006↠ ACTION

[concasse]

[It's sunny. And hot. And perhaps not the best weather to take a nap in while you're unabashedly unconscious.

... Which is too bad, seeing as Sanji's passed out under a tree located at the village's edge - clothes dirty and ruffled, no doubt collecting more dirt as he rolls in his uncomfortable slumber, the crook of his arm covering his eyes.

Go on. Wake him up. Be a good Samaritan.



And hell, even if you don't, Sanji will eventually stumble upon you -- or into you, if that's your thing. Later in the day he'll be all over the village insisting he's fine, no he's not drunk so stop trying to escort him back to bed. B| He can walk it off.]





[ooc: MALLYNAP EFFECT. Touch him and your character will share a memory with Sanji. It can be a memory of his or a memory of your character's; just specify in the subject line what you prefer. |D Any memory is free game, and the scope of it is at our discretion, but keep in mind both characters will view it until the memory ends or they escape the "boundary". (Just imagine the memory as a bubble and if a character walks far enough for whatever reason, they pop it.) Also note they're still in Luceti - no teleporting anywhere. Just assume the characters are mostly slack-jawed and staring at a tree for the duration.

I also endorse all time-breaking. Tis but a flimsy wall in our way.]

Comments

[goldenglasses]

OW! [Vash rubs at his sore head.] I... I don't know. I was a bit drunk when she came up to me! [And indeed the vision is starting to get hazy as Vash attempts to flirt with a random female in the bar.

Of course... the way he's begging the vision to end it apparently is going to get worse. Probably soon too the way his begging has speed up.]

[allseeingdeath]

[ She knew where this was going. She knew, but she couldn't move. She stared at the body, barely noticing the man who had once appeared knocked out was already on his feet, scrambling to the body. She could hear him yell, as he went to the body, while she watched, finally finding the strength to get to her own feet. She still didn't move from her spot, instead just speaking softly, only loud enough for the man to hear. ]

She's not getting up.

[ What the hell was going on? ]

[Action]

[concasse]

[Somewhere down the line, Sanji's rigid glare climbs the last few inches against his will to stare at the spot where Richard's child self lay - now a smooth patch of dirt under the glaring sun - and he keeps it there when the memory vanishes. He's as eager to look at Richard as the king is to look at him. He didn't have any right to see this, and any apology would probably sound laughably shallow and pitying.

... But numbly standing while the silence stifles around them is a worse option. After a swallow, Sanji squares his shoulders back and lift his head. It's a step up, even if he has yet to fully look at the other]

You want me to leave you alone?

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

That is the kind of man my uncle was... a coward who would poison his own family, all for the sake of power.

[It's not an answer to the question and he knows that, yet at the same time he feels he owes Sanji at least some sort of explanation for the horrors he just witnessed. Even though he may have told Sanji what his uncle did, seeing it firsthand must have been jarring, Richard is sure. It's not something he should've had to see-- not something ANYONE should've had to see. But it's something that happened, and there's no point in trying to pretend it didn't. If Sanji is going to pity him for this, then so be it.]

[Action]

[concasse]

[No dice, Chopper. It's time for the Memory Roulette of Misery and Woe! Let's see what they've won, folks:

A deceptively simple and humble memory floods the scene. There's a small occupied bed nestled in the corner, the occupant's snores occasionally loud enough to vibrate the walls, and as the seconds tick by with no hint of activity, Sanji starts to hope that's all this is.

The creak of a door and the subtle pitter-patter of a ten-year-old's feet are what dash that futile wish. The boy doesn't approach the bed too quickly. Even as shaken and lonely as he feels, his chest too full from the night's unshed tears, he eyes the bed with a certain amount of discontent while standing in the middle of the room until he works out a compromise: he slides to the foot of the bed, hunches over with his arms drawn tight around his knees, and sits there.

Just sits there.

... Just sits there.]

[Action]

[concasse]

[Sanji had expected a demand and maybe a few vicious words, with Perona escaping his grasp and working to avoid him from here on out - all of which he would've respected in his guilt. And while the real targets of her hatred are hardly a surprise, it doesn't lessen the visible reaction on the chef's part; how his eyes grow large and his mouth twitches a little low, all accompanied by a wordless nod.

Still, his shock does not substitute concern for long. All at once Sanji's eyebrows knit back in place, looking carefully at the girl]

Will you be alright?

[concasse]

I know~! At this rate Elicia-chan's gonna be taller than me!

[concasse]

[... Sanji really hates when this happens, when Zoro's so clearly right and he's so clearly wrong. He'd kick him if it weren't likely he'd keel over from the effort. All he can do is "Tch!" in defiance while stalking after the swordsman - stumbling, and that punches even more holes into his pride. He mumbles threats under his breath to compensate...

But his heart isn't in it, that much is clear. True annoyance and anger are beyond him, because they're too busy being aimed at himself. The most he can manage is a mask and let that suffice as he picks his way through the trees, eventually having to stop and catch his breath against one]

[concasse]

[Not the reaction he'd wanted to hear. For a second Sanji forgets himself, and just glares desperately over his shoulder while he attempts to turn the body over]

We can still--! [And then he stops. The next words die in his throat. Confusion flutters over his features when he turns his attention back down, at the girl his hands have just slide through like a projection.

She's not real.]

[concasse]

[Well in that case, Sanji is going to have his foot at the ready. Vash is giving him all kinds of reasons to take his bad mood out on him.

And believe you him, he is watching that scene carefully. B| What did you do, Vash?]

[concasse]

... You were thinking of Kida, weren't you?

[goldenglasses]

[Past some rather embrassing flirting that utterly ends in failure, not much happens in the bar.

It's when the memory suddenly and jarringly changes it's location in the blink of an eye does Vash TRULY panic.]

Oh CRAP!

[Sanji has about two seconds to take in the fact that they've suddenly been teleported into the room Nami called home during the experiment. Not only that, but there's Nami herself! Getting dressed.

The reason he has about only two uninterpreted seconds is Vash is going to try to stand in the way of his viewing the scene before he gets another kick to the head.]

HEYYYY! How about we just sit down, shut our eyes, and just wait for all this to end! What do you say!

[allseeingdeath]

[ The man's hand reached for the girl on the ground, herself, but...instead of making contact, simply passed through her. She could hear footsteps behind her of the boy, who himself simply passed through her, like she wasn't there. The stare on her face slowly began to melt, giving away to a glare.

This was another one of the Malnosso's tricks, wasn't it? Her eyes flashed, changing from their dull black color to bright blue and violet, her head shearing with pain as she concentrated on her surroundings. ]

This is... [ Lines, resembling gashes, covered everything in sight. They seemed like they were everywhere. With a final flash, her eyes reverted back to normal, as she grabbed her head. Dammit, what was going on? She looked towards the man. ]

This...isn't real. [ As if the projection like bodies didn't tip him off already. She walked closer to him. ]

This is my home. [ It was supposed to be. Her voice got quieter as she motioned to the girl on the ground, who the young man from earlier was panicking over, now running in the opposite direction, no doubt to get help. ]

And that was me.

[Action]

[deathsdoctor]

You too.

[And Sanji goes, and Law stays where he is for long moments, watching his retreating back.

And then he goes forward. No looking back.]

[action]

[concasse]

[What he'll see, Sanji isn't sure of at first. But with the bell's piercing ring, the vines holding the girl burst loose and set her free. A woman in pink - the wielder of the bell - smiles on when the girl finally holds up her staff, takes her last chance, and the sky seems to tremble as it gains a new form.

She holds up a card and strikes it with her new weapon - Wind, entrap the one standing yonder! WINDY!. And at first Sanji is as dubious as Yue's past self, who has made no efforts to retreat. His eyes glow... and then in the same second, widen when the realization hits and the air bowls over his form, trapping him; the wind is no longer under his command.

He's lost this battle.]

[concasse]

Yeah... [She'll have to excuse his lackluster response; though he tries to hide it, Sanji can't help but flick his gaze over her head and at the shifting scene - another Baratie memory, from the looks of it. And at first glance he's grateful; while he didn't have the happiest childhood, it was by no means bad or traumatizing save one incident, and that's not the memory playing.

Then he sees himself at twelve years old, a plate in hand, on his way to serve a customer. He guesses this must've been one of those times they were low on waiters. Still pretty harmless as far as the past goes. Feeling secure, he adjusts his attention to alert Nami of the situation... or he tries, before the air catches in his throat and he stiffens in realization. No.

This is not a safe memory.

The scene skips. One moment the boy is standing at the table, and the next, crouched over on the floor where an overturned plate of food lies discarded. A man is jeering at him. Give it another second and then Sanji screams back - and his voice quickly overpowers the adult in terms of disgust and hatred. One more second, and a fight has broken out, feet and arms flying and striking anything they come into contact with, teeth latching down and tearing at skin. The wiser customers have moved back; the unwise linger close and whisper and point until a man Nami might recognize thunders through the crowd and breaks up the brawl with a well-timed kick to Sanji's torso.

More skipping. Now they're in the main kitchen. An injured Sanji is slouched against the wall, arms wrapped around his legs and face buried in his knees. He doesn't move, not even when footsteps approach and a gruff, oddly subdued voice tells him to get cleaned up. Don't come back downstairs and start shit with the customers anymore. You can't keep doing this.

... Go to bed, Sanji.]

[action]

[hiken_ace]

[... you better not fall, Sanji, because he knows he'll grab you, He will, however, walk beside you on the way home in case you need anything. So, don't mind him.]

Okay.

[concasse]

[Both his home and Luceti have shown Sanji their share of impossible happenings, so even when this girl motions at the body and tells him what can't possibly be the truth... he believes her. He can see it for himself, after all - the girls look exactly alike.

Is this an experiment, then? Still unsteady and unsettled, the chef climbs to his feet and stares at one of his upturned hands, then suspiciously at the surroundings. This isn't his prison. This girl wouldn't be here, otherwise.]

... So this is-- we're in some projection of the past? [He says this slowly, not completely sold on the idea]

[action]

[concasse]

[Good. Sanji relaxes once he stops perceiving Ace as hovering too close. It's about now that it really hits him - he's back. No more shitty prisons and experiments and shit he'd rather not remember. He takes a deep breath of the warm air and lets it out again, calmed by the thought]

I miss anything?

[Action]

[concasse]

[It's hard to know what Sanji is thinking in regards to that. Besides a small, displeasured "tch" under his breath, his expression is, for the most part, smooth and under control again. He already made it clear that Richard's uncle had his death coming; there's no point in repeating those sentiments.]

... Is that why, then? [Rather abruptly, Sanji's eyes scan Richard's uncomfortably thin figure.] You don't eat much?

[concasse]

[Nooo Azusa. Don't offer him anything right now. In fact, Sanji's intent is to brush the hand away and warn of her the dangers that come with touching any part of him right now... except a second too late, he realizes that batting her hand away still counts as a touch]

Shit-- [Please don't let it be a bad memory] Azusa-chan, I'm sorry!

[ooc: I am fine with lighthearted \8D/ lmfao Sanji could probably use one of those anyway. >> Plus he'd love to see her performing, so if you're game for it, I am /o/]

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[There's a decidedly bitter edge to that sad little smile Richard gives in response. That's also why he won't eat anything that isn't prepared by someone he trusts, as Gilbert found out when he tried to coax Richard into eating some of Elliot's birthday cake.]

The less I ate, the smaller the chance of any poison I received being fatal.

[For Richard, food was always something to be viewed with suspicion, consumed only because it was necessary for life; even now, with no threat of poison, his appetite still remains very slight and mercurial as a result of years of (rightful) paranoia. It doesn't take much stress-wise to make him lose it entirely.]

action; >]

[concasse]

[In the face of Lestrade's discomfort, Sanji remains oddly impassive, a grim sort of acknowledgement handled in his one visible eye. He doesn't loosen his grip, and eventually just shakes his head.

Very clearly, it's the answer to that unspoken question. No, not a damn thing we can do.

A fact that might be hard to swallow, when the air cracks with a sudden, pained yelp. The boy goes flying backwards through a wall, rubble and debris cluttered all around him, and the pirates jeer in delight at the night's entertainment. Only the pirate captain seems unfazed. But the hooting and hollering ceases in surprise; he should be unconscious, yet the boy has somehow managed to crawl out from the rubble, a bloody mess... only to stupidly clamp his teeth around the captain's boot with all the strength his boyhood rage will allow him.

"I'm not gonna die... I'm gonna find All Blue one day!"

... And then the laughter begins anew.

"Whoo! All Blue, he said?!"

"What an stupid goal!"

"Tell 'em, Captain! We've been all around the Grand Line and never saw it! That place doesn't exist!"]

[Action] /SOBBU 1/2

[concasse]

[What is with this shaking? Any harder and his head might pop off!]

[mythmaker]

[So, the world is spinning. Before Sanji's words even register, one of Azusa's most treasured memories is starting to show itself. At first, it's sound and voices of the lighting and music crew. When the memory finishes forming, Sanji and Azusa are somewhere dark. There's a bright light to their left...a stage.

But Azusa recognizes the music. Instead of freaking out over what's going on, she looks around. They're backstage.]

Sorry...? Sanji, this is Smoky Thrill. Why would that be playing?

[The music starts and stops occasionally, the volume being adjusted. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around...at the moment.]

[ooc; Roger! o7 He'll get a backstage pass, then.]