Rock Stacking at the River / Action & Picture

[justicereigns]

[Smoker might have gone a bit on a bender. One of those "everything is wrong, let's just drink into oblivion" kinds. Justice isn't what it ought to be, pirates are turning into heroes and even Smoker isn't as good at hunting through people's hearts as he thought. Vergo was adjusting his newspapers and Smoker didn't even catch on. That was why he needed Tashigi, and she wasn't here. So here in Luceti, Smoker couldn't tell enemy from from friend anymore. At least not on a grand scale. Malnosso? Third Party? Too many factions, too many wildcards. He thought he could just ignore those factions and focus on what was directly at hand, but that's becoming less and less of an option. Option? What options?]

[So he's drinking.]

[And you know what Smoker does when he drinks? He stacks rocks.]

[Sure, that sounds benign enough, but that would be a serious underestimation of Smoker's love for going overboard.]





Now this is what you can do with non-defective rocks! [He is just so proud.]

Comments

action

[justicereigns]

[He cranes his neck to each possible angle side to side.]

Maybe you're tilted.

[Yup.]

action

[toujoursfluer]

Perhaps. [she starts building a rock pile herself. Well, in a sense. Hands ferry the rocks into position but it's more the foundational structure of the beginning of an Alabastan tomb than anything. As she keeps an eye on the work, she sips the rum.]

What's the occasion?

action

[justicereigns]

[Close enough.]

[And Smoker gives a small barking laugh.] What isn't? [Like. Seriously. Oh wait, you wouldn't know as much of things he does.] Grell's gone home, no one is interested in training even though that whole shit with the Malnosso just reinforces the need for it and yet if I want a formal militia I have to start it.

And after Vergo I don't want to, but I don't trust anyone else to. [Lights up a pair of fresh cigars.] Except Daisy. [A snort.] Seems like a good day to drink.

[toujoursfluer]

[a slight pause. Smoker may feel a touch against his back that could possibly be a hand, or maybe a brush of the wind for it's gone the next instant]

I'm sorry about Grell. You were very close to her.

[she resumes building her temple]

It seems captivity has a way of grinding people down. Why fight when nothing much seems to come of it? An unlocked door here, a captured bot there--and in the end we are still as subject to their whims as ever.

[she picks up a small, curious shell and analyzes it before setting it on her lap]

And what has Vergo done? [She knows of him and has heard rumors of him that are less than stellar but--then again it's been a long time since she's heard rumors of anything. The threads of truth are growing too dim for her to pick out]

[justicereigns]

Tch. So I suppose we should all give up then?

Vergo was working for Joker all along and I never noticed. Even when it was right under my nose.

[toujoursfluer]

[she shrugs lightly]

Not everyone has your ambition. Or tenacity. [she finishes the base but is struggling to get higher. It's difficult to stack the stones just so without others falling and one small wall is already leaning in]

What's needed is something to look forward to. A symbol of hope...

[a straw hat resting over a bright sunshine grin]

[as for the information, though...it's fairly useless. Joker is not a name she knows. Though she has faint ideas of several they may be connected to]

I see...

[justicereigns]

[Snorts quietly.]

I don't do hope. I barely even recognize it when I see it.

[toujoursfluer]

But you have seen it. [more than once, she imagines. The rock wall falls in and she sighs faintly and she lets it go for now] What keeps you going, niichan? What fuels your justice?

[justicereigns]

[He's seen it. But it looked the same as hers; a Straw Hat over a far too wide smile. He doesn't like it.]

[As for her question, he refuses to break his concentration, even at being called her brother. Whether she meant it sarcastically or earnestly, it stung slightly and he didn't know how to adjust.]

[What does fuel his justice? He never thought about it before. What kept him going? Justice. Why did he pursue pirates? Justice. Why did Smoker do anything? Justice. What fueled it? It was fuel.]

Justice is what keeps me going. Pursuing it, acting on it. Discerning what is the best course... that doesn't need fuel or hope. It is that already.

What fuels the sun? I know chemical reaction, fusion, whatever, but it doesn't get tired, right? Just goes until it's dead, and everything gets pulled towards it.

Justice doesn't need fuel. It comes when people figure out how to follow it.

[toujoursfluer]

[Justice is his core. She understands that now. It's what he is. And being the kind of person who lives on the seas, strength comes from never letting go of that core. Just as her core is that of an archaeologist, endlessly searching for the mysteries of the past-- and Luffy's core is that of-- the pirate king, endlessly free, endlessly happy and fierce as the storm.

It must be frustrating for Smoker to be so far away from people who understand that. Well, so far away from people who understand and who aren't pirates. Malnosso interference or no, she would want to be his friend, now, to listen. But that isn't something that can happen. Even if she were to decide to stop being a pirate she will still be a pirate. The numbers will still hang over her head. A target, dead or alive and Justice be damned.

Maybe in the end, even with Marco, she feels a little lonely too--but it is what it is]

Well then... Perhaps you will find someone among the new feathers.

[it's a weak comfort but really the most she can give. She picks apart her rock temple with patient hands]

[justicereigns]

[His eyes narrow and he shakes his head.]

No.

That's not what I'm looking for.

[toujoursfluer]

And what are you looking for? [she tilts her head] Or perhaps you would rather go alone...

[justicereigns]

[He just sort of looks at her. Neither pushing her away in any indication, but certainly not pulling her in either.]

I won't know until I find it.

But people here are already following their justice. The problem isn't lack of that. It's discerning what to do about the Malnosso.

[toujoursfluer]

Who can say... [she doesn't know. She can't even find her own justice in this place. Is it revenge? Is it freedom? What is right and what is wrong? She has to be strong enough to decide this, but she's never been strong enough to do that quite on her own--other than following the single idea, the bright pursuit of knowledge despite the world against her.

But...well...perhaps there is something she can do...]

If... I can help...

[justicereigns]

[He frowns softly. The last thing he needs is to be further indebted to even more pirates.]

[But it's still too hung over from the family thing. She's his baby sister. So much like Hina. It's not real, but it doesn't fade.] Keep your eyes out.

[He shouldn't trust her, but he does. He does even in their own world when they're united against the same enemy, and that is certainly the case here.]

[toujoursfluer]

Always.

[she'll keep eyes on you, too. Just in case]

I'll see you later, ne? [perhaps] Take care...