#with. blue (willofd)

[clanofd]

the alabasta sun was hot enough already, but for blue it felt downright unbearable; stepping off the ship into the dock near nanohana, the lieutenant commander's tongue was already hanging out, panting slightly as they reached up to adjust the scarf wrapped around their head to help protect their ears from the heat. although it wasn't as though they were covered in fur, the presence of it upon their ears and tail were somehow still enough to raise the rest of blue's body temperature considerably, in addition to simply running warm naturally. ( and, when he spent all his time near smoker, their combined hotter-than-average body temperatures was manageable most of the time—but with that and alabasta's extra dry heat? unbearable. )

" captain … i need water … " they'd done their best to avoid asking, wanting to be at least try and act professional while they were actually away from loguetown, but the overwhelming oppressive temperature was finally enough to push them to actually say something about it. " it's too hot— "

( blue is suffering )

with little to go on, smoker had set out to alabasta with tashigi and blue in tow, hoping they could find a better lead on the straw hats whereabouts, and perhaps figure out what they had to do with the missing princess, vivi, as well.

well, now smoker is wondering if coming to alabasta was a mistake. the sweltering heat is bad enough for himself- he's smoking like a chimney to try and vent some of that excess building up under his skin, and he knows tashigi is struggling too.

but it's not either of them he's really worried about- it's blue. smoker can tell they're really suffering, even if they're trying to be a good marine and not complaining. it's at the point where smoker isn't the least bit surprised, though, when blue finally does crack and asks for water. if he didn't on his own, smoker was going to make them all stop and get some soon, anyway.

"c'mere-" his voice is extra gruff from cigar smoke and from being parched, but he puts his hand on blue's back, steering them to a nearby bar in the town, not denying his request. he just keeps pushing them til they're inside, nodding at tashigi to keep following them too.

"last thing i need is for either of you collapsing from heat exhaustion on me. let's rehydrate, you're no good to me dead."

once they're able to sit and gulp down some water, smoker looks over from his glass to blue, stern brow furrowing even more than usual.

"there's not gonna be as much water deeper in the country as there is here. we'll have to make sure we have enough of a supply before heading out. like i said before, you're no good to me dead."

for anyone unfamiliar with smoker, he might sound cold or uncaring, but that's not the case, and smoker knows that the present company is well aware of that. he can't help as his cheeks redden a bit, looking away from both blue and tashigi now, hoping neither of them will notice. from that stupid smile on tashigi's face, though, he figures she's caught on. damn, he was hoping to blame it on the heat.

[clanofd]

throughout the halls of g-5, the sound of a rolling cart's wheels are heard, pushed along by the canine commodore—tail swishing behind them, even their more-recent dour mood seems to be gone for the moment, matched only by the young girl sitting upon the cart. silent though she normally is, there's a slight metallic hum that accompanies them both as they make their way towards the vice admiral's office, emanating from kampanà herself.

with one hand still on the cart's handle, blue raps on smoker's door with a strange pattern to signal it's them, waiting for the door to be opened from the other side so he can enter; walking backwards into the office, they pull kampanà and the cart inside after them, both their smiles growing once the door has closed behind them.

" happy birthday, mōka—! " " happy birthday, papa— "

small hands hold up the large gift on the cart with her, head peeking out from behind it as she waits for him to take it; inside the box is a somewhat crudely made looking staff, with a little arm sticking off it looking suspiciously like a miniature version of his jitte. once he's opened the box, she waves her hands to get his attention back, the sound of bells accompanying the gesture. still silent, she continues to gesture, miming swinging the stick and imitating large plumes of smoke; somewhere, amidst the silent example, she conveys the gift she made for him, a jitte made of her own metal that he can superheat with his smoke, allowing him to mold the jitte into different shapes, giving him the opportunity to restrain opponents while fighting.

large, silver eyes hidden behind pink bangs watch for his reaction, the humming from before returned, this time with a slight anxious tune underlying it, calmed somewhat by blue's hand resting atop her head.

" d-do … do you l-like it, papa … ? "

the familiar knock at the door brings a small smile to smoker's normally serious expression, happy to have the distract. it may be his birthday, but work doesn't care about such frivolous celebrations. he's not about to ignore his family, though.

"hold on, comin'-" he calls, straightening his documents before setting his cigars aside in their ash tray, blowing the last plumes of smoke from his mouth, letting them drift up and away, as far from the door as possible, before going to open it, stepping aside as blue and kampana come in, the smile on his face growing a bit as he chuckles, hidden from anyone else in the base so only blue and kampana are privy to seeing it, as it should be.

once they're alone in his office, he steps back, raising his brow at the offered gift, brushing kampana's hair back before taking it, unboxing the staff carefully, a bit of confusion on his face at first. he almost asks if it's an art piece, before kampana explains with no words, just her acting, the smile returning to smoker's face, still small, and still sincere.

finally finished "listening", he does as instructed and heats the metal, bending it a bit back and forth before reshaping it back to match his jitte, looking delighted (or as delighted as he'll let himself look).

"look at that, that's a great idea." his eyes move from the staff to blue, then kampana again, setting it aside before leaning down to kiss the girl's head, finally letting his smile grow to something more than just faint and held back, hidden in her hair.

"i love it, little bell. thank you." he moves to kiss blue next, holding it for a moment, as long as he dares without getting flustered himself, before pulling away, winking at them just out of kampana's sight.

"i didn't get a cake for today or anything, but i did get an order of our favourite ice cream in recently, the kind blue can eat without getting sick. how about we have some, sound good?"