the edges of the photograph have curled over the years, and you have to press them down with the tips of your fingers so that you can really look at it.
it's grainy and overexposed, the colours saturated in the way that early colour film cameras tended to be. it loans the image a feeling of nostalgia, even if it's for an era well before your own lifetime.
the figure in the centre of the photo smiles up at you, frozen in time--a fine young man, no more than 19 or 20--and it makes your heart pang treacherously under the cover of your ribs.
"like what you see, kid?"
you shut the photo album when kishibe poses the question, realizing you've been caught in the act. you rest your hands against the nicotine stained cover.
"no," you say after a moment, though perhaps you should say nothing. "i don't like seeing photos of you when you were young."
you make the admission quietly, like you almost don't want him to hear it at all. he huffs a little in response, like he doesn't believe you.
"make you feel bad you missed out on me in my golden years and instead got stuck with an old man?"
you bite down hard on your lip, your nails raking bluntly over the peeling, yellowed vinyl of the photo album's cover. a piece of the cracking material lifts under the pressure.
finally, you glance back at him over your shoulder. kishibe is sitting in the chair he favours by the window. he says he likes it for the view, but you know it's because he hopes being closer to the window will keep at least some of the chemicals in his cigarette smoke away from you.
his dark eyes, lined at the corners and shadowed beneath the sockets, are on you; tired (as usual) but patiently waiting for your reply.
"no," you repeat your earlier comment, the first to look away as you turn your attention back to the half-empty album in your hands. you wonder what photos used to be affixed to the pages where now only phantom discolouration and remnants of adhesive remain. "it's because you used to look happy."
My friends and I had a shared document on google docs for sharing fics. So none of this is mine and if you see initials by something, those are my friend's initials to show what character they brought to the table. The initials are mostly for the One Piece stuff though.
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Collected For: My friend OT and myself.
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Multiple:
Meeting their future kid! (By hinakazino)
Moments they appreciate most (By extra-v1rgin)
Doll (By torusdove)
dating csm characters (By rosieiscooler)
Kishibe:
PDA (By daisynik7) - A bit NSFWy at the end.
Fallin' (By daisynik7)
He's old. (By holdmeclosebutdontloveme)
𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 (By hiwofumi)
Morning Goodbyes (By nanamimizz-archived) - A bit NSFW.
