catchall nimona

[selfimmolation]

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[sharkgirl]

Kay. Sounds good to me. There's a lot of cool places that opened up, so.

[i'm going to just handwave that she is at some point in this thread teaching him how to make fish tacos because i don't want to be binging with babish tonight]

[selfimmolation]

Maybe we can try the park. Hard to lock us in somewhere if we're outside, right?

[ he probably spends most of the learning experience eating the ingredients. it's fine. ]

week 1, friday

[selfimmolation]

[ well he's uh. at the park again, because they have the stupid swan boat thing, except he is nowhere near the boats and is instead punching at a tree. it's leaving some very real marks on both ace and the tree since he's been at it a few times, and there's a newspaper next to him that is a little singed. ]

Fuck!

[sharkgirl]

[yeah this is totally fair

listen she wasn't nearly as close to the two of them as she thinks ace is, but - this was how she felt last week, when rocket's name was in the paper. and they were part of their little gang, and - so. she exhales out slow, and she moves right up to him, and clenches her fists.]

Ace.

[she doesn't know what to do, but she wants to help.]

[selfimmolation]

[ he at least stops punching the tree when she says his name, though it takes him a while to turn to really acknowledge her. he's vibrating with clear rage ]

Nimona. [ he licks at his lips like he's trying to think of something else to say but he doesn't, in the end. ]

[sharkgirl]

[she doesn't ask if he's okay because she knows he isn't. instead, she tries, desperately, to think of something that would help, and kind of just, falters.

and then she comes over to stand by him, resting a hand on his arm.]

C'mon. I don't have any of those remedy things, I'm not gonna be able to fix your knuckles.

[selfimmolation]

[ he lets her touch, though he's tense like an animal about to bolt when she does. there's something detached in his stare as he looks at them ]

Who cares? I've had worse. [ he flexes his hand and clearly doesn't seem to be feeling the pain much or at all. ] Even if you had it, you shouldn't waste something like that for this kind of thing.

[sharkgirl]

Alright, well, you don't get to be like wow, Danny shouldn't hit you with a steel bar, then.

[she keeps her hand where it is but doesn't touch him further, because she can feel that tension and it makes her want to skitter away. but she won't.]

Fuck it up if it helps. I'm not gonna stop you. But I'm wrapping your hands after you're done.

[selfimmolation]

[ there's a put off frown because how DARE you point out his hypocrisy, and he wipes off some of the blood on one hand with the thumb of the other. ]

That's not what I meant. [ it's a little what he meant, but "I've had worse" and "I've done worse to myself" both roped into one to say he's not worth it and there's no point to healing him for something like that feels harder to explain now. ] If you want to get beaten up to make people feel better, raise your pain tolerance first.

[ it's almost a joke. it's definitely lighter in tone as he takes a step back-- from the tree, mostly. incidentally nimona, but considering he just sits down on the ground cross legged and doesn't go anywhere, he's not running from her. ]

[sharkgirl]

I really don't. I'm not a punching bag, which is why I'm not standing here like ooogh, Ace, hit me instead of the tree.

[grumble grumble.

she got what he meant, but she's not indulging it, because she's a hypocrite too. and because he is worth it, to her.

... she goes to flop down next to him though, frowning. she stays close - she's way more still than she usually is. normally, she can't stop moving, frenetic energy in every direction, but right now, she's a wary animal.]

What are you gonna do when we figure out who did it?

[selfimmolation]

[ he kind of hums, because he can't call her out on her hypocrisy after having just been a hypocrite. he has limits. instead, he answers her question; ]

Kill them.

[ there's not any hesitation when he says it, and fire's flaring up at his shoulders a little. he's also still, but a very obviously tense kind of it, shaking from time to time in barely contained anger. ]

[sharkgirl]

Okay.

[easy as that. she won't tell him not to, she had the exact same reaction last week.]

Even if it was an accident? [she's not arguing, she just wants to know what she needs to be prepared for.]

[selfimmolation]

It wasn't. [ he doesn't seem to be willing to entertain the thought, but it's also; ] Norma's knife had blood on it. People heard gunshots.

[ there's not another person who thinks guns can't kill people after last week, so. ]

[sharkgirl]

[a nod.]

'Kay. I'll hold whoever it is down so you can get the shot in. [like just in the middle of trial ig.]

[selfimmolation]

[ midtrial midtrial

he huffs a little at that ]

Sure. [ there's a pause, and then: ] It's the only thing I know I can do. [ he rubs at his raw knuckles for a little bit. it does not help the wounds at all, but it is spreading blood around. thanks, ace. useful. ] Wanna know why I ended up in prison?

[sharkgirl]

[she's got a sweater on, so when she sees him rubbing at his knuckles she just immediately rips one of the sleeves off of her hoodie and starts pulling it into strips. don't mind her.]

I assume 'cause you killed someone.

[selfimmolation]

[ i hope the hoodie is pink so he can have pink bandages on tomorrow. anyway, he startles when she rips her hoodie, but he lets it happen ]

Because I failed to. [ a bit of an angry confession, though it's clear the anger's at himself. ] I went after a guy who used to be under my division. He'd killed a crewmember, so I was going to take his life. ... He beat me and exchanged me to the marines for a job with them.

[sharkgirl]

[yea it is now

she grabs his hand and starts wrapping them with her pink hoodie sleeve. which is now only one-sleeved. will she continue to wear this hoodie? probably.]

... He must've cheated if he beat you. [she says, with a definite Tone of like, fuck that guy.]

[selfimmolation]

[ ace watches her go, though his hand twitches a little like he wants to take it away. ]

... The man he killed, he did for a Devil Fruit. The rule on the crew is that whoever finds one gets to decide what to do with it. But it's a special kind that guy had been trying to find all his life. Twenty years in Whitebeard's crew, and he spat right at his face for a stupid fruit.

[ this is not helping him be less mad, clearly obviously, but; ]

He can control darkness now. It's a special one. It negates all other fruit powers if it touches you. Swallows everything up. [ it wasn't cheating so much as it was bullshit. ]

[sharkgirl]

So - yeah, he did cheat by eating the fuck you fruit.

[that's some massively overpowered bullshit, hello

she pauses, working quietly, and then:]

That's not your fault. By the way. And neither is all of this.

[selfimmolation]

[ sometimes you take on the manga's big bad but you are not the main character so you don't have plot convenience powers :( ]

He was under my command. My responsibility. [ it's said quietly as he watches her work ] Pops didn't want me to go off after him, but I did anyway. Nothing about that wasn't my fault. [ he's really not looking at nimona ] And now-- Chiemi was right there with us. I told her I'd teach her how to defend herself. And Norma was...

[ he cuts himself off. ]

Only thing I've ever been good at is fighting. I don't know how to solve any of this. Least I can do is kill who's responsible.

[sharkgirl]

[she finishes one hand, and then - just fucking punches him in the ribs!]

Knock it off. You're not our captain here, dude, it's not on you. [scowling...] But even if you were, you're not the only person who screwed up, and it's dumb of you to be like blah blah, I'm a piece of hot garbage for not somehow magically knowing who was going to die ahead of time and saving two people all by myself. Dumbass. This is why heroes suck.

[she grabs his other hand. in a pissy tone:]

You can avenge them, though. That part still works. [...] So we find who did it together and kill them. Alright, Boss?

[selfimmolation]

Oof--[ what the fuck! he kind of rubs at his side with his free hand and an annoyed frown. ] I'm not trying to be a hero.

[ is this all he got from that speech? maybe. but also he knows he's not in charge of them, but he still feels like he is, and it's hard to explain so he doesn't bother. he's staying quiet and letting her switch hands and work on that one instead. ]

... Yeah. Yeah, alright. [ but, also, he has to-- ] You can't say I'm not captain and then call me boss.

[ almost a tease. ]

[sharkgirl]

[huffy!! noises!!]

You're not trying, you just can't help yourself. [she mutters.] Can't do anything but fight, he says.

[her ears are a little red, though, at the teasing.]

Shut up, I didn't mean to call you that. [she did but she's EMBARRASSED]

[selfimmolation]

[ frowning!! stop accusing him of heroism!!!! ]

I'm not lying. I know what I'm good for.

[ no he does not but anyway moving on he likes her embarrassment better even if he is missing the full capacity to look amused there; ]

Hey, I didn't say I disliked it.