#v; coparenting

[sircrocodillian]

❛  i get what i want. i keep it for a minute. then i let it go.  ❜ (from beckman)

A deep drag of his cigar was Crocodile's initial response. The man looked up from his spot under the awning made of palm leaves, watching the moon drop dappled patterns over his skin. He frowned, the look faint on his features, but eventually he turned to look back to his companion.

That really was what this was, wasn't it? Crocodile would come into port, they would do their duties, Luffy would be overjoyed to see them, and occasionally Beckman's hand would loop into Crocodile's own under the pale moon and they would retreat away.

Neither acting like it was anything more than it was, or if it was anything less than what it could be. Simple companionship for lonely men.

"Did you get what you wanted this time?" Crocodile rumbled as he sat upwards finally and leaned in closer to his companion. "Perhaps you might be greedy, for tomorrow we will be let go."

His large hand moved to cup up Beckman's jaw, his thumb brushing the side of stumble that was present there, and he closed the distance between them to take another kiss under that clear moonlight.

[sircrocodillian]

we can make this work baby. ( shanks being a dumbass coparent )

"First off," a large finger pointed towards Shanks, aimed directly between the redhead's eyes as though he were carrying a musket. "Don't call me 'baby'."

There wasn't any real malice in the suggestion, only a mild annoyance. The way they were both dancing around this little arrangement they had made. The fact neither of them would probably have ever crossed paths if not for the boy that arranged them together in some complex, cosmic knot.

"Two." Hand moved from pointed gun pose and into a motion of two fingers as he continued. "Let's come up with what this entails. I don't come around here for nothin', and I don't expect you do either. How long we gonna dance? Until the kids old enough to take care of himself? How much do you really care about him?"

The last question might have been more poised at himself than towards Shanks, but the Warlord was the king of misdirection. He wouldn't answer the question unless he was forced to.

"If we're going to be partners here, I'm not stepping into something that's gonna tie me down from what I want to accomplish. You going to tell me you're the same?"

[sircrocodillian]

❛   You think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life?  ❜ (strawhatking)

@strawhatking

"Like you would listen in the first place." The Warlord hissed through his teeth as he turned to look over his shoulder, eyes devoid of feeling and anything resembling emotion for who this child was to him. For the briefest hint of an emotion, the scowling face full of vigor and grit teeth that faced him full on was replaced with a younger one. One that was a full smile, laughter, and excitement. The face he had seen when Luffy had seen him on the dock.

But it was brief, and Crocodile did not allow himself to feel anything resembling pity for what they had become. He had always hoped that Luffy would never come here. That Luffy would avoid Alabasta at all costs, but here they were, standing across from each other in the dunes as opposing forces.

A pity, but so be it. No one could get in his way, not even the young man who reminded Crocodile so much of himself.

Crocodile brushed aside the cloak that hung over his shoulders with his hook, the gold sending a reflection of the sun across the sands. His other hand gripped into a fist, which he flashed upwards as another barrier to place between himself and Luffy. Another wall. Another barrier. Anything that might create even more of a rift. Seperate the boy from the man. Separate the child from the upstart that was staring him directly in the face.

"I wanted you to fucking continue to LIVE, kid, but, no. You just had to come here, didn't you? I really thought I could save you from that--" He exhaled. "-- Damn you, Luffy. Why couldn't you have just stayed home?!"