[ the instinct to snap back not to call him that is strong, because "dr. trafalgar" makes him think of his parents — but that is what he will have to be here, to the locals, so he might as well get used to it.
so, ]
Considering I've had exactly two patients so far, I wouldn't bother.
Just let me know when you're coming. And make that within the next three days. I don't want Mr. Chief of Staff after my head because you've skipped your appointment.
What about right now? I finished my work for today.
[ To be fair, he absolutely says what he does to get a rise out of Law. They've never really met ( there was no reason to ), but being that the guy saved Luffy's life — it's opened him up to the fond hazing of not just one, but both of his big brothers. Sabo is the feral one, but Ace was definitely the rambunctious one. ]
[ and oh, he can sort of guess — ace treats him like he's friends with the straw hats, like his teasing is tinged with the kind of fondness he absolutely shouldn't have, and it annoys him as much as it reminds him achingly of shachi and penguin, and so in the end he just lets it be.
well. lets some of it be, because excuse you, ]
Of course I could. Normally. But my devil fruit isn't working as it should, here. I can't Awaken it at all, for one, and I needed that against Big Mom. Something tells me I would need it against your... what is he, actually? Your brother, your guard dog or your boyfriend?
[ ace may play at being nice, but law will not. it's a test of sorts: he's often rude on purpose, simply for this... to see.
( hey, captain, there's no reason to try and make people hate you on purpose! have you considered, dunno, being nice for once? says shachi in his head. law, says a deeper voice, you don't have to keep pushing people away. it's not a weakness to care for people, and be cared for in return!
shut up, law tells them both resolutely, and wonders if he should be treating himself, for having conversations with people not even in the fucking same world with him.) ]
Yeah, mine either! I can't make my whole body fire now, for one. I can make contact with the water without becoming totally weak. And Sabo has the same Fruit! Did you ever have Haki, though? It's working a-okay for me, so far. But, I was never good at using it. I got too reliant on my Mera Mera, really.
I believe the Augmenter is dampening the effect of the devil fruit, both the good and the bad. But because haki is different, that seems to work just fine.
[ so, yes, he has it and can use it normally.
also, ]
If you say so. [ it wasn't a joke... he lets out a sigh. so that's how it is, then. if he were a better person he'd feel just a little bit bad for sabo. ]
Yes, I can't imagine growing up with him was anything but stressful. [ he had like ten mental breakdowns within the first three days of the alliance. he doesn't even want to think about luffy as a child. what a nightmare. ]
You wouldn't think it, because of how readily he makes friends and gets close to people — but he was. He just needed someone to love him. I wasn't able to do it at first, but I learned to.
[ to that last message, there is no response — but there is the world around ace turning blue for a moment, as if a film passes over him —
and then he is no longer standing outside, but in the middle of a doctor's office, law sitting near a desk, an examination table pushed against the wall, a door to his left and another at ace's back, both of them closed. ]
Fire Fist, [ he says as a greeting, glancing at the open folder on his desk. ] I told them we need privacy, but they will be privy to any notes I make. I assume you are fine with this?
[ Luffy having his crew was the only reason Ace didn't fight harder to survive, after Akainu tore a hole through him. Knowing that he'd miss out on everything to come, but that Luffy — his lonely, lonely little brother — wasn't going to be alone anymore was enough to soothe the bulk of his anguish. Ace lets that part of the conversation go, with the enveloping blue light that surrounds him and whisks him from the outdoors to the middle of Law's office. ]
— wow! You know, I've heard of your Devil Fruit, but I never thought I'd end up manhandled by it like that!
[ There was little reason for Commander Portgas D. Ace and Supernova Trafalgar Law to meet, since Law wasn't targeting Emperors — and Ace was heavily preoccupied with hunting Teach down, rather than putting the rookies through their paces ( and poaching the ones in need of family ) on behalf of Whitebeard. It's not the first time he's ever seen Law in person, but. It's the first time he's really studying up on the guy. He's really lanky. He also has a great hat. #hatpirates ]
That's fine with me. I'm not trying to hide anything — [ liar, he's trying to hide certain things from certain people; from himself, even ] especially if your findings might help the other Augmented. I'm sure I'm not the only one going through this, so I'll do whatever you say.
I thought you'd prefer it, [ he says laconically, meaning that he'd prefer it to having to make small talk with the patho-gen people he'd run into on the way to his office... but then, ace is friendly. perhaps he'd have liked the talks.
for a moment, he tips his head to the side and looks at ace, expression impassive, eyes sharp and assessing; he'd looked back when they first met, too, but not this carefully. back then, ace had been straw hat's dead brother, but now he is portgas d. ace, his patient. there is a marked difference. ]
That'd be a first, [ he mutters in response to I'll do whatever you say, and then says, a little louder, ] Everyone is hiding something.
[ with that cheerful note, he stands up, grabs his sword. ]
I will start with a scan. It should show if anything is immediately wrong.
[ I thought you'd prefer it, is — to him — a great kindness. Ace is friendly, for sure, but even he can be worn down when things spiral rapidly out of his control. He doesn't know when he became such a good liar ( or worse yet, when people actually believed him when he said everything was good, he was okay, he wasn't anything but at the top of his game ), but it's not often anymore than he feels someone cut down to the core of what he's hiding. Law's a thoughtful person, he thinks, as he sits down on one of the backless, round-cushioned chairs that he can reach with his toes. And deflates, quieter and darker-eyed than ever — even if the pupils have begun to pale, oddly. ]
Actually, yeah. And I'm not really hiding anything, I just don't know what's going on.
[ A partial lie. He has an idea, and doesn't want to believe it.
He widens his knees, dropping his hands between them to hold the round edge of his seat to act as a brace as he spins back and forth in a shallow arc. Rocking, as if on a ship. There's no fight in him, even as Law advances with Kikoku in hand — as if he's already decided to trust everything to him. ( He has. ) ]
[ he would protest the thought if he knew it, of course — thoughtful isn't something most people would describe him as, at least those outside of his own crew, and he yelled at ikkaku about that once and they've never brought it up in his face since... but it isn't exactly wrong.
and so he watches ace sit there, quiet and somehow devoid of the life patho-gen have breathed back into him, and he thinks it is wrong, wrong, wrong — ]
Scan, [ he says, to distract himself. to focus on something else than the fact fire fist trusts him enough to not so much as tense up.
what his ability tells him freezes his blood in his veins. ]
That's... [ it is as if ace's body is decaying from the inside out, as if the shell of him is alive while his insides have realised they should be dead and are on the way there, rapidly, for absolutely no discernible reason law can see. ]
[ If someone can confirm "it", without frills or pity, he suspects it would be Law. It's not that Ace doesn't want for comfort ( he craves it, actually ), it's that right now — he would rather have something clinical, precise. Something he can hold onto that won't drop him into the sudden throb of dread-despair-doom that claws at his chest and up his throat. It's not in his head, it's real. It's real, and inescapable. Someone else can see it, see him. SEE HIM.
The temperature in the room drops, a few degrees. A cold chill beginning to rise, radiating from the epicenter where he's sitting — ramrod straight, still. His eyes aglow, suddenly and violently, as if something eerie is watching from the darkness. Observing, like a predator. His Natural Soul is rotting him from the inside out, and in the silence, where it usually lies quiet and subtle, it is clearly unhappy with being perceived. Ace's figure seems to fade slightly, eager to become nothing. His face, slowly melting into something formless, something threatening: a singular presence that ought to evoke the urge to flee, freeze, cower against a simmering, stomach-clenching dread aura.
His voice both rasps like a corpse, and sounds like his throat is full of blood. ]
[ there is a chill in the air. a part of law expects to see snow falling, his breath curling in tendrils of fog in front of him; but there is nothing, nothing but the otherworldly glow of fire fist's eyes, as if his eyes have themselves burst into flame.
as the edges of him fade and flicker, as all expression melts from his face until all is left but those fire-bright eyes, burning dots in the quiet room, law feels the cold seep into his bones, coil in the marrow until his breath freezes in his lungs, until his veins bleed the same kind of fear he'd felt every single day for thirteen years —
but he is an expert, in fear. in pushing through it. in feeling it, and speaking regardless. ]
You, [ he responds, his mouth tilting up into a smile, a sharp and cutting thing. ] How interesting. You're killing him — but I suppose you'd know that. [ you. something separate from what makes up the soul of portgas d. ace, the man he has never once heard anyone say anything bad about. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
countershocks) wrote2020-06-29 04:08 pm
no subject
so, ]
Considering I've had exactly two patients so far, I wouldn't bother.
Just let me know when you're coming. And make that within the next three days. I don't want Mr. Chief of Staff after my head because you've skipped your appointment.
no subject
[ To be fair, he absolutely says what he does to get a rise out of Law. They've never really met ( there was no reason to ), but being that the guy saved Luffy's life — it's opened him up to the fond hazing of not just one, but both of his big brothers. Sabo is the feral one, but Ace was definitely the rambunctious one. ]
You couldn't take Sabo????
no subject
[ and oh, he can sort of guess — ace treats him like he's friends with the straw hats, like his teasing is tinged with the kind of fondness he absolutely shouldn't have, and it annoys him as much as it reminds him achingly of shachi and penguin, and so in the end he just lets it be.
well. lets some of it be, because excuse you, ]
Of course I could. Normally. But my devil fruit isn't working as it should, here. I can't Awaken it at all, for one, and I needed that against Big Mom. Something tells me I would need it against your... what is he, actually? Your brother, your guard dog or your boyfriend?
[ ace may play at being nice, but law will not. it's a test of sorts: he's often rude on purpose, simply for this... to see.
( hey, captain, there's no reason to try and make people hate you on purpose! have you considered, dunno, being nice for once? says shachi in his head. law, says a deeper voice, you don't have to keep pushing people away. it's not a weakness to care for people, and be cared for in return!
shut up, law tells them both resolutely, and wonders if he should be treating himself, for having conversations with people not even in the fucking same world with him.) ]
1/2
Yeah, mine either! I can't make my whole body fire now, for one. I can make contact with the water without becoming totally weak. And Sabo has the same Fruit! Did you ever have Haki, though? It's working a-okay for me, so far. But, I was never good at using it. I got too reliant on my Mera Mera, really.
no subject
Boyf,
riend????????? ]
You have a weird sense of humor, doc. He's intense, but brothers are like that! Luffy was our little bro, after all.
no subject
[ so, yes, he has it and can use it normally.
also, ]
If you say so. [ it wasn't a joke... he lets out a sigh. so that's how it is, then. if he were a better person he'd feel just a little bit bad for sabo. ]
Yes, I can't imagine growing up with him was anything but stressful. [ he had like ten mental breakdowns within the first three days of the alliance. he doesn't even want to think about luffy as a child. what a nightmare. ]
1/...... sorry
no subject
3/3
You wouldn't think it, because of how readily he makes friends and gets close to people — but he was. He just needed someone to love him. I wasn't able to do it at first, but I learned to.
I'm here btw 🔥🔥🔥
1/2
[ a minute. two. three, ]
He seems to have enough people for that now.
2/2 > action
and then he is no longer standing outside, but in the middle of a doctor's office, law sitting near a desk, an examination table pushed against the wall, a door to his left and another at ace's back, both of them closed. ]
Fire Fist, [ he says as a greeting, glancing at the open folder on his desk. ] I told them we need privacy, but they will be privy to any notes I make. I assume you are fine with this?
no subject
— wow! You know, I've heard of your Devil Fruit, but I never thought I'd end up manhandled by it like that!
[ There was little reason for Commander Portgas D. Ace and Supernova Trafalgar Law to meet, since Law wasn't targeting Emperors — and Ace was heavily preoccupied with hunting Teach down, rather than putting the rookies through their paces ( and poaching the ones in need of family ) on behalf of Whitebeard. It's not the first time he's ever seen Law in person, but. It's the first time he's really studying up on the guy. He's really lanky. He also has a great hat. #hatpirates ]
That's fine with me. I'm not trying to hide anything — [ liar, he's trying to hide certain things from certain people; from himself, even ] especially if your findings might help the other Augmented. I'm sure I'm not the only one going through this, so I'll do whatever you say.
no subject
for a moment, he tips his head to the side and looks at ace, expression impassive, eyes sharp and assessing; he'd looked back when they first met, too, but not this carefully. back then, ace had been straw hat's dead brother, but now he is portgas d. ace, his patient. there is a marked difference. ]
That'd be a first, [ he mutters in response to I'll do whatever you say, and then says, a little louder, ] Everyone is hiding something.
[ with that cheerful note, he stands up, grabs his sword. ]
I will start with a scan. It should show if anything is immediately wrong.
no subject
Actually, yeah. And I'm not really hiding anything, I just don't know what's going on.
[ A partial lie. He has an idea, and doesn't want to believe it.
He widens his knees, dropping his hands between them to hold the round edge of his seat to act as a brace as he spins back and forth in a shallow arc. Rocking, as if on a ship. There's no fight in him, even as Law advances with Kikoku in hand — as if he's already decided to trust everything to him. ( He has. ) ]
no subject
and so he watches ace sit there, quiet and somehow devoid of the life patho-gen have breathed back into him, and he thinks it is wrong, wrong, wrong — ]
Scan, [ he says, to distract himself. to focus on something else than the fact fire fist trusts him enough to not so much as tense up.
what his ability tells him freezes his blood in his veins. ]
That's... [ it is as if ace's body is decaying from the inside out, as if the shell of him is alive while his insides have realised they should be dead and are on the way there, rapidly, for absolutely no discernible reason law can see. ]
no subject
The temperature in the room drops, a few degrees. A cold chill beginning to rise, radiating from the epicenter where he's sitting — ramrod straight, still. His eyes aglow, suddenly and violently, as if something eerie is watching from the darkness. Observing, like a predator. His Natural Soul is rotting him from the inside out, and in the silence, where it usually lies quiet and subtle, it is clearly unhappy with being perceived. Ace's figure seems to fade slightly, eager to become nothing. His face, slowly melting into something formless, something threatening: a singular presence that ought to evoke the urge to flee, freeze, cower against a simmering, stomach-clenching dread aura.
His voice both rasps like a corpse, and sounds like his throat is full of blood. ]
— yeah? What do you see, Trafalgar?
no subject
as the edges of him fade and flicker, as all expression melts from his face until all is left but those fire-bright eyes, burning dots in the quiet room, law feels the cold seep into his bones, coil in the marrow until his breath freezes in his lungs, until his veins bleed the same kind of fear he'd felt every single day for thirteen years —
but he is an expert, in fear. in pushing through it. in feeling it, and speaking regardless. ]
You, [ he responds, his mouth tilting up into a smile, a sharp and cutting thing. ] How interesting. You're killing him — but I suppose you'd know that. [ you. something separate from what makes up the soul of portgas d. ace, the man he has never once heard anyone say anything bad about. ]