@apothcosis ,, starter .
It was the morning of the third day of Doflamingo’s week long birthday celebration. The celebrations began on the 22, and carried on all the way to the 29th. This was tradition. The whole of Dressrosa was having a festival, and the Island became ‘ the place to be ‘ during this one week of the year. The heavens had blessed the festival with beautiful weather, warm as always ( this was a tropical island after all ).
On the 22, all family members arrived at Dressrosa, to celebrate Doflamingo’s birthday in a private, closed party on the 23. On the 24th, a wider range of guests would arrive ( upon invitation ). There would be royalty and pirates, business acquaintances and friends. Being invited to Doflamingo’s birthday was considered a great honor. One could not arrive empty handed. Even if the king possessed everything he could possibly wish for, he still expected to be spoiled with presents.
His family had all given their gifts the previous day, on his actual birthday. There was an unspoken ‘ contest ‘ between them, where they all attempted to get Doflamingo the BEST gift. It had to be original and grand, and since Doflamingo already had so many things, it wasn’t an easy task to try to find a present for him.
There was one person whose absence had been noticed yesterday, and that was Vergo’s. Doflamingo had had a den-den call with him, where his right-hand man had explained that he would arrive a day later. While Doflamingo would’ve preferred to have him come on time ( especially since it was such an important date ), he couldn’t bring himself to be angry with the other. Vergo had informed him that the reason why he was late, was because of the present he had gotten for him. This, of course, made Doflamingo very excited. He wondered what type of present it was. Surely, it had to be a difficult one to obtain, seeing as it had made Vergo late to his birthday?
This morning, Vergo arrived. Doflamingo had just gotten dressed, when he received news of Vergo’s arrival. The two of them met in the large hallway. Vergo’s expression was stoic as usual, but Doflamingo had learned to read even this seemingly expressionless face. He knew Vergo was smiling. In his hand, he held a chain. Doflamingo’s gaze followed the chain, and at the other end of it, was what he assumed was his gift.
It was a man. Shorter than himself by about a meter. The first thing Doflamingo noticed about him was what appeared like a set of drums, strapped to the man’s back. Then, he took note of his stretched earlobes. Body modifications like these were usually cultural or religious, but Doflamingo couldn’t remember ever seeing them displayed like this before. The man was dressed in large pants, and had a blue sash tied around his waist. All in all, he appeared colourful in his garments. A reason for that was that the man sported ivory skin. Beautifully clean, apart from light blue markings on the man’s abdomen ( Vergo had done that, no doubt ). Gold accessories adorned the man’s legs and arms, as well as ears, so he had to be a wealthy man. Doflamingo didn’t recognize his face from any wanted posters, so really, he was curious as to who he was.
And, also, he wondered why Vergo thought a slave would be a good birthday present. It was a tiny bit boring, really.
❝ Happy Birthday, Doffy. ❞ Vergo spoke, and yanked at the chain, to force the present to step forward. The chain was attached to a collar around the male’s neck, and Doflamingo could tell that it was made out of Kairoseki. Oh, so Vergo had gotten him a devil fruit user? Well, at least that was a bit better than just a normal slave, but still... A bit dull.
❝ Thank you. ~ Is this it? Is this my gift? ❞ He made no attempt at hiding his rising disappointment, while he looked at his present, who was now standing in front of Vergo.
❝ Yes, it is. Something you’ve been wanting for a long time. I bring you one of the most powerful Logia. The Goro Goro no mi. ❞ THAT information made Doflamingo’s mood turn about 180 degrees, and a wide grin spread across the Yaksha’s face. The Goro Goro no mi was indeed one of, if not the most powerful Logia fruits. Doflamingo had wanted to possess it for ages. No doubt it could be used against Admirals and Sengoku. Really, Vergo had done good capturing him! Doflamingo had been unaware that the Goro Goro no mi had a user, so this man had probably only recently eaten the fruit, otherwise there would’ve been news about him.
❝ Fu fu fu fu fu! My, Vergo, you shouldn’t have! ❞ His excitement was more than enough of a ‘ thank you ‘ for Vergo. Whatever troubles he had gone through to capture this man, they would be worth it to see such an expression on Doflamingo’s face. The chain was handed to Doflamingo, who instantly tugged on it to get his present to come a little closer. The only reason why said ‘ present ‘ wasn’t throwing a fit was probably because Vergo had given some very serious threats. He could be terrifying when he wanted to. There was a great chance that there had been a lot of abuse on the way here, even if the bruising on the other’s body was limited. ❝ Come, closer. No reason to be afraid. Fu fu fu fu fu! Now, speak - do you have a name? ❞
