new_world_dr | [Text]

"[It can be. Some people don't struggle that much with the cost, they have enough energy to spare. I'm not that fortunate though. So I need to be careful, since I rely on it daily. It's started to really affect my health."

That's not a lie, at all. Rosinante's health is compromised on multiple levels, so he uses magic to compensate for what he can't do otherwise. On top of that, his fruit's gift is something frightening and exhausting, and it makes it even harder to stay healthy.

It's a part of why he's so much thinner, so much more fragile looking than his counterpart. The other part being vanity, shaping his looks to suit a role, but he'd always be fragile looking regardless because of the sheer amount of draining magics he uses.]

I hope writing isn't too hard for you. You don't have to if you'd rather rest up.

[A few more minutes and the smaller cuts of lizard are done. Not bad either, he decides. A little chewier than chicken, but similarly bland in taste, though the smoking from the fire. He eats his fill and there's plenty to share.]

So where were you before here? Since you said you'd been on something of a journey since this all started.

["I'm fine! I'm feeling better now that I've eaten, so I can handle this much at least."

Rosinante is happy to try lizard, but he's disappointed in the flavor. But he's still hungry, so he works on his share of things in comfortable silence. Mind starting to wander a little, but with company he's actually not doing too badly. He perks back up at the sound of Rosinante's voice though, and he's thoroughly happy to hear it each time. He's never heard his voice as an adult, even when he projects to Law it's not the same as actually hearing it. He didn't know what he might have sounded like until today, and it's really something he's pleased with.

He's even more pleased with the chance to talk about his unplanned vacation.

"I found myself at a small town first, and Baby 5 was there! She was so little and cute, and we had ice cream. I was going to try to get her back to Dressrosa since she was alone, but I fell and landed somewhere else. Then I ended up at this giant indoor marketplace, it was massive, I've never seen so many stores in one place. And I spent absolutely everything there."

He looks embarrassed at that, he's old enough to be responsible with money. But he's hardly ever allowed to actually handle the funds, he's given an allowance of sorts, and he doesn't often actually get around to leaving to spend it. So this fool and his money was quickly parted.

"In my defense, there was freeze dried ice cream and hoodies that Law might actually wear. And he's picky about clothing. And they said they'd deliver the things to my home for a fee."]

Baby 5?

[The rest sounds pleasant enough, sure. Maybe not the losing all his money part, but he gets the feeling that this guy doesn't get out much, or at least not in comparison to himself. Which is hardly fair; most people shouldn't have to have spent as much time as he has just roaming and putting all those basic survival lessons to actual practical use. He did say he had been in the Marines but man, Rosinante just can't picture someone like that commanding a crew, or leading a mission of any sort. Maybe he's underestimating him because of how much smaller he looks, though, and how dressed-up he is.

But also. Baby 5 is alone somewhere and that makes him worry. That girl is so vulnerable on her own. Hopefully a small town means she's safe and being cared for by people who know hospitality and warmth, that she won't just be stolen and sold off or whatever else people think to do with young girls who only want to make others happy at the expense of their own well-being. Dark, but god, that poor kid.]

Do you remember anything about the town, or the island? How long ago was it?

[Rosinante pulls his phone out suddenly, and opens the app for pictures. And within, he scrolls through a mess of random photos, until he comes across pictures of the town that Baby 5 is in. Or was in, but that's okay too. He knows just how to find her, there's a list after all, and even if she hasn't made a post he'll be able to figure out where she is and help her. And most importantly, keep her away from Doffy.

"This is it, but we should just call her, or text her. She's in the contacts."

And then he realizes. He has a phone. And his own text comes back to him. Where he spoke to the world they're in about how all were welcome and valuable in Dressrosa, how airships would come for them if needed. His ultra high tech, high speed airships that traverse the skies with ease, using magic to travel at incredible speed.

Why the fuck didn't he think of this before?]

Contacts? Wait, how many people are in that list?

[Surely not everyone in the whole world. Maybe just those who have used this newly-appeared network? Is he there? Maybe so. Can he be removed? Can he change the name? He'll have to play with the SmartSnail more than he has. He's been too busy being shuttled from one strange island to the next to pay much attention to the unusual new piece of technology, but that will have to change. Already the many uses of the thing have been alluded to, but it's just so unfamiliar that he hardly knows where to start.

He'd pull his own out but he has his hands full of food so instead he just leans over to look at the photos. Nowhere he knows, though. He'll just have to check in on her remotely.]

["Quite a few." After Rosinante looks at the pictures, he scrolls through the contact list, after pulling it up. It's extensive. "And most wouldn't enjoy being on it."

He isn't too concerned for himself. He's a public figure, and he's been able to keep things private well enough that wouldn't be publicly known anyway. But for some, just having their name listed alone could be dangerous. And while he searches through, looking through the contacts for Baby 5's name, his whole stance changes. He's all business now, firm and determined as he scrolls and sends a message. She's there, now all he has to do is wait for a response and then track her. She's part of his family, and he has a responsibility to take care of her.

And how at risk she was while he was lost, forgetting even basic things, is making him furious at himself.

"It's easy enough to track another SmartSnail location down. We'll find her."]

You can track people with these?

[Never has he wanted to kill one of the poor den den mushi before but by god does he want to right now, as he pulls his own out of his pocket, even if his fingers are coated with ash and fish juice, and eyes it with a distinct sense of horror.]

Do you know if that can be blocked? Or if I can take myself off the list?

["How did you think I was able to send airships out for rescue?"

Rosinante sighs, and shakes his head.

"One of my staff members destroyed one, after failing to block our information from the contacts. And it showed back up within a few hours, eyeing him irritably but otherwise acting as normal."

He's sent news to his staff finally, and the noise of the barrage of texts is obnoxious to him. But he's fine with them coming for him, that means he'll be easily able to help Baby 5.

"I have an airship on the way."

No, no, no...

[There has to be a way to do something. To change his name, to regularly change his number, to mask the signal by putting the damned thing inside a block of lead and shoving it to the bottom of the ocean. If Doffy finds out these can be used to track people, if the Marines find out, then he's as good as dead. He looks over at his duplicate with genuine fear in his eyes because this is something he does not understand well enough to solve on his own and he seems to know what he's doing. Or someone on his staff does. Someone must have a solution.]

Doffy already knows I'm alive. If he finds me, he'll kill me. Again. Please, if there's a way to keep hidden on these phones, I need to know.

[Another note comes up. Fast. "You won't die. I won't let him, you wont let him. There has to be a way, I'm sorry that I was more concerned with my own struggles. I should have thought to address this from the start."

The words are in red at let, and let him, and there's a strong shift in the lettering. And he leans back, trying to push back anything in his mind but thoughts and focus, he has to get this done for his companion's sake.

"I want you to wait for a text from me."

He doesn't know if his magic can alter a SmartSnail, or if it's pointless to try. But if he doesn't try he's doing a disservice to his counterpart. So he focuses, and that dark magic swirls around his poor confused SmartSnail. Quiet, hidden, darkness, alone, mist, every word and feeling for isolation and concealment possible coming up from his mind to his magic.]

Did it work?

[He waits, as requested, not really sure what he's waiting for. Why a text? What in the world is magic going to do, when all he's seen it used for is very cool but relatively simple things like writing or holding a parasol?

The answer comes soon enough when the text arrives, though he isn't initially sure what's so special about it. The message itself, after all, is mundane. But then he notices the sender - or rather, the lack of a readable one, and nods slowly. Okay. That's good. That's maybe all he needs and if not, it absolutely helps.]

Yeah. Yeah, it's showing it as coming from a sender it can't recognize, or... I don't know how you'd describe this. But it didn't come from you even though it did.

[Rosinante sighs, feeling relieved at the fact that it worked. It's not perfect, but it's a start until he can do more research. But he's not sure how long the enchantment will last, that's a risk on it's own. Sometimes his formed spells last for months, years. Other times they hardly last as long. But his SmartSnail seems fine, so maybe it's going to work out.

He takes another bite of food, then another, working through his share at a higher speed now. He's still exhausted, still behind, and something long term and complex like this needs far more energy to form it. He's going to be in bad shape after this, just trying it with his own SmartSnail was a foolish decision outside of desperate times, but there's an airship on the way. And he'll be able to go home, and get medicated and fed and he'll be alright.

"I can't promise you this will last. But if you hand me your SmartSnail I'll use the same spell on it. And that should at least buy us time for research."]

[There's only a moment's hesitation before he nods and passes it over. There's still a lot of faith he has to place in this version of himself. The magic isn't something he understands and its abilities are a mystery. Sure, hopefully he will do for him what he had just demonstrated on his own number. But he might add something, like make it easier for his version of Dressrosa's staff to track him. Might create some sort of alert that will go off on his own phone if this one moves into a certain area or sends or receives messages from certain people.

Yes, he's paranoid, but not without reason, as far as he figures. The guy is a head of a powerful old nation. Not just that, but his taste for decadence and his particular kingdom of choice both set off warning bells in Rosinante's head, even though they've had a pleasant interaction on the beach here. It's unsettling. He can see why Sengoku disapproves.]

I'll text you after you're done, and I want to see the result to make sure it worked.

["You need to try to learn for yourself. What if it ceases? I've never made a spell like this before, ever. Even that's not enough though. We can hide you forever, but Doffy is still a problem."

It's never easy, is it? Nothing is. He can't even be friends with his counterpart, not really. Simply because of distrust, for one reason or another. But he can try to help him. He can do his best to keep him safe, regardless.

This time, the magic's draining effects can be seen. He looks worse, thinner, his skin paler, sick and weak looking. The first go at this energy, this specific forming of the chaos was a test. This time he does better, working harder to make sure that he gets a stronger spell, a more effective enchantment. It hurts, he's back to where he was before he'd eaten and healed a bit. But it's worth it, to keep him alive.

This one has suffered enough. He lost his life. He didn't get to see Law grow up, he didn't get to enjoy the blessings that Rosinante himself has experienced. So he's not going to leave him to the wolves, or more the flamingo. And once the enchantment sets, he hands the SmartSnail back with trembling hands.

"Lets test it."]

[Needs to learn assumes he can learn, and even if he can and does, he can't imagine he'll be able to do something like block a SmartSnail from the network after practicing for a week. The guy's been doing it for years, probably, and even he's having trouble. Rosinante doesn't argue, though. He's more interested in the result.

That result seems to take a lot out of his alternate self, and it seems too genuine to be an act. So perhaps he'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he needs to test this anyway. Being careful and thorough has served him well.]

test

Sent it.

[Nothing fancy, but he leans over to see how it appears on the other screen.]

[There's nothing to say who the sender is. It's a messy error once more. And that makes Rosinante smile, if it lasts for a while it'll at least buy them both time. When he gets back, he'll get the research division on it. There's got to be a way to make this easier.

They'll figure it out.

"I need to ask a favor of you now. Please, make sure I get on the ship. Make sure that I say in the area until my staff arrive."

He's sure that he's going to spiral again at this rate, and he's just not healthy enough to wander any longer. He needs food and medicine, he needs to be home and safe. He's useless to everyone out here, and he knows that he's likely to wander at this rate if he's not kept in one place. And then, who knows where he'll end up or what will happen to him.]

[Phew. Okay. Satisfied with the result, he breathes a sigh of relief and pockets the snail.

The request is... concerning. The other man looks noticeably, visibly weakened from his exertion, so making sure he gets on the ship makes sense. He might need a hand. Someone to lean on. But the rest? Staying in the area? Where does he think he's even going to go in this state?

Rosinante offers him a smile, though it's tainted with confusion.]

Thank you. And, yeah, of course. You don't have to go anywhere. They'll come right to us, right? You should eat more if you can.

[While the smile is comforting, he can't deny that he notices the confusion. And he feels like he needs to ask, even if he doubts he'll get a truthful answer. It's still worth a try, though.

"Is something wrong?"

He's got a talent for escaping, even in his worst states, when he's this far off of medication and so far from stability. And he feels the urge to run, to get out, to go searching again already. So he has to depend on being able to stop himself from doing that, with this larger and more powerful version of himself that can obviously handle him if he acts out.

Right? He hopes so, at least.

"They're on their way now."

He works on his food though, as was suggested, eating as much as he can to help balance himself again. There's just not enough here to right him entirely, and even if there was he's in deep need of medical attention on a different level. But it's a start, and having his counterpart here is helping balance out some of the more unsettled traits.]

I've just never been asked by someone to keep them in a certain place. You want to tell me what's going on?

[Especially because he sounds pretty serious about it. If he has to hold someone down to keep them from running off, he'd like to know why he's doing it.

Good thing he has people coming to pick him up. But in a way, he imagines that the outing was good for this version of himself. There's always something to be learned from new experiences. Like, say, how not to spend all your money in a day, or how to cook mangrove crabs over a fire. Valuable life lessons.]

[This is one of the last things he feels like talking about, but he's here and he asked and offered so Rosinante will give him the best answer possible. He, him, counterpart, self, duplicate... This is mentally exhausting to keep up with.

"I'm usually not allowed out on my own, my health issues require careful monitoring. As do my responses and choices when I'm like this. I feel the need to flee again already, I want to keep searching. But if I run? It starts over again, they have to track me or worse, send out one of the family members and I don't want children I helped raise to see me like this."

Is that the best way to say it, that he's absolutely batshit crazy without actually saying it? He knows things get bad sometimes, the staff thinks he's ignorant about the medication in his food, that they watch him with fear any time he picks up anything with any semblance of a bladed edge, that everyone he knows and cares about his afraid of his degrading mental state. But they're wrong. He's fully aware, and he knows what they're doing, but he knows that they love him. And when things work? He's himself, entirely. Without pause or shaking or sobbing, without that manic laughter, looking for the ghosts of his past down random halls.

This is what his Law set up though, a set of plans to keep him together, so he's never going to argue it. But to get back to it, he has to fight past his own madness and get home.]

[It's a hard thing to read. Hard to see a version of himself like this - someone who wasn't quite able to overcome the torture and trauma, who is both physically and mentally more frail. It's a glimpse at what he might have been in a world where the Marines' training didn't take as well as it had, for not only had he become stronger and more capable physically, he had learned discipline and fortitude of the mind. Had overcome his fears and horrifying memories well enough to function normally.]

I'm sorry.

[And he is. It's definitely not an empty sympathy, even though he watches the fire instead of saying it to his face. There's a lot to think about here and the fire is a good backdrop for his thoughts.]

I'm sure you'll find him, or he'll find you. I know Law, even if I don't know yours. He knows you're out here somewhere and he'll do everything he can to bring you back to him safely. Until then, be as strong as you can for him so that when he finds you, you're safe and well and waiting.

["It's alright. I'm sure it's hard for you, to see someone similar to yourself like this."

For all his power, for all his frightening might and ridiculous abilities, he feels inferior right now. It's impossible not to, when facing a version of himself like this. He wonders for a moment, how embarrassing he really is for the people in his life. If his years of careful choices have led to disdain for him, for the breaks and cracks that came through after so much sacrifice.

He doesn't have time to think about that, though. Even though he hasn't mentioned exactly what he's been searching for, Rosinante knows. And that gets his mind right off of his moment of self-disgust.

Law is probably looking for him too. So he needs to be strong, he needs to be careful, to show his best face for his husband when they meet again. He needs to be well, not so thin and shaken up, so he can smile for him and remind him that every struggle has been worth it.

"You're right. Thank you."]

No need to thank me.

[But he's smiling now. It's true, he hadn't needed to be told to know exactly who he was looking for. They might be in remarkably different circumstances, but they both love Law deeply in their own ways. He knows what it is to wake up every day hoping today is the day they'll be brought back together, like they should be.]

When you find him, let me know. I would love to meet him myself.

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I will never get a chance to use this again I'm not passing up on the opportunity k

you did the right thing lmao

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back at you tbh

sob omg

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1/2

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Oh fuck it's the Law fanclub, party of 2

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Pointless TLDR. sob

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