Apparently even your sketches can inspire ^_^ The picture just wouldn't let me go until I'd found some half-baked rationalization for it :P
Sanji hated Water 7. Robin had been acting strangely, Sanji had gotten canal water splashed on him by passing Yaguro, the girls here Weren't Interested, and he was being assaulted by a lunatic.
"Do you like cats?" a long-nosed man asked him inquiringly.
Two lunatics, Sanji corrected himself. One of them - the one who'd knocked him over and was now mauling his shirt - was some sort of zoan-cat-bastard to boot, which was the only reason Sanji hadn't let fly with a kick yet. Luffy's example had taught him to be careful with Devil Fruit users, even the certifiably loony ones. Especially the certifiably loony ones.
"Is this...a friend of yours?" he asked the long-nosed man in as reasonable a voice as he could manage right now.
"Yes. Sorry about that. He's not big on communication, see. That means he likes you."
Sanji was torn between 'How do I go about getting him to dislike me' and 'he's nibbling on my freaking tie and you think this is somehow normal?!' Instead, he said through gritted teeth: "He's got five seconds to let go of me before I neuter him, and the countdown started four seconds ago."
"Oops, I'm sorry, here, come on Lucci, I don't think he wants to be friends."
Sanji was released; he smoothed down his rumpled tie like a mother soothing a frightened child, and then he turned on his aggressor with a snarl-
The dark-haired man was looking at him as if nothing untoward had happened, but the pigeon which had just landed on his shoulder had one wing furled at its beak as if it was trying to muffle an embarrassed cough. "I also wish to apologize for Lucci's behaviour. My name is Hattori. May we offer you a drink to make up for this?"
Sanji shut his mouth after two tries. "I'm out of here."
"You sure? Come on, the bird's right, let's go have a beer. My name's Kaku- wait! Come back! I'm certain we could all be friends!"
Sanji was already accelerating out of the alley at full speed. He really didn't like Water 7. Buncha weirdoes. 'Not big on communication' yeah right. Funny, he could almost have sworn he'd seen the guy who'd jumped him before- and above all he was sure he never wanted to see the shitty freak again!
Kaku watched the young man leave. "The end of what could have been a beautiful friendship..."
"Come on," said Lucci via Hattori, once more cold and collected as if nothing had happened.
"At least there's no chance he'll recognize you now. As anything other than the crazy-cat-person, that is."
"Better be safe than sorry."
"You really think he would have remembered you as the government agent who ate at his restaurant nearly five years ago?"
"He was younger, obviously, but we had an interesting talk about wines and then he tried to kick my ass when I mentioned what I thought of ex-pirates being allowed to set up shop. Yes, I think he might have placed me. I recognized him, after all."
There was a short, thoughtful pause.
"So what you're saying is that he's very recognizable?"
"I said no such thing."
"Oh, you meant that it's just you who would have recognized him anywhere. Yes, I can see that, no wonder you-"
"This conversation is going nowhere. I advise you to drop it."
They walked on in silence along the sunny canals for a spell.
"Great dresser. I liked his tie. So did you, right?"
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-05-19 06:23 am (UTC)Sanji hated Water 7. Robin had been acting strangely, Sanji had gotten canal water splashed on him by passing Yaguro, the girls here Weren't Interested, and he was being assaulted by a lunatic.
"Do you like cats?" a long-nosed man asked him inquiringly.
Two lunatics, Sanji corrected himself. One of them - the one who'd knocked him over and was now mauling his shirt - was some sort of zoan-cat-bastard to boot, which was the only reason Sanji hadn't let fly with a kick yet. Luffy's example had taught him to be careful with Devil Fruit users, even the certifiably loony ones. Especially the certifiably loony ones.
"Is this...a friend of yours?" he asked the long-nosed man in as reasonable a voice as he could manage right now.
"Yes. Sorry about that. He's not big on communication, see. That means he likes you."
Sanji was torn between 'How do I go about getting him to dislike me' and 'he's nibbling on my freaking tie and you think this is somehow normal?!' Instead, he said through gritted teeth: "He's got five seconds to let go of me before I neuter him, and the countdown started four seconds ago."
"Oops, I'm sorry, here, come on Lucci, I don't think he wants to be friends."
Sanji was released; he smoothed down his rumpled tie like a mother soothing a frightened child, and then he turned on his aggressor with a snarl-
The dark-haired man was looking at him as if nothing untoward had happened, but the pigeon which had just landed on his shoulder had one wing furled at its beak as if it was trying to muffle an embarrassed cough. "I also wish to apologize for Lucci's behaviour. My name is Hattori. May we offer you a drink to make up for this?"
Sanji shut his mouth after two tries. "I'm out of here."
"You sure? Come on, the bird's right, let's go have a beer. My name's Kaku- wait! Come back! I'm certain we could all be friends!"
Sanji was already accelerating out of the alley at full speed. He really didn't like Water 7. Buncha weirdoes. 'Not big on communication' yeah right. Funny, he could almost have sworn he'd seen the guy who'd jumped him before- and above all he was sure he never wanted to see the shitty freak again!
Kaku watched the young man leave. "The end of what could have been a beautiful friendship..."
"Come on," said Lucci via Hattori, once more cold and collected as if nothing had happened.
"At least there's no chance he'll recognize you now. As anything other than the crazy-cat-person, that is."
"Better be safe than sorry."
"You really think he would have remembered you as the government agent who ate at his restaurant nearly five years ago?"
"He was younger, obviously, but we had an interesting talk about wines and then he tried to kick my ass when I mentioned what I thought of ex-pirates being allowed to set up shop. Yes, I think he might have placed me. I recognized him, after all."
There was a short, thoughtful pause.
"So what you're saying is that he's very recognizable?"
"I said no such thing."
"Oh, you meant that it's just you who would have recognized him anywhere. Yes, I can see that, no wonder you-"
"This conversation is going nowhere. I advise you to drop it."
They walked on in silence along the sunny canals for a spell.
"Great dresser. I liked his tie. So did you, right?"
"Shut. Up."
Kaku, smiling amiably, complied.
"He was pretty cute, wasn't he."
Growl.