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They have? Really?
[.05 seconds to be proud and pleased before he remembers not to be arrogant.]
Well, people are very kind, here. I've done my best, that's all. It'll be a relief to have someone with real actual skills, especially with the eccentric way this place works.
[.05 seconds to be proud and pleased before he remembers not to be arrogant.]
Well, people are very kind, here. I've done my best, that's all. It'll be a relief to have someone with real actual skills, especially with the eccentric way this place works.
( when he knows koby will be otherwise occupied, shanks leaves a small, plainly wrapped gift on koby's desk, along with a note written on saltburnt letterhead. inside, koby will find a wooden seal figurine, hand-carved and hand-painted. it may be a little rough around the edges but nonetheless is crafted with an unexpected dexterity for a man using his nondominant hand. or maybe he borrowed a sand arm from set. he'll never tell. etched on the underbelly of the figurine is a decorative 𝕾 with three slash marks through it — and the note, in shanks' wobbly cursive, reads: )
Koby,
When I was a boy, Vice Captain Rayleigh taught me how to carve. He said it would help improve my grip and precision with a sword. I'll admit, I haven't kept up the habit. But I imagine he'd have a laugh at my latest attempt. And be proud, I'd hope, to share a birthday with you.
Now, you're the age I was when I first sailed to the Grand Line as captain of my own ship. You may not believe it yet, but I know one day you'll go far and accomplish even greater things than I, even if we meet again on opposite sides.
Keep this with you as a reminder of how we started.
Happy Birthday, cadet.
—S
[that gets a laugh, a quavery bit of sound, fading into a shuddery sort of whine when harry’s hips twitch, when his hands – clever, careful anatomist’s hands – slip up over the shivery expanse of freckled, sunkissed skin. koby’s hands reach to cover them, guiding gently, up over his chest, tracing the scars again, lightly.]
S-So I’ve heard. [an exhale, an unconscious shudder of the slick, tight muscle that enfolds harry’s cock, rippling like waves, making koby’s head drop a bit as he pants open-mouthed, shivery.] I can – b-be honest like this, but, u-um. I might. Forget how to, ah. Talk. When you start moving.
[huffing out a laugh, he tugs harry’s hand to his mouth, kisses the palm of it.] S-Sorry in advance.
S-So I’ve heard. [an exhale, an unconscious shudder of the slick, tight muscle that enfolds harry’s cock, rippling like waves, making koby’s head drop a bit as he pants open-mouthed, shivery.] I can – b-be honest like this, but, u-um. I might. Forget how to, ah. Talk. When you start moving.
[huffing out a laugh, he tugs harry’s hand to his mouth, kisses the palm of it.] S-Sorry in advance.
[ when koby wakes, quentin is gone to get breakfast for them, much like the first morning they shared together. he plans to make a spread and bring it back to bed, but for a little surprise, he's left something on the pillow next to koby's head. inside? a letter - ]
Captain -
Maybe this gift is a little too simple for a birthday like yours, but we have talked a lot about what happens beyond this place. Where we will be, where we will go, what we will remember. It's been on my mind, too.
All I know is that I feel alive and most like myself when I'm at your side, and that you will always be the true north when I've lost my way. I promise you I'll find you, if we go. I'll run to every corner of the world to see to it, and you know how stubborn I can be.
Have this as my promise to you. There is nowhere in all of these worlds that I won't find you, my Captain.
[ in the envelope, loose, is a ring - or one half of a ring. a silver band with sunny waves around a pale amber gem. ]
Captain -
Maybe this gift is a little too simple for a birthday like yours, but we have talked a lot about what happens beyond this place. Where we will be, where we will go, what we will remember. It's been on my mind, too.
All I know is that I feel alive and most like myself when I'm at your side, and that you will always be the true north when I've lost my way. I promise you I'll find you, if we go. I'll run to every corner of the world to see to it, and you know how stubborn I can be.
Have this as my promise to you. There is nowhere in all of these worlds that I won't find you, my Captain.
[ in the envelope, loose, is a ring - or one half of a ring. a silver band with sunny waves around a pale amber gem. ]
[there were piles of treasure in the deep stores of alvida's ship -- gems and gold and silver, the gleam of rubies and diamonds and emeralds, sapphire studded in crowns and necklaces and bracelets and rings. oh, piles of rings, boxes and chests and strings of them, stacked on alvida's every finger and toe, tumbling off the piles of bounty that koby was never, never allowed more. he knew the shape of her rings, knew the shape of them when she grabbed his arm, when she shoved him towards the mop, when she backhanded him across the face. she thought they were beautiful, that they enhanced her beauty somehow, and of course koby had never said otherwise. of course her treasures were beautiful, that was objectively true.
but he wakes up, sleepy and bleary-eyed, reaches out and nudges his pink aura affectionately against the blue glint of quentin somewhere down in the dining room, then brushes his fingers against the crinkle of an envelope, like that first day, in the sweetness of summer. koby reads the letter while cuddled in the blankets, still, smiles and glows with warmth, then turns the envelope upside-down, slips the small sphere of metal into his palm and he understands.
because it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. it slips onto his hand, settles there like it was made for him, and koby just stares and stares for so long that he can feel quentin returning, feel his presence getting closer and closer, so he fumbles for his phone, hasty:]
it's beautiful
it's so
you
where did you get it?
where
are you almost here
come here please i want to kiss you a thousand times
but he wakes up, sleepy and bleary-eyed, reaches out and nudges his pink aura affectionately against the blue glint of quentin somewhere down in the dining room, then brushes his fingers against the crinkle of an envelope, like that first day, in the sweetness of summer. koby reads the letter while cuddled in the blankets, still, smiles and glows with warmth, then turns the envelope upside-down, slips the small sphere of metal into his palm and he understands.
because it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. it slips onto his hand, settles there like it was made for him, and koby just stares and stares for so long that he can feel quentin returning, feel his presence getting closer and closer, so he fumbles for his phone, hasty:]
it's beautiful
it's so
you
where did you get it?
where
are you almost here
come here please i want to kiss you a thousand times
Don't be sorry.
[Harry is quite certain he's going to lose any coherence himself in short order.
One hand at Koby's mouth, he drags the other to the place where they are joined. Curiously, he drags his thumb up and around that sensitive bit of flesh before he lets his hips rise and fall slowly.
He can feel sweat on his back and dampening the thick hair on his chest. He breathes long and deep, trying to keep it even.]
You feel fantastic.
[Harry is quite certain he's going to lose any coherence himself in short order.
One hand at Koby's mouth, he drags the other to the place where they are joined. Curiously, he drags his thumb up and around that sensitive bit of flesh before he lets his hips rise and fall slowly.
He can feel sweat on his back and dampening the thick hair on his chest. He breathes long and deep, trying to keep it even.]
You feel fantastic.
[koby makes a sound, a pleading, quavering shudder of a thing, against the flat of harry’s palm at the slow drag of his callused, careful thumb, at the sparks of pleasure it sends fire-hot and shattering up his spine. His lips part, find harry’s index finger, close around it for a moment, sucking hard, needing something, something to do with his mouth to distract from how good it feels. mumbled, eyes half-closed, stomach tightening as he rocks his own body down to meet that experimental lift of harry’s hips:] Y-You too.
[eyes squeezing shut, he releases harry’s hand, mouth open on a moan as he braces both his shaky palms against the soft, thickly furred warmth of his chest. there could be people walking by, could be anyone overhearing the sounds koby makes as he rises up on his knees, then sinks back down, still slow, still getting used to the angle, the depth, the dizzying feel of it all. but he doesn’t care, doesn’t care about anything except reaching for harry’s hands, guiding them back to his waist, his hips, settling them there.
another shaky inhale. exhale.] You can m-move now.
[eyes squeezing shut, he releases harry’s hand, mouth open on a moan as he braces both his shaky palms against the soft, thickly furred warmth of his chest. there could be people walking by, could be anyone overhearing the sounds koby makes as he rises up on his knees, then sinks back down, still slow, still getting used to the angle, the depth, the dizzying feel of it all. but he doesn’t care, doesn’t care about anything except reaching for harry’s hands, guiding them back to his waist, his hips, settling them there.
another shaky inhale. exhale.] You can m-move now.
[Thank you God for vocal men, Harry thinks. They help alleviate his performance anxiety.
He grips Koby's hips firmly. Listens. Licks his lips and nods.
Slowly, he rocks up further into that gloriously wet, tight heat. His rhythm stutters at first, but his body begins to find one when he focuses on Koby's face.
He tugs at his hips, trying to encourage him to move in whatever way will bring him pleasure.]
He grips Koby's hips firmly. Listens. Licks his lips and nods.
Slowly, he rocks up further into that gloriously wet, tight heat. His rhythm stutters at first, but his body begins to find one when he focuses on Koby's face.
He tugs at his hips, trying to encourage him to move in whatever way will bring him pleasure.]
Oh, yes, that happens here too. Appendix DR for death-resurrection, in my notes.
Succinctly people who die return altered at first, and have to be restored to themselves by a ritual. Then they're as they were before, though usually not without some lingering effects.
Succinctly people who die return altered at first, and have to be restored to themselves by a ritual. Then they're as they were before, though usually not without some lingering effects.
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