[she shifts, reaching to bap the side of his face with her paw.]
You talk about him a lot. [this is a neutral statement - she doesn't think it's a bad thing, really, she just has noticed that he doesn't sing his own praises very much.]
[ laughs. it's not sheepish or anything but there's something self-aware there ]
Haha, yeah. I've been told that before. [ he shrugs a little ] I wasn't always nice when we were kids. But I promised I'd take care of him, so I've got to root for him too.
[ which is to say, do it, he deserves. his smile turns a little more wistful then ]
Not always. We had another brother. Sabo. ...He was killed when we were kids. [ there's no easy way to say that, so he just. says it. ] We were the same age, so it was two big brothers and one little brother.
[she squirms when he says that, in a way that makes it seem like she's just coincidentally bunting him. she is allergic to sorry, so she doesn't say it.]
What got him? [he doesn't have to answer, she's just curious.]
[ scritch scritch because he doesn't mind. he's always going to talk about sabo if someone asks, he just doesn't volunteer him like he does luffy because, well. dead brother. ]
The world. [ it sounds almost like a joke but he's being very serious. ] The three of us promised we'd be pirates so we could be free. Sabo... I met him when we were both about five. He'd run away from home. I didn't know that at the time, though. He pretended to be an orphan for years, like I'd care who his parents were. He was forced to go back when we were about ten. He ran away again and set sail. Sent me a letter to apologize that he was going on ahead. I got it after he was already...
[ he sighs a little as he looks up at the sky ]
There's these people who have control over the world. They're called Celestial Dragons, and people basically treat them like gods. One of them was visiting our island, and since Sabo's ship was near... they shot it down.
[ he normally wouldn't go into so many details, probably, but he just lets it spill out ]
we promised we'd be pirates so we could be free feels so similar, like the echo of a promise she made once. she frowns, as much as her kitty face allows, and then:]
Why'd they shoot it down? Just for no reason? [she sounds a little angry on his behalf, almost.] ... That's garbage, that - sucks.
[her tail wraps gently around his wrist where he's scritching, bracing.]
He was in their way, probably. [ there is something like an old anger there, but he sighs and scritches and tries to let it go ] Yeah. It sucked. They had to tie me down so I didn't do anything stupid. Sabo was-- he was a lot better, as a brother. As a person. [ he says it like it's a fact ]
He asked me to take care of Luffy for him. And I promised Luffy we'd live without regrets and be free for Sabo.
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You talk about him a lot. [this is a neutral statement - she doesn't think it's a bad thing, really, she just has noticed that he doesn't sing his own praises very much.]
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Haha, yeah. I've been told that before. [ he shrugs a little ] I wasn't always nice when we were kids. But I promised I'd take care of him, so I've got to root for him too.
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[...] Was it just the two of you?
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[ which is to say, do it, he deserves. his smile turns a little more wistful then ]
Not always. We had another brother. Sabo. ...He was killed when we were kids. [ there's no easy way to say that, so he just. says it. ] We were the same age, so it was two big brothers and one little brother.
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What got him? [he doesn't have to answer, she's just curious.]
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The world. [ it sounds almost like a joke but he's being very serious. ] The three of us promised we'd be pirates so we could be free. Sabo... I met him when we were both about five. He'd run away from home. I didn't know that at the time, though. He pretended to be an orphan for years, like I'd care who his parents were. He was forced to go back when we were about ten. He ran away again and set sail. Sent me a letter to apologize that he was going on ahead. I got it after he was already...
[ he sighs a little as he looks up at the sky ]
There's these people who have control over the world. They're called Celestial Dragons, and people basically treat them like gods. One of them was visiting our island, and since Sabo's ship was near... they shot it down.
[ he normally wouldn't go into so many details, probably, but he just lets it spill out ]
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we promised we'd be pirates so we could be free feels so similar, like the echo of a promise she made once. she frowns, as much as her kitty face allows, and then:]
Why'd they shoot it down? Just for no reason? [she sounds a little angry on his behalf, almost.] ... That's garbage, that - sucks.
[her tail wraps gently around his wrist where he's scritching, bracing.]
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He asked me to take care of Luffy for him. And I promised Luffy we'd live without regrets and be free for Sabo.
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[maybe she's allergic to sorry, but not this as much.] Not everybody would just pick up like that, like, they just. They just wouldn't.
[a beat, and then a little fiercely:] You're good too.
[after he's spent half an hour trying to remind her that she's got a soul, she can't just let he was a lot better slide.]
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... Thanks. I'm trying, now. [ he laughs a bit, sheepish ] Sorry about talking your ear off.