[one piece oc x canon] new year’s kiss
I honestly gave up on this looking better so please pardon anatomical errors, burnout got the best of me. Based on another silly doodle I did.
Other doodles below the cut!! Mild tw for scars on one image.
More details for each…
1 . “I thought we were dating already.”
Early into TS, Brizo and Koby get really close because they’re both recovering from the mental trauma they sustained at Marineford + Koby asks her to shadow him while she is stationed at HQ.
Being unaware of how relationships start exactly, Brizo assumes when they start spending time at her place counts as “dating” after Koby stays over one night. She doesn’t really know how to handle that however so she says nothing and things continue as normal until Koby finally cracks a short time later. His confidence as a marine may have started to improve, but he was terrified of making a fool of himself for getting a crush on his former captain!!! Her confused response only makes the situation more awkward and he has to explain what dating actually is. Much to his relief she accepts his feelings (not without embarrassment from her own foolish assumption)
2. Mink snuggles + Scarf
Brizo assumed she did not have the same biological inclination for “minkship” as a full-blooded mink for most of her life due to the fact that her mother was the only person to show her such affection, and Brizo lacked any opportunity to share it with anyone else in her youth before being thrown into the ruthless navy lifestyle.
When she started spending time with Koby post-Marineford, however, she realized she had a particularly strong urge to be close to him. She brushes this off at first but her clinginess slowly emerges through lingering shoulder touches and careful corrections to Koby’s posture when she was shadowing him for training. The latter flustered the boy especially but he assumed it was nothing personal. It’s not until the two start dating that Brizo’s Minkship instincts fight to re-emerge, making her horribly nervous around Koby as she feared making him uncomfortable by her sudden urges to cuddle him. After he hugs her one evening, Brizo nuzzles herself against his shoulder and stays there for a little too long, panicking slightly when he points it out. Worried she did something wrong, she shamefully admits the fact that she’s struggling with her mink instincts and what they are exactly. Though she expected discomfort, Koby… giggled? “I never would have taken you as the cuddly type! But it’s ok. I’m glad you feel comfortable around me enough to let that show.” Still worried about overdoing it, Brizo tries to be conservative about giving affection to Koby, but after enough reassurance she’s happy to express Minkship with him. (Note; Brizo doesn’t express the “grooming” urges that some minks do, i.e. licking, biting, the latter has happened in the form of nibbles when she was drunk but she’s more cuddly than anything.)
3. Brizo’s scarf
I had this silly thought. What if Brizo gave Koby her scarf as a gift/show of Minkship? We know Wanda and Nami traded outfits during Zou as an act of friendship, but i imagine it can have romantic connotations to especially if the partner wears the item long-term.
Koby and Brizo start to travel more after the first few months at Marineford/later New Marineford, and more often they are not on the same fleets. Brizo was temporarily moved to communications between Sabaody and other nearby islands for half a year, and when this was ordered she decided it would be a good idea to give Koby a sort of gift so they could still feel close when they were in different places.
[transcribed from my writing in the drawing]
BRIZO: I thought it would be nice to give you something to remind you of me. I don’t wear this scarf much anymore, but it’s hand woven and very warm— I didn’t want it to go to waste… Oh— I also had a vivre card made too, so you always know where I am.
KOBY: [crying] I’m never taking this off… 🩷
BRIZO: …Please wash it, at least.
[picture of Koby post-TS, pointing to the scarf: it’s Brizo’s. It’s canon now. :3c]
Koby gives her his old bandana in return! She usually has it folded and pinned in her blazer’s pocket like a handkerchief, so she has him close to her heart. Koby also makes her a vivre card because he’s upset that he didn’t get the idea sooner!!
4. Old scars. [TW, depiction of scars and talk about self-inflicted wounds. Feel free to skip past]
The dialogue was wishy washy for me, I had a lot of ideas for this HAHA
Brizo, though collected and seemingly level-headed most of the time, struggles with bouts of anger when she experiences situations she can’t control. ESPECIALLY situations where she loses people close to her. This started with the death of her mother, an ordeal she could not grieve for very long at all. When she was training, the pent up anger manifested in Brizo’s rigorous abuse of the battleship bags after Garp introduced her to them. Truthfully she was already powerful and disciplined in combat, but the presence of an entity she could beat for however long to get out everything she felt deep down was a comfort to her fractured psyche. Often she would not stop until she could no longer bear the pain or until Garp forced her away from the ships. Once he had broken through the walls she put up, Garp convinced Brizo to value herself and her life and use them to do good even if she was forced into this life against her will. From there, she did not return to the battleship bags again until after Marineford, breaking the habit again for a short period before realizing she was being unfair to herself and her friends.
Because of the deep scarring on her knuckles and hands, among other similar scars on her arms, Brizo has always worn long sleeves and gloves. When spending time with Koby, she has taken off her gloves, but he does not feel any inclination to make her talk about them until she’s ready. To him, they’re just another part of the girl he likes. The conversation happens a little over a year into their relationship, on a night where Brizo felt more vulnerable than normal. Despite this she chose to tell Koby about the scars, her old self-h//rm habits which she was improving upon, etc. Brizo does comment that she dislikes how they look but knows they’re part of her now, and Koby doesn’t hesitate to take her hand and kiss the scars, assuring her they are no less beautiful than the rest of her. Though it did make her emotional, Brizo for a moment could only sit there and blush over how much of a darling her partner was.
5. Height difference
Just a silly doodle showing my obsession over height difference tropes. I know the wiki says koby is 5’6” BUT I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!! We see him get so much taller both times he re-appears. I hc pre-glow up Koby as 5’6”, Water 7/Ennies Lobby Koby as 5’11”, and post-TS Koby as 6’3”-6’5”… reading how he compares to garp (that man is 9 something feet tall, mind you) height wise, I think it makes sense. Brizo is 5’5” and 5’9” when wearing her heels.