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

[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...