Baren manages a laugh, because he'd always said that if he's going to stay alive, he'd like to spend the rest of his life laughing. This laughter is different. It's weaker, even if it still holds that flicker of genuine amusement. It nearly drowns in the disbelief.
Name it.]
I don't lie. Not to you.
[It's true.
Kyouko and Sanji were the only ones who asked that of Baren in return - but Kyouko doesn't remember anymore, does she? Baren still holds up his promises, but they don't mean anything to anyone not on the network.
In this whole city, Sanji holds the position of the sole holder of Baren's truth.
His lips spread out into a smile that he doesn't mean.]
If I tell you this - you're with me until I decide you're not.
[If the words sound rehearsed, it's because they're not his. They're a mirror of what Zoro had once said to Baren in the comfort of a room meant for just the two of them. Baren's ribcage beats angrily in his chest as he opens up his old scars, remembers a loss that he felt and feels so keenly that he refused to mention it to anyone.
The trees reveal his secret:]
His swordsman said that. His knight left him behind. It's only a matter of time before the rest follow, but look at his pale attempt to hold on.
[Baren can't ask Sanji to be his first mate.
That position's taken.
But to appeal to a pirate, why not borrow the words of a pirate?]
no subject
Baren manages a laugh, because he'd always said that if he's going to stay alive, he'd like to spend the rest of his life laughing. This laughter is different. It's weaker, even if it still holds that flicker of genuine amusement. It nearly drowns in the disbelief.
Name it.]
I don't lie. Not to you.
[It's true.
Kyouko and Sanji were the only ones who asked that of Baren in return - but Kyouko doesn't remember anymore, does she? Baren still holds up his promises, but they don't mean anything to anyone not on the network.
In this whole city, Sanji holds the position of the sole holder of Baren's truth.
His lips spread out into a smile that he doesn't mean.]
If I tell you this - you're with me until I decide you're not.
[If the words sound rehearsed, it's because they're not his. They're a mirror of what Zoro had once said to Baren in the comfort of a room meant for just the two of them. Baren's ribcage beats angrily in his chest as he opens up his old scars, remembers a loss that he felt and feels so keenly that he refused to mention it to anyone.
The trees reveal his secret:]
His swordsman said that. His knight left him behind. It's only a matter of time before the rest follow, but look at his pale attempt to hold on.
[Baren can't ask Sanji to be his first mate.
That position's taken.
But to appeal to a pirate, why not borrow the words of a pirate?]