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

[action]

[hiken_ace]

Mn... [He pauses for a bit to think. Considering he doesn't exactly know when Sanji left, that's a bit difficult.]

When did you leave?

[Action]

[concasse]

[That's the reason you're half-starving yourself?

Anyone else would smile sympathetically, understanding, give him a hug or a pat on the shoulder. Sanji? He scowls as though he's just been insulted, turns his head away, and then swallows back the flood that threatens to push past his lips.

Don't do it, chef. At least be fair about this.]

... When's the last time you really ate? [The words are picked with slow deliberation, and there's an unspoken weight to the question; he's asking Richard to give him the truth, knowing it might upset him]

[action]

[winged_moon]

[Yue's wings curve forward slightly as he watches, perhaps unconsciously shielding himself from a memory or at least Sanji's watching eyes. Though he's done his best to hide his reaction thus far, it becomes more apparent to anyone who might be paying attention that he's distinctly uncomfortable now, whether at the memory itself or the fact that another is witness to it, it's all the same.]

...it is over. Should we not return now?

[However this works, he has no idea, but assumes it must be by Malnosso contrivance. Perhaps Sanji knows. Perhaps neither one of them knows and they'll be trapped in his memories forever, but Yue rather doubts that one. Whatever the means, though, he wants out of this and away.]

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[The silence that follows is a long one, not because Richard is deliberately being stubborn, but rather because he quite literally can't remember the last time he ate a full, proper meal. Oh, he eats, but that's mostly due to the fact that he has housemates who would become suspicious if he didn't-- indeed, Isamu has already started to pick up on this fact. But his idea of "eating" has for weeks been "picking at his food just enough to make it look like he's eaten more than he already has."

He can't answer this question honestly and he knows it.]

[action] I COME BEARING A RELATIVELY HAPPY PAO-MEMORY

[i_am_not_cute]

[With losing her sense of taste upon being resurrected from her death, she hasn't had much motivation to attend Sanji's cooking classes or to even eat at Seventh Heaven, so Pao-Lin hasn't seen the guy in a while. When she sees him hobbling around the village, she's definitely worried. Hero to the rescue! She quickly scurries over to him.]

Sanji!

[markofthebrave]

[Not on purpose.

I wasn't when I came over here, I don't know what--]

You saw that?

[She's not even blushing yet.

Oh man.

This was so beyond humiliating.]

[toujoursfluer]

I hope so.

[And a hand blossoms from the wall as if to straighten your shirt, but then she thinks better of it and it disappears]

Promise me you won't let this place get you down. No matter what happens.

[She smiles faintly]

At least not for long.

...keywords

[mikangirl]

[Nami misses the very start of the memory, still blinking at Sanji and dredging up a welcome-home smile from somewhere. It's when he stiffens, staring somewhere over her head that Nami sits up and turns her head sharply, expecting anything from droids to bleeding crewmates.

She's not expecting to see Sanji as a child. Fresh out of sleep she doesn't quite register what's going on. Her gaze flicks back to her Sanji again, a puzzled look on her face. Maybe she's dreaming. Which would mean he's not back yet, but...

...this doesn't feel right.

And then the screaming starts and her full attention is on the memory before her, mouth agape as she watches the fight, frozen on the bed. And she does recognise Zeff, but she's not privy to his relationship with Sanji the way Luffy is... so when he kicks Sanji, she's kind of surging off the bed.]

Hey!

[...of course, the memory carries right on despite that, and she's left lost in confusion and sympathy for that lost little figure. She doesn't understand. Not the scene -- that's clear enough. But why she's seeing it.]

Sanji-kun...?

[Hard to tell if she's addressing that to the child in the kitchen or the man in the bed, really.]

action;

[consultsdetective]

[ That would be the case, wouldn't it? Big man, tossing a kid around and Jesus Christ, through the bleeding wall (shit is the proper term, he's thinking, probably the best word to summarize, and he's offering the term to share before he can quite help himself). And nothing for interfering. He bites down on the inside of his cheek for the extra assistance in not mentioning it, any of it, for manners' sake and his dignity as a relatively clean-mouthed professional. Much as a nice round of jeering might be therapeutic.

He's got a career in finding out about things that have happened, getting history and answers, it could definitely be said. He's seen the aftermath of some of the worst things humanity has to offer, spoken with the perpetrators face to face. People will do whatever they please, it's what he's come to understand.

But this sort of thing... it's an invasion, isn't it? Not his business to be finding out, broken walls and All Blue and stubbornly biting boots for lack of any other way to fight back. Wouldn't take a genius to figure this isn't something Sanji made a plan on broadcasting.

And it's just plain hard to watch, besides, but it's not like things along these lines are ever easy. Lestrade presses his mouth into a thin line, grinds his teeth, and respectfully (a little selfishly) turns his face away. A real point of interest, the ship decks of other worlds. ]

[Action]

[gumgumboobies]

No, no! I just finally realized how good healthy foods taste!

[Yeah. She's obviously not herself.]

[Action]

[doubleppk]

[A wry grin and she blushes a little herself. Too cute. Oh and that question... well, Fujiko will just lie.]

Yes! I came looking for you as soon as I could. Work's no fun without you around~. Are you all right? Did the Malnosso do anything horrible?

[You know, aside from making your memories visible to her, because she's not going to say anything about that, in case he thinks she's crazy. And also because maybe it'll be fun and useful this way.]

[allseeingdeath]

[ She nods. She wasn't sure how any of this was happening right now, but...she'd been here long enough to know the Malnosso were capable of anything, anything in the way of experimenting with them. The pain in her head subsiding, she looked to him. ]

I can't explain it any other way. [ It was like she was thrown back through her own memory. ]

I...don't know how it happened either. [ She looked to the girl, then back to him. She wasn't going to dwell on this. ]

Since this isn't real, though, there should be a way out. [ She would cut one out herself, but she knew that would be impossible, with the pain the use of her eyes brought. She paused, before speaking softly. ]

Don't worry about what you saw. It was four years ago.

[action] 8DDD Sabooooooooo

[concasse]

[Whoops.

Well, there's an apology on the tip of Sanji's tongue when he nearly trips over the kid, followed quickly by a bolt of panic. He really doesn't know what he was thinking, walking around half-drugged in his state. The best he can manage now is a displeased growl not aimed at Sabo - no, it's aimed at the abruptly shifting scenery]

Shit, what now?

[The confusion doesn't stop there. At first, Sanji pulls the logical assumption this is one of his memories when he spots the familiar boy - it must be, if that boy is who he thinks it is.

... Then who's this other kid?]

... Luffy?

I am all for it /o/

[concasse]

[... Water?

Sanji scowls, partly because he isn't sure what this kid is getting at. He's not thirsty, no (though that doesn't change the fact he could stand some more liquid in his system), and so shakes his head while attempting to find a bench or a wall to drape himself on.]

Oi, I'm fine-- [If by fine, he means ready to fall over, then Sanji is all types of fine today]

[cooltrainer]

You look like you have heat stroke.

[He reaches into his fanny pack, pulling out a small water bottle.]

Here.

[Action] | There is no such thing as late, you know that. B| And yes /o/ Robert memory yay!

[concasse]

[... Robert, you're short. This fact has never been made clearer to Sanji, whose head feels so high in the clouds it's like he needs a telescope to find you.

In other words, no, he is definitely not okay. But he'll blink off the signs and raise a hand in greeting] Yo, Robert. [How is his favorite, walking questionnaire doing?]

[action] lmfao he needs happy. B|

[concasse]

[Hearing that voice, Sanji's reaction is markedly different. He turns, dazed and surprised, and then straightens in relieved delight]

Pao-Lin-chan! [There's a difference in logically knowing she must be back, and finally getting to see her.

... Even if this meeting is doomed to failure. Sanji's body can't handle its own excitement, and soon enough he's dizzy, winded and ready to keel over.]

[concasse]

Heat stroke...? [A muffled echo; Sanji's wiping down his face with his hand, and then glances blearily up] No, that's not it. Malnosso got to me.

[cooltrainer]

Fair enough.

[That water is still being offered!]

Take it.

[Action]

[failazure]

[It was the last thing she expected... or really, it was something she should have expected, because usually when this happens... that means...

Is she... going to see Sanji's memories?

But as the world around the two of them twists and melds, and Noel sees none other than herself and Ragna walking through the slums of Kagutsuchi, she quickly finds that it's not a memory of Sanji's but her own.

That's right. The first day of the new century, and it was stuck following Ragna around like a lost child. After the entire incident at the basement of the NOL branch... where everything began.

As night fell, and the two skulked around a rooftop, Ragna was the first of the two to speak up since what felt like forever.

"How long do you plan on hanging around? What did you say your name was... Noel?"

"Huh? Oh, yes. Um... I'm sorry."

"What's with the apology? You didn't do anything."

"I... I'm sorry..."

She couldn't help it. The morale she had previously with arresting the SS-class criminal Ragna the Bloodedge was... gone. Ever since she first laid eyes on him, she always felt so drawn to him. And maybe that's why she couldn't help but stand there like an idiot. Maybe that's why... even now...

"You don't have anything else to do here, right? ...you being here is really starting to get on my nerves."

"Ah..."

"Now what?"

"No, it's nothing. I just... thought we could talk for a while."

About anything. Maybe just... to get to know him better.

"Why would I waste my breath?"

Even hearing it again now, a pang of sadness hits her.

"Why do you have to talk that way...?"

In the memory, she averts her eyes from the man, clearly saddened by his words. Ragna continues regardless.

"Just go away."

...

"...okay. Ragna the Bloodedge, I will go this time, but when we meet each other again, it will be as enemies."

Without another word, she turn and left his as fast as her legs could take her. But even as the distance between the two of them grew wider and wider, she could still hear him-- "Don't ever come back!"

...and that was that.]

[concasse]

[Ugh. A good Samaritan. Well fine, Sanji will grab the water bottle if only so the kid will scram.

It's unfortunate that their fingers have to brush when he takes it, though. It's so subtle even the chef doesn't notice, but all assumptions that he avoided a memory confrontation fly out the window when their surroundings change]

[action]

[concasse]

Ha, you expect me to know? [They didn't stick a calendar in his room, that Sanji is sure of. He'll need a second to come to a rough estimate]

... Two weeks? Maybe three.

[cooltrainer]

[It's a short memory, and sort of vague from being such an old one. It's simply one of him fighting a Pokémon, under the supervision of his teacher. The man has a lesson to teach about the bonds between humans and Pokémon.

What Pokémon exactly Green is fighting isn't clear, and it's a very short little scene, ending with his master's voice calling "Take the sword, Green!"


Green is more than a little jolted by that experience, of course.]

[action]

[hiken_ace]

I sure as hell didn't know when you left. [Oh, only that long? he just shrugs.]

Not much, then. Just a shift. Everyone was affected in a different way. It didn't last that long, though. Maybe a week? It wasn't too horrible.

[... WAIT HOLD ON.] But be careful. Luffy... well, he was turned into a girl.

[concasse]

[Definitely not one of his memories then. His guilt-ridden expression aside, Sanji slowly pulls himself to his feet, eyes following the direction the music is coming from. He wills himself to relax]

It's a memory. [One of yours.] The Malnosso did some shit; anyone I come into contact with experiences a memory with me.