and listened to my own head pound until they texted back. But I've got this morning person boyfriend who... well... likes taking care of me... so you know, it's like I have a first choice or something.

[ He is not fiddling with his rice and pointedly not looking at the other while his face lights up, nope. ]

"Lucky me," he echoes with a thin smile, eyes closed. Lucky he's got Law here to fix him, but also very certainly this is sarcasm because he's oh-so-very lucky that Law feels like yelling at him.

Not that he blames him one bit. It's one of Law's many reliable talents, yelling at him for doing dumb things. Been doing that a long time. Sort of makes it a comfort. If Law was quiet or being entirely too kind in his words then he might have to start getting a lot more worried.

"Don't like general anyway. I don't need to sleep through it." Because he's very big and tough and takes bullets like a champion, thanks.

[ How is Law so constantly precious? And yet he manages so well to hide it from everyone else. Rosinante knows he's one of the very few who ever sees this side of him, and he revels in that knowledge like it's some secret they both get to share.

He can't help it, he reaches over and brushes his fingertips through a spiky bit of hair just above Law's ear. Just a gentle, loving little touch that also carries minimal risk of somehow knocking Law's entire meal off the counter, which has probably (definitely) happened before. ]

You can thank me in the acknowledgments of all your future publications.

[ This is sort of a dare, and sort of a request to do absolutely nothing like that, please, he's happy just knowing Law appreciates him and all the dumb little things he does. ]

[From here]

[It’s a thoughtful idea.]

Yeah, that seems like a great idea. The guy who passes out in water and the girl who can barely swim.

Edited 2022-10-25 04:07 (UTC)

I've sailed a shitty little square-masted cog through northern storms for weeks without falling overboard. An actual sailboat, in good weather? We'd be fine.

[C'mon Daisy, have a little faith.]

Twenty years of being useless in water, you learn how to get around.

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