Week 5 | Wednesday

[concasse]

[But really, what could be more precious to a nicotine addict than a fresh carton of cigarettes?

And it's his favorite brand! Even knowing about the bullshit memory thing going on, this is not a chance Sanji is about to pass on.

Hence why he's standing on his kitchen counters (HIM. ON HIS PRECIOUS COUNTERS), reaching up on tip toe to snatch the cigarettes that peek over the very top of the shelf]

C'mon... almost got it...!

Comments

[selfinserting]

[Evan, meanwhile, notices the bubble immediately, backing away from the edge with a nervous look.]

Um, S-Sanji, you might want to, to look at this...!

[concasse]

-- Eh?

[Swerving his head now that the cigarettes are safely in his pocket, and... oh.

... Oooh.

Pirates don't really do well in enclosed spaces, okay! His first instinct is to kick and not stop until they bust out, but before he can even manage that, the sphere of the bubble changes scenery, much like a movie.

It's a large room with white walls and only one door, steel-like and obviously meant to keep people from escaping. Inside the room sit a couple of people -- a beautiful, orange-haired woman, a baby reindeer with a hat, a huge, towering cyborg, and -- as it's playing from his perspective -- Sanji, who is surveying everything.

Their discussion makes it obvious that they've been captured, their ship sprayed with sleeping gas. Sanji sounds particularly pissed about this, but then the room explodes into gasps and shouts when they discover...

A man's head! Absolutely no body. Except not only is this head talking, it's been split into eight pieces like the world's most gruesome jigsaw puzzle, and the crew is forced to piece it together.

Yep.]

[selfinserting]

[Well, that happened.

As the memory unfolds, Evan looks on in confusion until he realizes what's going on. It all seems strange to him - the reindeer, the cyborg, the sleeping gas... But all that is forgotten about in an instant when they come across that disfigured, talking head.

While the memory goes on, Evan just. Puts his hands over his face, looking as though he's going to be sick. Muttered with growing horror:]

Ohhhhh my god I'm never becoming a pirate, why.

[concasse]

[Honestly?

Sanji is watching this all as if slightly bored. Apparently it's not a memory with a lot of tragedy to it, as he's not pale from fury.

He'll reach over and pat Evan on the shoulder]

I'd say shit like that doesn't happen all the time, but it kinda does.

[Stay in school, don't be a pirate.

But the memory continues. During this, there's an explosion as men in full body suits rush the room and the cyborg literally fires a laser beam at them, also destroying part of a wall. There are calls to Sanji to leave the head... but he seems unable to, for some reason.

He bends in front of the head -- a samurai's head, apparently -- and asks him what he wants]

I came to this island looking for my son! And I'll cut everyone who stands in my way!

[The silence is tense (as tense as it can be in the middle of a battle) until the chef sighs and pointedly picks up the head, calling back to his crew]

He's coming with us! Don't worry, I'll take responsibility!

[selfinserting]

[All of this is still... completely bizarre, but with the shock value wearing off as the memory continues, Evan only asks another basic question here.]

...Do I, um, want to know he's still alive...?

[concasse]

He's alive.

[Watching the scene as it slowly fades. What a strange memory to be throwing out...]

We found the rest of his body, too.

Got it stuck underwater, the idiot.

[selfinserting]

Okay, but like... How? That doesn't seem like something that—

[There's a pause, though, while he's distracted by the fact that something else is happening in the bubble. Another memory begins (and ends at 16:23), and his eyes widen slightly as he places what it is they're seeing. He sucks in a surprised breath, and in contrast to how he talked during Sanji's, here he seems... frozen as it goes on, especially when the other boy in the memory comes into the room.

He looks as though he's seen a ghost.]

[concasse]

[Sanji would answer that question, except, uh -- memory. A really dramatic memory that even manages to catch a pirate chef off-guard. People say Sanji has an explosive temper, and they're not wrong, but in his opinion that's nothing compared to the raw emotion of teenagers when they either got something to hide or when they think they're right.

When the scene ends, Sanji slowly turns his head to Evan and just... raises an eyebrow]

Who is Zoe?

[selfinserting]

[It takes him a moment to decide how to answer that.]

...Back then, or now?

[concasse]

[... Head tilting with some measure of concern]

Back then.

[selfinserting]

...A girl at school that I didn't know very well.

[A small shrug.]

Why?

[concasse]

I don't know, her brother seemed really pissed off about something.

So I wondered who she used to be.

[selfinserting]

[He nods.]

Connor was... It wasn't, wasn't really hard to make him angry, I don't think.

[concasse]

... She passed away, I assume, right?

[As if to say, that's probably part of the reason for that level of rage]

[selfinserting]

Oh, no. No, Zoe's still alive. But Connor...

[He pauses, trying to figure out the best way to explain this. He didn't know him, but based on what he's heard afterwards from the rest of his family...]

He... had a lot of problems with anger, and controlling it. I think that he thought people were out to get him all the time, because... He didn't get along too well with most people. He didn't really have any friends. So - I think he suspected the worst of everyone, maybe...? And when he realized I, I wrote something about his sister, he might have thought... I was trying to mess with him.

[concasse]

[oof. There is no word that sums that up better than "teenagers"]

Yeah, he didn't seem like the type who was gonna listen to anything you had to say.

[In that sense, Sanji's in Evan's court. He didn't deserve getting yelled at like that. That said--]

But... I thought you didn't know his sister? Or did you two become friends, and that's why you wrote a letter.

[selfinserting]

The letter was... an assignment, kind of, to help me get better at - talking about how I felt. [He gets that out of the way first.] But Zoe, um... I didn't know her well, back then. We'd, um, we'd run into each other in the halls sometimes? But I'm not really - good with people. Which, um, which probably isn't a surprise. So we didn't talk much, but - back then, I always kind of wished we would. Which is why I, um, I wrote that in the letter.

[But.]

But we, um, we actually started dating a few days before I came here, though. So.

[concasse]

-- Oh, congrats to that!

[He honestly thought Evan was dating Veronica so HIS BAD. Still, look at Evan. He's got more guts in all departments than Sanji would've ever figured.]

You got someone waiting back for you at home, then.

[selfinserting]

...Thanks.

[And then he smiles, fond and sincere.]

Zoe's... She's really great. I'm really lucky.

[concasse]

Damn right. Make sure to treat her well.

[it seems like Evan will, however, so he just grins broadly instead]

... Shit's tough, but I'm sure you'll make it to the finish line.

[selfinserting]

I will. And... Yeah. We just, just have to make it through this.

[He's curious, though, and it feels impolite not to ask in return after this.]

Do you, um, have anyone like that back home?

[concasse]

[...]

Aa, yeah. I got a fiance!

[Evan might not have ever seen Sanji being wild around ladies, but even still, his reaction is fairly... neutered. Doesn't even reach his eyes.]

[selfinserting]

[A pause, because he isn't sure if this is prying, but... That reaction is fairly telling.]

Is that a good thing...?