"A Small Present" Corazon + Law Doshinji!

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"Mama Bird" - Penguin Fanfiction - One Piece - Finished

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61829551?view_full_work=true

The picture is completely and utterly unrelated, I just felt the post was a little naked!

Either way! Here's my finished Penguin fic of three chapters that was written as a gift to CoffeeTimeWorks. I'm really happy with how it turned out, I made sure to keep it wholesome.

Temporary life update: I've been putting a lot of my energy and creativity into the Kidd Pirates Month. I'll finish the Modern AU chapters on that that I've got set up and then maybe skip a few days cause I'm not feeling a few of the prompts.

Oh! I only just realized I could also just copy-paste the entire fic to here. My bad!

Summary:

What Penguin didn't expect was for a cute-as-a-mitten tiny girl to wave at the Polar Tang cheerfully as they made port at an island. What he expected even less was for that girl to come running up to him and calling him her dad. A gift to CoffeeTimeWorks for making me care about this silly bird man far more than I ever did before finding your art.

Notes:

For CoffeeTimeWorks.

Between this and "Daddy Doflamingo" I seem to have a bit of a habit of writing cute toddlers and loving fathers in the One Piece universe. I don't have daddy issues, you do!

Chapter 1

Things have been peaceful on the Polar Tang. Too peaceful. 

Well, that's not to say that things have been quiet. They never are, that's something Penguin and Shachi personally make sure of. 

They consider it part of their "Prankster Officer" job that they even have official badges for. 

Which Law keeps throwing out into the ocean every time he sees them. Good thing Penguin and Shachi are good swimmers! 

Beyond the ocassional turbulences of undersea volcanoes, hot smokers and other New World dangers the Polar Tang gets to avoid a lot of the terrible weather by remaining submerged. 

Currently, the prankster officers are a little too busy to pull any pranks. They've been studying a dance choreography together with Bepo at his request. 

Lately all Bepo has been talking about is the popstar Uta, and Shachi loves dancing anyways, so he roped Penguin into this as well. 

Their current dance session in the control room is interrupted when some of the devices start blinking. Bepo frowns and rushes over, doing some navigating shenanigans. 

Shachi and Penguin pause, exchanging a look with each other. "What's wrong, Bepo?" 

Bepo turns to them, eyes sparkling with excitement. "We're nearing the next island!" 

"YES!" The two high five each other and rush out of the room, shouting to every crew member who will listen about them approaching the next island. 

They barge into Law's room, eager to tell him of the news, but pause when they see him in his wooden chair, only two of its feet on the ground as it leans against the back wall, a book over his head. A faint snore can be heard from him and the two troublemakers exchange a smirk and slink back out of the room. Captain gets too little sleep as is, so it's an unspoken rule on the Tang that noone disturb him when he does actually get any sleep for once, no matter if something important is happening or not. 

He'll yell at them later for not waking him, but they care for his health far more than him yelling at them. 

A few hours later, the Tang has surfaced and land is already in sight. Penguin is up in the crow's nest together with Clione, spyglass in hand. 

It appears to be a winter island judging by the light snowfall that has set in and the wintery landscape he's able to see through the spyglass. The shore seems to border a beautiful pine tree forest with snow coating the trees. Captain's gonna be happy once he sees this. They've already had to physically restrain Bepo from just diving into the waves and swimming to the island quicker to roll around in the snow. But he still needs to make sure that the Tang is securely docked before their navigator can head off board. 

Penguin watches happily as the air he breathes out becomes visible from the chill in the air. He immediately descends from the crow's nest and heads to one of the windows looking inside the Tang, breathing on it and painting a happy little penguin face on it. 

Shachi calls out to him. "Oi! Pen!" 

Penguin turns around just in time to see Shachi finish putting a knitted pullover on the crew's small dog, Onigiri. Jean Bart took up knitting a few years back and ever since the crew has been proud to call themselves the owners of a lot of knitted goods. 

Onigiri stands there, looking absolutely indignified and like he's been frozen into an ice statue. Penguin laughs, crouches down in front of Onigiri and pets him between the ears where he likes it best. "Come on, buddy. You know your fur isn't warm enough for winter islands. It's for your own good." 

Onigiri glares up at him through his cute little beady eyes before snapping up at him with half-effort. 

Penguin pats his back some more before getting back up. "You'll enjoy yourself once we're in the snow." 

When they've finally arrived at the island and docked the Tang at the small harbor, there's a surprise waiting in store for them. 

There's an about six year old girl in a large yellow skiing jacket bouncing up and down with excitement. In her arms she's holding a plushie of a penguin that's about half her size.

Law, who's finally woken up, is the first to get off the submarine and look at the girl curiously. She has raven black hair and piercing blue eyes and looks at the arriving pirates with nothing short of absolute awe and admiration. 

Law's voice is gruff and still a bit hoarse from sleep as he addresses her. "Hello." 

The little girl looks a bit spooked to be addressed by someone as grouchy looking as Law, but quickly gathers her courage. "H-Hi! A-are you the... the Corazón Pirates?" 

Law flinches as if struck. "I guess so. We call ourselves the Heart Pirates though." 

The little girl nods seriously. "Right! My mamá and I talk a different language at home. My bad!" 

She seems to be gathering her courage for a short while, before speaking quickly, seemingly wanting to get the words out before her courage leaves her. "Your captain. He- He's called Pingüino, right?" 

Law scoffs. "What? I'm the captain. Do you mean Penguin?"

Her eyes start sparkling and she points at her penguin plushie excitedly. "Yes! Yes, this one! The one with the same name as this animal. Is he here?! Can I see him?!" 

She stands on her toes, trying to get a look at the crew disembarking the ship behind Law. 

Law's eyes narrow. "Why do you want to see him?" 

She grins, proud of herself for knowing something he doesn't. "It's a secret!" 

Law sighs and contemplates her small frame standing before him. If this was a trap, their enemy would be incredibly foolish to send a small, vulnerable girl like her to lure them in. More likely she'd snuck out without her parents' knowledge. "What's your name, kid?" 

Her eyes widen in shock. "I'm not supposed to tell strangers that!"

Law huffs in amusement. Apparently talking to strangers is fine, but telling them her name crosses a line. "Fine. I'll get Penguin for you." 

"Yes, please!" She does a respectful little bow, stumbling and catching herself as she almost floors herself with the penguin plushie. 

He heads back to the crew and approaches Penguin, who's currently trying to encourage Onigiri to stop being stubborn and finally start walking on his own. "Penguin. That little girl standing there. She's asking for you." 

Penguin's brows crease in confusion. "What? Asking for me?" 

Law just shrugs. "Take the mutt and ask her what she wants. She won't tell me." 

Penguin gives him a half-hearted glare at him calling Onigiri a mutt, but complies, picking up the stubborn furball in his arms and heading over to the strange little girl. 

He crouches down in front of her and gives her a warm smile. "Hi! I'm Penguin. Nice to meet you! You were asking for me?" 

Her eyes are sparkling, and it gets even more intense when she sees Onigiri in his arms. 

"H-H-Hi! You- You're really Penguin?" 

Penguin nods and scratches Onigiri between the ears again while he waits for her to gather her composure again. 

"I- I- My mamá told me so much about you!" 

He stares at her dumbfounded. "Your mom knows me?" 

She beams and nods eagerly and presents her penguin plushie to him. "Yeah! This is for you! If you come with me!" 

Penguin can't help but chuckle. "Are you trying to bribe me right now?" 

"Yes! Come, come, come!!" She's bouncing up and down with excitement again. 

"Calm down for a second. What's your name? And how does your mom know me?" 

"I'm Yuki! Well, easy! Cause you're my dad!" 

Penguin's brain short circuits. He just stares at the girl with his mouth open, unable to think a single other thought. Her... dad? 

"Hihi! You look funny!" Yuki is clearly enjoying his confusion. "Come on, I want you to meet my mamá!" 

He's in a complete daze as he gets up and lets her guide him to her home by her hand, Onigiri still snuggled against him in his other arm. 

They don't have to walk very far, Yuki's home being not far into the pine tree forest. It's a small but cozy cottage nestled comfortably into the thick of the trees. 

Onigiri's nose has started twitching in excitement at all of the different scents surrounding them, but Penguin has been holding onto him tightly.

If he let him run off here they'd never find him again, and he doesn't know if the wildlife on this winter island is dangerous yet either. 

Yuki opens the door for him and gestures for him to step inside.

The strong scent of delicious cooking wafts through the air as they enter, and Penguin can barely keep himself from starting to drool.

Onigiri doesn't know such restraint and actively starts to drool. 

When they make it to the cramped kitchen in the cottage, Penguin wonders if he's dead.

The woman standing there cooking in an apron looks like an actual angel come to life.

He must be in heaven. Or maybe he didn't die, but Shachi put some suspicious things into their last meal again. Wouldn't be the first time that happened. 

She's got long, golden hair, tied back behind her head in a ponytail, humming to herself as she cooks, lifting the lid off of a pot and peering inside, clearly not having heard them come in through the loud sizzling noise present in the kitchen. 

"Mamá! Mira a quién encontré!", Yuki yells over the noise. The angel turns around and her eyes widen as she sees Penguin.

Beautiful, icy blue eyes, the same that he's seen on Yuki. It's true. He's either on some substance or deceased.

There's no way a beauty like her actually exists. Like something out of a dream. 

His lack of focus allows for Onigiri to escape, and he lunges towards the stove, eager to find out what it is exactly that smells so nicely.

The angel proves to not only have divine looks but also quick reflexes as she catches Onigiri mid-air before he can burn himself on the hot stove.

She furrows her brows and inspects the strange, rice-ball looking little creature in a red knitted pullover with an Onigiri stitched on top. 

She looks a little suspicious at this stranger having come into her house uninvited, especially having come in here together with her daughter. 

Penguin wants to say something. Anything. But he's completely speechless, so he just stands there, staring at the angel before him, mouth agape, making an utter fool out of himself. 

Chapter 2: The night we met

Summary:

One fateful night leads to unforeseen consequences Penguin doesn't learn about until years later.

When the Heart Pirates party, they party hard. Well. 95% of the Heart Pirates. 

There is always one particular grouchy man sitting in a corner keeping an eye on his crew. 

Sometimes Shachi and Penguin spike Law's coffee when they already know the crew will be partying in the evening. 

There's no way they'll let their friend avoid having fun completely, and Law's shenanigans when drunk tend to be absolutely legendary. 

Like that time he'd reassembled his own body parts to replace his arms with his legs for what had to be the craziest bit of breakdancing known to mankind. 

Which he'd firmly denied ever having done the next morning, naturally. 

This day is one of those days where Penguin slipped a bit of vodka into Law's coffee. Sometimes he wonders why Law never protests. Maybe he secretly enjoys getting to let loose, especially given it's not out of his own choice.

So when the Hearts head to the local pub in the evening (there's said to be an anonymous mask ball), Law already seems a little more relaxed than usual. 

The masks everyone is wearing are a little ridiculous. Hakugan, the one crew member known to wear a mask on a regular basis, is wearing a mask designed to look like Bepo, while Bepo is wearing a replica of Hakugan's usual mask. 

Law made a very intricate mask that resembles Sora, Jean Bart's mask looks like one of the giants from the children's book "Brag Men", Ikkaku has put on a mask with a long nose resembling the Strawhat's sniper Usopp (whom she's been dating on and off, a well-kept secret among the crew, which is to say everyone knows about it and keeps teasing her with it). 

Shachi is in top form tonight, going above and beyond in having made a full-body orca suit, which coincidentally leaves his face open. Penguin keeps teasing him that he failed with his costume in covering the one single part he's actually meant to cover but Shachi just grumbles something about his sunglasses hiding him well enough. 

Penguin himself had been indecisive for the longest while. If he dresses up like his namesake Shachi and the others will make fun of him for being boring, but if he dresses up as anything else they'll tell him to stop being so extra. 

He sighs, looking at himself in the mirror. He loves getting to be with his best friends and found family all the time, but sometimes he does wish they'd be a little less predictable (and preferably less judgemental as well). 

When the evening comes around, Penguin has shrouded himself in a dark cloak with a hood, hiding his costume underneath. 

He ignores the pestering of all of his other crewmates to tell them what his disguise is as they make their way to the pub. 

When they get there, the first party-goers have already arrived. It's not very crowded yet, but the din makes it a little hard to communicate already. 

Shachi nudges Penguin. "Come ooooon, Pen! Stop hiding your disguise away already! Did you even dress up? Is the cloak your entire disguise?" 

Penguin huffs. "Obviously not. I'm not that boring, thanks." 

Shachi shrugs and goes off to fetch drinks for the entire crew. 

As it draws later in the evening, everyone's having a good time. Penguin is still in his cloak, feeling a little self-conscious about his disguise now that there's so many people around. 

He's currently leaning against a wall near the exit, when he notices somebody new come in. 

An angel with long golden hair. Well, at least her disguise is that of an angel, wearing a golden carneval mask over her eyes and fluffy white wings on her back. 

Penguin's pulse skyrockets just from seeing her. He wants to dance with her. He's gonna dance with her. 

The amount of drinks he's had so far are facilitating the decision making by a lot as he boldly steps toward the angel, speaking in a voice way deeper than his natural tone to impress her. "Hello there, beautiful lady. Could I ask for your first dance?" He curtsies in front of her slightly. 

The woman seems completely bewildered at immediately being asked to dance right after coming into the pub. "Uh. Hi. Uh. I'm gonna go get a drink first. Is that okay?" 

The drunk Penguin immediately sees his chance and offers. "I'll get it for you. What would you like?" 

After giving him the name of her drink of choice, Penguin swiftly goes to fetch it for her. He'll have to get rid of his cloak to dance with her, else he might trip over it and embarass himself. He's generally a little more prone to stumbling when around pretty women, so he'll have to be extra careful. 

When he returns and offers her the drink which she gladly accepts, she smiles awkwardly. "So... to whom do I owe the drink?" 

Penguin lifts back the hood of his cloak, revealing the large mustache he put on and his black hair which is far more tousled and messy than usual (a deliberate choice and not just his last-minute panic about what costume to choose, for sure.) Although most of his hair is hidden by the large pirate hat. 

The angel's eyes widen. "G-Gold Roger?" 

Penguin winks at her. "Yeah! Well, I'm not quite the king of the pirates. Yet. But the crew I captain will get there once we reach the end of the Grand Line for sure!" 

The angel laughs. "Guess we're polar opposites then. I'm dressed as an angel, and you've put on the guise of the devil himself." But then she catches herself. "W-wait. You're an actual pirate? Not just dressed up as one?" 

Penguin quickly reassures her. "We're a good crew! I promise. We have a lot of heart." He smiles stupidly at his own joke, completely oblivious to the fact that the woman wouldn't know him to be a Heart Pirate. 

The two proceed to dance, Penguin miraculously only stepping on her feet twice as the angel proves to be a great dancer (or simply great at avoiding his two left feet.) 

Since she'd come into the pub on her own Penguin drags her with him to meet his crew, where Law is thankfully not feeling social enough to talk to her, else his lie about being captain might have been revealed. 

As the night draws on, a karaoke is set up with an impromptu stage and a microphone den den mushi available for those who are brave enough to face the audience. 

Penguin, who's become absolutely smitten with the angel since the moment he first laid his eyes on her, immediately grabs the chance. He whispers into her ear. "Are you ready to witness the amazing singing talents of Captain Penguin of the Heart Pirates?" 

She giggles, pretty drunk at this point as well. "Give it all you have, captain!" 

What follows is what is indubitably the worst rendition of a romantic song the pub in question has ever had the misfortune of hearing. Penguin has many talents, but singing isn't one of them. 

But he sings with gusto, facing the angel and striking dramatically romantic poses all the while, making her giggle more and more, which is all Penguin cares about in that moment. 

As it gets even later in the evening - some of the crew members had already headed back home to the Tang - Penguin is simply not willing to let this lovely evening with the woman of his dreams end. He still doesn't know her name, which doesn't prove to be an issue as he simply drunkenly calls her "love of his life" every time. 

After being dared to do just that by Shachi, he invites her to spend the night with him. Unwilling to get himself a stern lecture by Law, Penguin arranges for one of the guest rooms situated above the pub, not wanting for his captain to come ruin his fortune by preventing him from having fun as always. 

The angel - who's just as drunk as Penguin - freezes at the invite, and very seriously asks him to pinky swear to her that he's a gentleman and not an evil pirate and won't harm her. 

After the pinky swear, she doesn't seem to have a single concern left in her drunken mind. 

After what Penguin would later refer to as the best and probably most drunken night of his life, the two wake up in each other's arms. 

Which would be incredibly romantic and sweet and crap, why doesn't Penguin remember the name of the lovely woman in his arms??, when he realises that they're not alone in the room. 

He tenses when his eyes fall on his captain, who looks like he's about to pop a vein on his forehead with how furious he looks. 

Penguin freezes and stares at Law like a deer in headlights. He mouths a silent "What?", not wanting to wake the lovely woman beside him. 

Law gestures for Penguin to get up and follow him outside. Penguin silently shakes his head, unwilling to leave the warm cocoon that is the angel's embrace. 

He looks down at her wistfully. She really is very beautiful. Maybe he's still drunk. Normally he doesn't have a single chance with someone of her caliber. 

Shachi does keep telling him how being drunk will "make even the ugliest hag look like a royal princess". Which Penguin hopes isn't right. Because he'd very much like the beauty in his arms to be real. And his. 

Apparently Law's hung over patience has been worn thin, because the next thing he knows is he's been shambled outside of the room, in front of Law, stark naked. He squeaks in a very unmanly fashion before glaring at Law. "What the hell, captain!" 

Law wordlessly hands him some clothes. "You and I are going to have a serious talk about safety. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? I thought you'd been kidnapped. But no. Of course. Just couldn't keep it in your pants. Damned moron." 

Law already sets out to leave, expecting Penguin to follow him. Penguin, now wearing his clothes, stares after him. 

His pounding headache from the hangover isn't helping him in thinking clearly, but he hates this. He hates that he doesn't know the name of the woman he was with, he hates that he can't get to say goodbye, he hates that he has to leave her right now without having even gotten to have the basic decency of letting her wake up in his arms. 

Between the pounding headache and his rapidly increasing guilt and sadness, he's feeling like a horrible worm of a man. 

He quickly steps back into the pub room, looking around in the drawers. Finally he finds a pen to write with. In lack of anything else to write on he tears a piece of his vivre card off, which he always has on him, even in the Gold Roger costume he wore last night. 

He writes on the card. "I'm sorry but I have to leave. You're amazing and I love you. Yours truly, Captain Penguin of the Heart Pirates." She doesn't need to know he's not actually Captain. He'll look cooler that way. 

He's really not good at writing cards. Especially not when hung over. Is "I love you" too much? Surely not. People write "Love, xxx" all the time. Which basically means "I love you, kiss kiss kiss." Right? 

He doesn't have any time to contemplate any longer. The blue film of Law's room spreads out around him, and suddenly he finds himself Shambles'd beside Law once more. 

Six long years pass after that fateful night. Six long years during which Penguin tries to recall the face of the woman he'd been with, but to no avail. Her name, her looks, it has all been lost to his drunken stupor. All he remembers is that she'd looked like an angel. 

He's not a stranger to one-night-stands, much to the dismay of Law who keeps lecturing him and Shachi on safety as if they were still teens, but that one woman he's sure can't have been real. He must have dreamt it. It simply was too good to be true. 

Chapter 3: Mama Bird

Summary:

Back to the present!

Chapter Text

Penguin gulps, staring at the lovely woman in the kitchen before him. He's definitely noticing how carefully she's holding Onigiri, which is already earning her major bonus points with him. 

He clears his throat. "Uhh. Hi." 

She blinks at him. "Hi." 

Thankfully Yuki interrupts what would only be a rather awkward silence. "Look, mamá! This is Pingüino! The capitán! I found him!" 

The woman frowns at Yuki. "Were you at the port again, Yuki? How many times do I need to tell you that pirates are dangerous? You can't just approach them." 

Yuki shakes her small head. "But mamá!! Are you even listening?? This is Pingüino! My dad!!"

The woman huffs and crosses her arms, fixing Penguin with a glare. "Prove it."

Penguin's throat goes dry. Prove it? How? "Uh. My name is written on my hat?", he suggests, pointing at the hat in question. 

Yuki laughs loudly at that. "He's wearing his own name in case he forgets! That's smart!" 

A faint smile plays around the woman's lips at that. "Hm. I guess that's a good point. Yuki, watch the kitchen." 

The woman heads off to rummage in some drawers in the living room before returning with a piece of paper. "This should prove it without a doubt." 

She places the piece of paper on the palm of her hand and then watches as it starts moving towards Penguin with infallible accuracy. 

Penguin stares at it wide-eyed. "You have my vivre card?" 

"You're the one that gave it to me." She takes the vivre card and hands it to him. 

When he reads the words, he blushes scarlet read. He recognizes his own writing, even if he doesn't remember giving it to her. It reads: "I'm sorry but I have to leave. You're amazing and I love you. Yours truly, Captain Penguin of the Heart Pirates."

Penguin's mouth suddenly feels very dry. "Uhm. Yeah. Well. I am Penguin. Heh." 

The woman's eyes narrow. "You left. Without a single word. Why did you even follow Yuki here?" 

Penguin sighs. "Look. I'm sorry. Even though I must have been pretty drunk cause I barely remember any of this, I wouldn't normally leave someone right after... well, you know. Something must have come up. And I was curious to see if it was true. If I'd actually-" He trails off. He can't say "be Yuki's dad." The words just won't come out of his mouth. 

He clears his throat, his voice suddenly assuming a much higher pitch. "Uhm. Am I? Her dad? Without a doubt?" 

He's freaking out a little on the inside, but the woman just nods. "Yeah. I don't- make a habit of sleeping around. Didn't back then, either." 

Penguin blinks owlishly as his eyes go from Yuki to the woman and back again. "Uh. Then why did you- Why did we...?" 

She sighs. "Honestly, you were really cute. I was quite drunk too and you kept giving me love confession after love confession that night. I couldn't resist. It was just so different from anyone who just wanted to take me to bed. Even if we did go there, so maybe it was all just an act." She frowns, looking at Penguin scrutinizingly. 

Penguin fidgets awkwardly. "So. Uh. Did you have any help? With, uh, having the baby? Raising her?" His eyes scoot over to Yuki again, although he's suddenly a little shy to look at her now that it's been confirmed that he is her actual father. 

The woman shrugs. "For the most part, yeah. The villagers on this island are really nice. They helped me out even though I'm an outsider. I don't have any family here, so I probably would have been screwed without them." 

Penguin breathes out in relief. "At least that." He takes a few moments to compose himself before adding. "I-I'm sorry. That I didn't uh, use protection that night. That I did that to you." 

The woman huffs. "We were both really drunk. But I appreciate the apology." 

Yuki guides Penguin to sit down on the sofa in the small living room, before bouncing up and down before him. "So now that you're here, you're gonna stay with us, right? I have so many drawings I wanna show you!!" 

Penguin first feels a hot, then a cold shiver run down his spine. "Uhh. About that? I- I can't exactly leave my crew behind, little one." He looks down at Yuki, admiring her features. He actually has a child. That's still so unreal to him. How's that even possible? He's just Penguin. Troublemaker, prankster officer. Not a responsible parent figure by any means. Oh god, Law's going to kill him. 

The woman sighs. "He's right, Yuki. He's a dangerous pirate, even if he looks pretty mellow." Penguin squawks in indignation, but she pays him no mind and continues. "But you can still show him your drawings, okay? Go fetch all of them. I'll make sure he doesn't run away again." At the last words, she shoots Penguin another glare, and he flinches at the venom behind that look. Okay, so she definitely isn't really happy with him, no matter how civil she's been acting so far. Good to know. 

Penguin bites his lip, feeling horrible. If what the woman said is true, then Yuki's been running to the harbor every time a ship came by, hoping it would be Penguin and his crew this time. How heartbreaking would it be for her if he just up and left again? But he can't give up on his life, on his friends, on Law, Shachi, Bepo and everybody else. He just can't. He can feel himself start to sweat as he sits there, uncomfortably aware of being alone in the room with the woman at the moment. 

Finally, he manages to gather his courage to ask. "I- I don't even know your name." 

The woman's eyes widen. "Are you kidding me?" 

Penguin squeaks again. "I'm so sorry! I barely remember anything from that night, remember!" 

She huffs. "Yeah, okay, makes sense. Just feels a bit ludicrous that you've had such a large impact on my life and don't even remember my name. Not like you remember anything else either, I guess. My name is Anita." 

She sighs, letting Onigiri down on the ground to go explore the surroundings, having held onto him until this moment. 

"Look, I'm really sorry, okay? I- I hate myself for not getting to say goodbye to you that morning and for- for not being there for Yuki. I mean, I still don't feel like I could be a dad, cause that's just surreal but still. I didn't mean to ruin your life like that." 

Anita shakes her head. "My life isn't ruined, and don't you dare let Yuki hear that. She's my pride and joy. I'm glad I've got her. Things haven't been easy for us. But we have each other." 

Something about that resonates within Penguin, reminding him of two little boys that lived on Swallow Island, having nobody but each other. 

"Can I- Can I help you? In any way? I want to help." 

Anita frowns, clearly thinking it over. "We don't have a lot, but we're happy. Yuki's growing so fast, she keeps needing new clothes, so I guess if you have gold to spare I'd ask for that." 

"Yeah. Of course. Anything to help. I'll give you all my savings. We all share our loot amongst each other on the crew anyways so I'll make some again soon." 

Anita looks genuinely surprised. "Really? You're just going to part with all of your personal savings? I guess you're not just all talk." 

Penguin feels incredibly offended that she'd thought that. "Come on, angel- I mean, Anita! I'm not a horrible person." And then, with a very small voice he adds, tone full of self-doubt: "Just a deadbeat dad, apparently." 

Yuki comes back into the room, carrying a plethora of drawings and sketchbooks in her hand. 

They're incredibly messy, but Penguin's heart sings with joy as the little girl shows him all of her drawings so proudly. 

A lot of them are about him, although in her drawings he more looks like a human-sized penguin mink than an actual human. 

There's scenes of him holding Yuki's hands, holding Anita's hands, so much wishful imagining of a family life as three. Penguin's heart breaks just thinking about leaving these two behind. 

He carefully strokes over Yuki's head. "You're a great artist, Yuki. I bet you'll be a world famous painter one day!" 

Yuki's eyes shine with glee. "You really think so?!"

"I'm sure of it." 

Onigiri, who's now done inspecting the living room, hops onto Yuki's lap and sniffs her eagerly, making her put aside her drawings. He starts licking her leg and she giggles. "That tickles! Stop, little perro!" 

Penguin didn't realize he was crying out of happiness until he sees the tears drop down onto the sofa. He quickly wipes them away, glancing over at Anita who's viewing him with an inscrutable expression. 

He clears his throat before speaking, even though he can't completely hide the teary note from his voice. "The dog's name is Onigiri. He's our crew dog. He's the best guard dog any pirate crew has ever had." 

Yuki giggles. "But he's so tiny! Any thief would probably just overlook him!" 

As if Onigiri understood what she said, he hops off of Yuki's lap and onto Penguin's, settling down comfortably for a nap, completely content with his exploration of the surroundings and having made sure this is a safe place to stay for himself and Penguin, like a good protector dog would. 

Penguin gathers his courage and speaks up almost timidly. "Yuki. Do you like living here?"

Yuki furrows her brows in confusion. "Huh? Yeah. This place is nice. Why?" 

Penguin gulps and looks away. "I- I'll have to set off with my crew again. Probably sooner than later, our captain is very impatient once we've restocked on supplies."

Yuki's lip starts quivering. "WHAT? Already? B-but I only just met you and I only just showed you half of my drawings and I've waited for so long and-" 

Before he knows it, he's got a crying child flinging herself at him. Onigiri yips and looks up in concern, having been woken up from his slumber. 

Penguin holds Yuki awkwardly in his arms, trying to hug her back well, but the feeling is leaving him very confused. He's never had to do much with children but he already feels incredibly guilty for making Yuki cry like this, no matter how true his words might be. 

He looks to Anita helplessly, but she just shrugs, not having a remedy for this either. 

Yuki sniffles against his side. "I've only just met you. You can't just leave me again!" 

Penguin holds her closely and sighs. "I- I can't give up my pirate life. My friends. I'm really sorry. I wish I could stay with you, and I'd love to see all of your other drawings too, but..." 

But they're interrupted as a few men suddenly enter the cabin. Penguin tenses up at first but relaxes once he recognizes Shachi, Hakugan and Uni. "Why are you here?" 

Shachi grins from ear to ear. "Captain sent us. We're supposed to help the lovely ladies pack." He winks at Anita flirtatiously, which makes Penguin feel a lot more jealous and protective than he has any right to. 

Penguin frowns. "Help them pack? Why? What the hell is going on here?" Anita adds: "That's what I'd like to know." 

Uni explains. "Bepo overheard what the little girl said to you with his fine hearing. He got super excited that you're a dad and immediately told Law. Who absolutely lost his shit-" He breaks off to giggle. "But then he said that the three of us should follow after you and help the little girl and her mother pack." 

Anita huffs. "What the hell kind of decision is that? He can't just... abduct us." 

Shachi grins even wider. "Not an abduction! But if you're the mother of Penguin's kid, and that there is actually Penguin's kid, then you're gonna come with us, of course. Cause that makes ya family!" 

Anita looks absolutely bewildered and speechless, but Yuki looks beyond excited. "C-Come with you? Can I come with you, Pingüino? Then you won't have to leave me again!" 

Hakugan frowns. "Wasn't that the plan to begin with? The hell were you gonna do, Penguin, just leave them here knowing you have a family?" 

Penguin is getting redder and redder by the minute. "I-It's not like I was in a relationship with Anita here before. It was just a one-night-stand." 

Anita nods. "Yeah. I'd be mad to just leave everything and join a pirate crew on a whim."

Shachi laughs heartily. "Well, good! We're a bunch of madlads too, so you'll fit right in with our crew!" 

Penguin can't help but feel incredible uncomfortable with how lightly Shachi's taking this. He turns to Anita pleadingly. "I-Is that something you'd be willing to consider? Coming with us? We're a good crew, I promise. Things can get dangerous, but-" He looks down, fidgeting with his hands. "Things can get dangerous everywhere. Pirates could come to this seemingly peaceful island too. If you come with us-" He looks back up, meeting her eyes, his expression serious. "Then I promise you on everything I hold dearly that I will protect you and Yuki with my life." 

Yuki cheers happily. "I'll start packing right away!!" 

Anita still looks a little frozen and unsure, but it's obvious that Penguin's heartfelt words have moved her, even if only a little. 

She finally voices her concerns. "But won't it be weird? I'm not a pirate. I don't- I've never even learned to fight. I don't belong on a crew like yours." 

Penguin, heart beating in his throat, gets up and sits down beside Anita, taking one of her hands into both of his. "Anita. That's not something I would ever expect of you. You'd just do whatever you can, and that'd be good enough." It feels like his heart's beating out of his chest as he adds. "But I- I'd love to get to know you. Properly. To get to know Yuki. If- If captain is really okay with this-" He turns to look at Shachi, who nods, before looking back at her. "Then I'd be really happy to have you join us. I'll make sure you won't lack for anything. And I'll even protect you from captain's moodswings." He adds the last part with a crooked grin, making Uni and Hakugan snicker in the background. 

Anita sighs and looks down at her hand in his. "I- I wouldn't mind it so much for me. But I can't endanger Yuki by any means. I can't let her come to harm just because-" She's clearly struggling to let herself be so vulnerable, especially now that three other strangers have come into the room too. "Just because I'd like for her to get to be part of an actual family. Because I'd love to not be so alone anymore." 

Just then, Shachi gets a ring on his baby transponder snail. "What is it?", he asks. Bepo's voice responds. "The radars have detected a large ship coming this way. We can't see them yet, it could be marines or other pirates. Finish packing and get back here as quickly as you can!" 

Penguin freezes in fear. Maybe he won't have the necessary time to convince Anita and Yuki to come join them. Maybe it's all been for naught. What if he will never see them again after this? Never get to properly get to know this angelic woman and his very own daughter? He pleads with her. "Please. Anita. What if it's a crew full of dangerous pirates? Or even corrupt marines? Please. Don't just reject this." 

Anita takes a deep breath, clearly realizing the urgency of the situation. "If Yuki and I join you and I realize that it's too dangerous for us to be on your crew. Would you let us get off again? Build a new life on a peaceful island?" 

Penguin nods seriously. "Yes. I would. I swear to you, that I will respect whatever decision you make. We're an honorable crew. I promise to you that you can trust us." 

No matter how true his words may be, he worries that she's not going to believe him. Why should she, after all? She barely knows him. He's not sure if he would trust him if he was in her shoes. 

She exhales deeply and makes her decision. "Fine. We're coming with you. Yuki. This is urgent. We're only taking the emergency suitcases and everything you can gather within five minutes. Understand?" 

Yuki does a little salute and immediately scuttles off to fetch her belongings. 

Shachi looks impressed as he asks. "Emergency suitcases?" 

Anita nods as she gets up and produces a suitcase from the wardrobe. "Yeah. We always keep them handy and restocked. They have money, emergency food and changes of clothing. I've had to flee the places I lived in a few times before. Best to be prepared." 

Shachi looks seriously impressed, and Penguin feels much the same way. Before he can stop himself, he blurts out. "Wow, you're amazing, angel. I mean, Anita." He quickly corrects himself, blushing hard. 

"Why do you keep calling me angel?", Anita asks as she grabs some of her other belongings strewn about into various other backpacks and bags.

Penguin clears his throat, mortified to admit to this in front of the other three. "Well, cause you look like one. You're just as beautiful." 

As expected, all three of his crewmates start snickering, overjoyed to get to overhear this embarassing moment. 

Anita just laughs softly. "Oh. Yeah. I vaguely remember you saying something like that when I met you." 

Yuki and Anita are ready to leave just a few minutes later. Penguin takes the time to ask them once more. "Are you sure about this?" 

Anita nods, expression a mix of grim determination. "Yeah. I'll hold you to that promise. Yuki's safety comes first." 

Penguin nods. "You have my word. Let's go." He quickly fetches Onigiri into his arms to make sure the little troublemaker won't cost them any time on their way to the ship. 

They make haste, Shachi and Hakugan taking over carrying the suitcases and Uni the bags as Penguin lets Yuki ride on his shoulders. Her legs are simply too short to uphold the speed of the adults. Anita had initially been the one to offer to carry her but Penguin had waved her offer aside with a gentle smile. "No need. I've got more than enough strength to go around." 

What Anita had said before was true. She wasn't a fighter, or trained by any means. Even with their heavy cargo the four Heart Pirates would easily outpace her, but they make sure to match her speed to not make her feel like a burden. 

When they arrive on the Polar Tang and get on board, most everybody else is already inside, ready to submerge. 

Bepo ushers them inside, although he's visibly extremely excited to get to meet Penguin's daughter. Which is still incredibly surreal to Penguin. Once they've all made it inside, Law's there, waiting for Anita and Yuki. He formally introduces himself. "Hello. My name is Trafalgar Law. I am the captain of this vessel. As I'm sure my men have told you, you are free to stay with us for as long as you wish. You are now officially under the protection of the Heart Pirates, whereever you are or may go." 

Penguin preens, feeling incredibly proud to serve under such a good captain and awesome friend. 

Anita replies just as politely. "Thank you. I'll make sure not to be a burden to you or your crew. I greatly appreciate everything you're doing for us." 

She seems very tense, like she's about to run away, so Penguin steps up beside her and puts a hand on her back, just the faintest hint of a  touch to reassure her instead of scaring her further. "I'm here. You and Yuki aren't alone, ya hear me?" He gives her one of his winning smiles, the type that make every lady swoon with a 100% chance of success (in his dreams, at least). 

Anita looks a little confused at his smile but then nods, Yuki clinging onto her leg. 

Law exchanges a meaningful glance with Penguin. "You and I are going to have one long talk once we're submerged and these two are settled in." 

Penguin nods ruefully, already dreading that happening. He smiles at Anita and Yuki. Come on. I'll show you what room you're going to stay in until we've figured out the new living arrangements. I'm sure it's a bit overwhelming, being around this many strangers and what with us about to submerge as well." 

Anita nods gratefully, while Yuki doesn't seem scared in the slightest, taking in the inside of the Polar Tang with wide, curious eyes. 

Penguin can't help but feel happy as he sees her expression. His daughter's expression. He's going to make damn sure that she gets to have an awesome and fun time on this ship. While he's still terrified of suddenly being a dad now, he's starting to get more and more excited by the idea of it. And even if he struggles with it, he's got the Heart Pirates to back him up when he needs them. 

-Fin-

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy wholesome Dad!Penguin as much as I do ^-^

One Piece Unlimited World Red

Battle Collosseum

Doflamingo Cutscenes Part 2

Part 1 here

Drive link to download the Doflamingo scenes (in case youtube is being troublesome)

should I be working on my fanfictions? absolutely

is this relevant preparation to write them? ... yes, your honor

Link to the full cutscenes on youtube (I'm uploading all of Doflamingo to tumblr, but if you're a Lucci / Crocodile / Buggy / Hancock / Franky / Brook / Usopp / Robin fan then there's a little something here for you):

I tried uploading the video in mp4 format but after 2 hours of failure I'm finally going to bed at half past 3 AM. I'll try again tomorrow, hopefully the youtube links work for everyone! If not, feel free to refer to the drive link.

Update: Part 3 is technically out, but doesn't include any Doflamingo, so I won't be making a separate post with it. If you simp for them, there is Ace, Sanji, Zoro, Aokiji, Akainu, Ceasar, Wani, Law, Luffy in the video.

Tumblr isn't letting me upload videos once more so... youtube it is!

Happy birthday, Penguin ^-^

Animation is in 4K and 60% traced from official animations (I cannot draw hands). Background is from episode 1093!

My PC really struggled in making this due to it being 4K.

Big thank you to @coffeetimeworks for helping me choose a scene for Penguin! Sorry that I couldn't draw him beaten and bloody, that was definitely above my skill level for this task, hehe. (I did try but it looked incredibly silly. Just as silly as Penguin's voice line here? Maybe. That's one still out for the jury to decide on.)

Beautiful art AND new knowledge gained! Awesome!

Two sides of the same coin.

A group of flamingos is a flamboyance

A group of swans is a lamentation

Luffy x Kidd - An Alliance over meat

They get along so long as Luffy has the meat

Once Kidd has stolen the meat...

"Gumo Gumo no... Bazooka!"

In case of Victory

Immediate response on Twitter:

Did I start blushing uncontrollably at the "Fufufu"? Maybe. Do I feel silly for it? Very. Have I stopped yet? Not in the slightest. Thank you so much once again! Speaking of advice, all of my confidence is a pure product of "fake it 'til you make it"!

I have quite the habit of rambling on when I'm happy, so Tumblr shall be my medium of choice for the proper response to this.

Ahhh!!! Another kind message, so soon?! You're totally spoiling me!

Thank you so much once again! The animations are definitely a lot easier to find over on YouTube, everything on Tumblr and Twitter ends up being all over the place, even with the masterlist. But that's a side effect I'm happy to accept for constantly throwing new things out into the void!

The same goes to you, mister or missus Unknown, all the best to you and all of your endeavors as well!

Your earlier message inspired me so that instead of making the initial small 2-frame-animation I had in mind, I wanted to take on a bit of a bigger project.

Here's a little WIP, hehe!

(The background is directly taken from the anime and may be sacrificed for the sake of realism in the future - anything goes, so long as I don't need to draw a background myself!)

Dear anonymous, I have no idea which platform you use, (maybe you use BOTH twitter AND tumblr?! Then you're gonna see double and triple!)

But oh my god, thank you so much! I shed a few happy tears when reading this, hehe!

You're just as nice, sending a gimmick as lovely as this. Thank you for being you as well!!

Positive feedback like yours makes me want to animate more things again! :D

I'm trying to make sure to update all of my fanfictions right now before my holidays end, but maybe I could squeeze in a little LoveyBug animation just for you!

Okay, that seems kind of egotistical seeing as LoveyBug is my bug-self, but you know, semantics.

As somebody once told me (and I live by this advice): "No matter the quality of what you put out there, putting in the effort and creating something is already a lot more than most other people do."

This of course can apply to any interest you have, be it knitting, voice acting, or snipping booger at passers-by. (Okay, maybe don't do the last thing. That's kind of gross.)

Jokes aside though, thank you again! Please have a wonderful day!!

NSFW! Not for the faint of heart!

Breeder Village

Doflamingo x Reader - Fanfiction

Copied over from AO3.

This one is definitely my most problematic baby and I'm a little terrified of posting it on here, hell it took me a few months to even start realizing this idea because this is definitely quite far out of my own comfort zone as well.

Summary:

Hidden away in a corner of Dressrosa that has been labelled as radioactive lays a quaint little village full of some of the most beautiful women the Grand Line has ever seen. Everything is represented here - from blondes to brunettes, young to old, tall to tiny, giants, mermaids, humans and even a celestial dragon or two. While it may appear that they live peaceful lives in their day-to-day, they do anything but. The women here are all classified as "breeders" under Doflamingo's tyrannical rule, chosen for their wits, beauty or a mix of the both to bear illegitimate heirs for the king of Dressrosa. Doflamingo is nothing if not a fan of contingency plans and the continuation of his lineage is rather important to him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------   TLDR: Doflamingo saw Big Mom's family and thought "hey, I could do that too! only worse! fufufu"

Notes:

I'd like to make extra sure that you know that this is going to be one fucked up work of fiction. Not only is it strictly 18+ and NSFW but it is also going to deal with some very heavy topics such as rape, forced pregnancies, torture, Doflamingo being Doflamingo, take your pick of the lot. Please enter at your own risk, as this could definitely be triggering for some people. "Graphic depictions of violence" may or may not appear. I'll try and do most things through implication but being the main focus of this work it won't be completely avoidable. Smut will appear!

Chapter 1: Kidnapped

She has no idea what's happening to her. The last thing she remembers is having gone to bed as per usual and now she's woken up in what appears to be a sack of potatoes, scratching uncomfortably against her bare skin as she is being carried over somebody's shoulder.

She's been trying to scream, but there's a weird, disgusting substance in her mouth preventing her from doing so. It smells horrible and makes her panic for breath, even though her nose is thankfully not blocked.

Her struggles are to no avail as whoever is carrying her has a terribly tight grip on her. Her legs kick out as she trashes around, but nothing helps. She pounds her bound hands on her assailant, but it feels like she's punching some mushy liquid instead of a solid person.

The thick liquid in her mouth makes her gag, its pungent smell filling her nostrils, making her mouth feel foul where she can feel it, not wanting to touch it with her tongue again after how disgusting that had felt upon first trying it out. 

Eventually the attacker stops in his step and a deep voice can be heard. "Trebol, did you gag one of our guests again? She's so suspiciously quiet."

"Behehehe, I did, Doffy! You're so smart." 

She's let down on the ground slowly. The opening of the potato sack is opened and she blinks painedly at the invading light. When her eyes work again, she notices that she's in some sort of throne room, her position on a red carpet leading towards a series of thrones. Before them stands a tall man, a glass of wine in hand. 

He's clad in a white, unbuttoned shirt, wearing red pants with white stripes over some incredibly long legs. She looks up at him, terrified of what this kidnapper could possibly want from her. 

"Give her some room to breathe, Trebol. Maybe our guest has a few words to say?" He swirls the wine in his glass, completely at ease with the situation. 

The disgusting substance covering her mouth trails off and flows over to another large man standing off to the side with a thick cloak surrounding him, the weird substance attaching itself to the cloak. 

She takes a few deep breaths, getting accustomed to being allowed to breathe through her mouth again. Her voice is hoarse in her panic as she asks in terror. "Who are you? Why am I here?" 

The tall man in the white shirt scoffs. "Such basic questions. Besides..." He steps a little closer, inspecting her closely. "I am deeply wounded that you don't recognize me. Don't you read the news, sweetheart?" 

The news? So he's some sort of publicly known figure. She racks her brains but comes up short. "I guess I don't." 

The tall man snickers. "My name is Donquixote Doflamingo. This here is Trebol. You'd do well to remember our names. After all, your fate is so inextricably linked to ours now." 

Donquixote. Donquixote? She's definitely heard that name somewhere before. But where? 

The man sighs in faux disappointment. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. To think we've encountered such an uninformed individual. Information is power and yet you don't even recognize a warlord when he stands before you." 

She can't help the tremble that goes through her body at that. A warlord? If that's true, then he's a pirate. One accepted by the World Government, if he's one of the seven. Which means that she won't be able to count on the Marines to save her at any point. 

He takes her silence as a cue to speak again. "I see your situation has become a little clearer to you now. But worry not, sweetheart. I have only the purest of intentions." He snickers happily as if laughing about a joke only he understood, Trebol joining in with his previous, disturbing "Behehehe" laughter. 

Doflamingo steps closer, circling around her, making her feel more and more uneasy as she sits there on her knees. She tries to get up but is held in place by some invisible force. 

She feels like she's barely more like a piece of meat on display, his eyes searing into her form. What would a warlord want with her? Why go through the trouble of kidnapping her from her home? She's nothing special.

Sure, she's done the odd job of bounty hunting once or twice before when pirates came around the island she lived on, but she's never hunted any of the bigger fish, which is also why she's never paid much attention to who the warlords were. 

A glaring oversight, as it were. 

She swallows hard, trying to moisten her dry throat, licking her lips to try and wet them. "You have the wrong person. I have no business with you. Just let me go." She foregoes adding a "please", assuming that it won't make much of a difference with this type of pirate anyways. 

Doflamingo grins, crouching down in front of her. "You'd leave so soon? I'm hurt, sweetheart. I haven't even yet gotten to offer you my hospitality." Another "Behehehe" from Trebol.

Doflamingo seems to be annoyed with the noise as he waves in Trebol's direction. "Leave. I'll call for you if I need you again." Trebol promptly complies, grinning widely as he takes his leave. 

Somehow, the air feels even thicker with just her and Doflamingo left in the room. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather go home.", she manages to choke out. 

Doflamingo sighs dramatically. "Such a shame. But oh well, if that's your wish..." He gets up and suddenly she feels herself able to move again, able to stand up herself. 

"Th-thank you.", she mutters, utterly confused with this. Wasn't he the one who kidnapped her? Did he actually kidnap the wrong person? 

As she turns around to leave, she suddenly freezes in her step. Her limbs start to move against her will, turning her back around again, making her walk towards Doflamingo, wrapping her arms around his neck as she can only look on in horror. 

Doflamingo raises an eyebrow. "Excuse you?" 

She stutters. "Wh-what?! I'm not doing anything! My limbs are moving on their own!"

Doflamingo chuckles. "Such a silly tale. And I'm supposed to believe that? You know, most women are a little more... subtle about wanting me." 

She shakes her head, scared out of her mind. She's desperately trying to get her limbs to move away but they just won't budge. "No... This isn't me doing this... Please... you've got to believe me..."

Doflamingo simply scoffs. "Look, sweetheart, I don't know what game you're playing here, but this is a little very forward." 

Suddenly her limbs are freed once again and she manages to stumble backwards. "Thank god...", she mutters. 

Doflamingo grins. "There, that's better. Look, why don't you stay the night? It's already dark out. I know a nice little spot in the village nearby that has very comfortable accomodation. A lady like you shouldn't be out on her own in the dark." 

She nods hesitantly. "Uh. Okay. Are we still on Precipice Island?" 

Doflamingo's grin fades away entirely. "Oh, sweetheart, no. Precipice Island is quite a few days from here by ship. You're in Dressrosa now." 

Her face falls, complete disbelief and horror warring on her expression. "H-how's that possible? I was kidnapped at some point after going to sleep last night. By... you?" 

Doflamingo shakes his head. "Not quite. Actually, Trebol found you as some men were hurling you to a rather unsavory part of Acacia, the port town of Dressrosa. We don't tolerate any slavery in Dressrosa, so he rescued you and brought you here." 

He smiles apologetically. "Of course, Trebol isn't the brightest bulb in my kingdom. I'm so sorry he gagged you, sweetheart. That must have been uncomfortable." 

Her head is swimming with all of this information. "But how'd I get so far out into the New World if Precipice Island is so far away from here?" 

Doflamingo shrugs nonchalantly. "I'm not sure. You'd have to ask your kidnappers to know that." 

She nods slowly. "O-okay. Thank you. For saving me. I am in your debt." 

Doflamingo grins. "Oh, I'm not the one you need to thank, Trebol is the one that did all the work. But you are very welcome. So what about it? Would you like me to get you a guest room in the nearby village?" 

Something about this offer makes the hairs on her neck stand up, but she decides to ignore it. She'll need some sort of place to sleep anyways and it'd probably be better not to affront this warlord. Something about him just oozes power. She hasn't been around any pirates of his caliber, but she's got a pretty good head on her shoulders and her gut instinct is telling her that this man is incredibly powerful. Definitely better not to antagonize him. 

"Thank you. I'd like that." 

Doflamingo's grin widens. "Sweet. It'd be fastest if I swung us there. I trust you're not afraid of heights?" 

"Why-?", she's about to ask her question when Doflamingo suddenly steps closer, delicately wrapping an arm around her waist before quickly striding over to the window, open it wide and jumping out. 

She screams in terror, terrified of what's about to happen as they are suddenly pulled up by some force or another. 

"Relax", Doflamingo's deep voice commands. "I've got you, sweetheart." 

With all of their surroundings blurring around them she closes her eyes and hides her face against Doflamingo's body. She has no idea what's going on but she definitely feels like she's about to puke. 

With an abrupt stop, she can suddenly feel herself be set down on the ground again. It feels like everything is spinning as she can barely look on straight, still feeling like she's about to puke. 

Doflamingo's hands steady her shoulders. "You alive?", he asks, voice dripping with amusement. 

She wants to shake her head but knows it'll only make her dizzy feeling worse so she mutters out a weak "No.", eyes still closed tightly. 

"It'll pass." Doflamingo's voice is incredibly soft and sweet now. "It takes some getting used to." 

Once she's finally gained her bearings again, she opens her eyes, looking up at Doflamingo who's smiling down on her. "Better?" 

"Better." She takes a deep breath, letting the fresh air of the country soothe her troubled mind, regaining her bearings as she takes a look around at the surroundings. It is a small village that he has brought her to, many small cottages lined up beside one another, surrounded by wide fields filled with flowers. There's no light on in any of the cottages but the clothing on the washing lines outside in the gardens suggests that people do live here. Maybe it simply is too late in the evening, she has no idea how late it is after all. 

"There you go." Doflamingo pats her shoulders one last time before letting go of her. "Follow me. I'll show you what cottage you can stay in for the night. I'll make sure you find your way back home come tomorrow." 

"Thank you. You're being so kind to me, even though I'm a total stranger." She smiles up at him coyly. "I- I can pay you once I have my hands on my money back home. To compensate you for the trouble you've gone through to help me." If there's one thing she knows pirates love, it's treasure. 

Doflamingo waves her off, the grin still plastered on his face. "Please don't worry about that. I am the king of this country, I have riches aplenty. I'd be a lousy ruler if I didn't aid a damsel in distress, wouldn't I?" 

Somehow she can feel herself blushing at that. Between how decidedly handsome he is, how he keeps calling her sweetheart and how benevolent he's being towards her, she's starting to feel a little flustered. "I guess so! Still. I'd feel bad not expressing my gratitude." 

Doflamingo laughs softly. "Please don't worry about that. Sleep over it for the night first, why don't you." 

They arrive at a cottage, Doflamingo grabbing a set of keys from his pocket to open it up for her. "Head to the first floor. There should be an empty bedroom there. Don't make too much noise, there's one other person currently staying here if I remember right. Wouldn't want to disturb her sleep." 

Another person in the cottage? She supposes that beggars can't be choosers, but that still seems odd, invading their house - or current accomodation, at least, without their knowledge and consent. 

Doflamingo seems to be able to read the worry off her face as he immediately reassures her. "Don't worry about her. She's an older lady, a kind soul, so you won't be in any danger or anything." 

She briefly wonders what a pirate warlord would classify as "kind", but she doesn't have much of a choice here. "Alright. Thank you. Again." She smiles apologetically, wishing she was able to thank him better. 

"Don't mention it. Go on, off with you. Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite!", he says, strolling off down the street, leaving her standing there in the entrance to the cottage. 

Taking a deep breath, she braces herself and walks inside the dark hallway. If it wasn't for the full moon, she wouldn't be able to see a thing. Walking up the stairs she happens to enter the bedroom first when she tries the first door. 

She heads inside, turning on the light and looking around. It's bare, but looks clean, at least. A wardrobe with only a few inconspicuous pieces of clothing hanging in it, a nightstand with a strange book laying in it which she decides not to pay any attention to for now. 

She really is dead on her feet. Who knew that the excitement of being kidnapped would tire her out so much? But still. Multiple days of journey away from her home island. She can't understand how any of that has worked out. But she'll have to mull it over tomorrow. 

She yawns heavily, already having taken off her shoes, about to climb into bed when she's nearly startled out of her skin by a sharp intake of breath coming from the door frame. 

Apparently she had awoken the other resident of the house, a middle-aged woman of about 40 years, a little overweight with smooth, long, brown, flowing hair, looking at her like she's just seen the devil. "You're new.", is all the woman manages to say. 

She quickly moves to reassure her. "Oh, yes, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I'll only be here for the night, I'll be gone tomorrow morning." 

"HAH!" She stares at the woman in shock as she starts cry-laughing hysterically. "LEAVE AGAIN! LEAVE AGAIN! Do you have any idea where you are? HAH! As if any of us could leave again." 

She moves back as if by instinct, trying to put a bit more space between herself and the crazed woman. "I didn't see anything preventing me from leaving again." 

"You don't get it." The crazed woman moves closer, a hint of madness flashing through her eyes. "We're his. We're all his. His breeding bitches. His worthless whores that he uses and tosses aside like yesterday's trash." 

She starts shaking slightly, unsettled by the insanity that the other woman is radiating. "I- I don't know what you mean." 

"Oh, you'll know. You'll know soon enough. Enjoy your obliviousness while you can. HAHAHAHA!" The woman turns on her heel and slams the door behind her, leaving behind one deeply unsettled individual. She sits down on the bed, staring at the door. 

"Breeding bitches." "Worthless whores." Just what the hell is going on here? 

Sleep doesn't come easily to her that night, feeling deeply unsettled by the encounter as she tries to find a comfortable spot on the foreign bed.

Chapter 2: The Village

When she wakes up the next morning, the sun has not yet begun to shine its light on the country of Dressrosa. 

She yawns and stretches before getting up and looking out of the window. 

This place is so peacefully serene. If she had come here voluntarily she might have chosen it as a spot to go on vacation on for a while. 

The flower fields start right behind the garden of the house she's in, stretching out as wide as the eye can see. 

Part of her can't help but think about her cousin Amentia, saddled with some of the worst hay fever anyone in her family had ever seen. She'd absolutely hate it here, if she was even able to breathe here in the first place.

Thankfully she doesn't share her cousin's hay fever and so she tilts the window open vertically, breathing in the fresh, cold scent of the morning, mingled with the aroma of the flowers not far from her window. 

She sighs happily. Dusk has always been one of her favourite times of day. The quiet, the feeling that you are but alone in the world with noone but your thoughts to keep you company. 

A jolt suddenly runs through her. Right. The crazed woman staying in the same house as her. Maybe she should try to sneak out while she is still asleep? She'd rather not risk another encounter with her. 

"A kind, older woman", the warlord had called her, if she recalls correctly. Not that that description had fit her much. Sure, she'd been a little older, but definitely not kind. More like psychotic and definitely with a few marbles loose. 

When she tries the door to her room it appears to be locked with no key available on her side of it. She grimaces. That must have been the other woman's work or maybe these rooms had a locking mechanic when closed for whatever reason. She's never heard of that being the case in-doors, but there's always something weirder to discover on the Grand Line, after all. 

Unless this was a prison? The thought startles her and makes goosebumps raise on her skin. No. Surely not. Just a quaint little cottage in the middle of nowhere. Why would it be a prison? It's not like the windows are barred either. She's just being ridiculous. 

But the thought keeps scratching at her, unsettling her deeply even as she tries to dismiss it. Once planted, the seeds of doubt are impossible to get rid of, no matter how hard she tries. 

Trying the window next, she finds herself relieved to see that it does open wide enough to permit passage. She has to apply a bit of force, the mechanic of the window seeming old and rusted from years of disuse but thankfully it opens sideways, allowing her to sling her legs over and dangle them out, checking out the climb-ability of the facade beneath her. 

She's in luck. There just so happens to be a small perch (presumably an overhang for the terrace) right below her window which she can easily reach down to by stretching her legs a little.

Letting herself down carefully, she proceeds to climb downwards, her hands and legs easily finding purchase on crooks and nannies.

She would love to hurry up with the process, but realizes that patience is key here. If she happened to fall and sprain her leg she'd be defenseless if the crazed woman approached her again and she'd rather not deal with that. 

As she finally sets her feet down on the floor of the terrace, the light has changed to a subtle red hue, a messenger of the sunrise yet to come. 

She wipes some dust off her clothes which had gotten a bit dirty from climbing and sets out towards the main street. With how vast the flower fields are she doesn't have any hopes of finding her way back to this port town (Akathia? What was its name again?) on her own. At least Doflamingo had promised to take her there today, but she's definitely not going to wait around being locked up by some crazy woman until he comes back around. 

That's when it finally hits her. He'd said that he was the ruler of this country. So he was.. an actual king? And she'd just spoken to him so casually? Huh. But he had not looked particularly offended at that, which was even weirder. 

She gulps, hoping she hasn't offended him too much. If she had, she might have ruined her only way off of this island, or at least back towards the port town. But perhaps the other villagers could help her with that? 

She strolls down the main road of the village. Strange. There weren't any sort of shops or otherwise expected vicinities around. No butcher, no baker, seemingly no method of buying any sort of day-to-day necessity whatsoever. Perhaps the people here had travelling merchants coming around? But the village had seemed so far removed from anywhere else and both ends of the main road seemed to get lost within the man-high flower fields surrounding the village. 

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like something out of a fever dream. 

Maybe like some sort of science-fiction novel she kept reading, about some test subjects being secluded away from the life they knew under a big dome. She shivers and tries to shake the thought off. Getting lost in her own worries and paranoia will just spoil her time in this lovely village. She's been given no reason to doubt that there's anything wrong with this place, after all. Besides the crazed woman, the fact that she was locked into her room and the way the village seemed to consist only of inhabited houses. Her freakish kidnapping aside, that is.

The sun has properly begun to rise now, its first rays casting the village in a beautiful, golden glow. She'd love to live here. On her own island the houses oftentimes were barely more than bare buildings, oftentimes being swept away by the tsunamis that crashed ashore because of some stupid underwater shenanigans. Not that she understood much of it, she'd never bothered to pick up much knowledge beyond what she needed for her own day-to-day, getting by on just enough to be able to support herself. 

She can pick up some noises fromt one of the houses further down the road and decides to investigate. Peeping may not be the most polite course of action but damn if she isn't curious to see a little more of the inhabitants of this village. If they aren't as crazy as the woman she's met it might make her an exception, after all. 

She sneaks close to the window, hiding under it and peaking up just enough to be able to look inside. 

Getting direct view into the living room of the house, she sees two women standing behind a sofa, hugging each other. 

More specifically, one is comforting the other who is sobbing hysterically. 

Unfortunately her sobs aren't quite loud enough to be intelligible from her position, but she can see the shoulders of the woman shake with sobs, the other pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head in a vain effort of trying to comfort her. 

The words of the calmer woman, much louder than the sobs of the crying one, reach her outside the building. "We'll all support you. Just like every time it happens." 

She frowns, wishing they could speak a bit more directly about what's happening. She's still as clueless as before. This could be about virtually anything. 

When she tries to sneak away from the window, seeing as the women walk further inside the house and completely outside her reach of hearing, she stumbles over an empty metal bucket she had overseen. 

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.", she curses, hoping that noone's heard the commotion but the bucket had been painfully loud, a big disturbance to the otherwise serenely peaceful village. 

She turns around the side of the house quickly, back against the wall as she tries to even out her breathing in case anyone comes to check on her. 

Does she really have any reason to be this secretive? Probably not. The two women hadn't exactly looked hostile, but she'd only seen them in talking to one another, they might act totally differently towards outsiders. 

The few small fry pirates she'd hunted the bounties of hadn't looked like much of anything either, after all. Appearances could definitely fool and she'd already almost lost her life to making that very same mistake once before. 

She can hear the door to the house open, a small clang of metal, presumably the bucket being put in an upright position again. 

"Doflamingo?", a female voice calls out. "Are you here?" 

The voice seems to wait for a few moments before she can hear the door to the house close once more. She lets out a breath she wasn't even aware she'd been holding. 

Okay. So that woman was personally acquainted with Doflamingo, to be calling him by his first name. Surely his subjects would address him by something like "your majesty"? But maybe he handled things differently, or she was simply a friend of his. 

The notion seemed almost silly to her. A scary warlord of the sea, king of a country, having common friends. But then again, even rulers must be pretty lonely without friends, she figures. 

Part of her feels silly for acting so stealthy. Doflamingo had told her he'd help her in getting home. She could use that as leverage, if anyone were to try and hurt her. If they would believe her, anyways. She barely believed it herself, that she'd been in contact with such an (apparently widely known) and prominent person in the world of piracy. 

She simply can't help her curiosity though. She turns around the side of the house once more until she's at the back of it. A table and a few chairs seem to be arbitrarily placed on the terrace which is otherwise empty. Once more she sneaks up to a window to peek in, this time getting a view of a ground floor bedroom. 

The woman she'd previously seen sobbing so miserably is sitting on the bed, looking down. She appears to have stopped crying, but there's something about her that just seems so defeated and so broken that it makes her onlooker's throat tighten slightly just by looking at it. 

The woman on the bed has a hand on her flat, muscular abdomen. Her face sets into a grim line, clenching her fingers into her stomach, the motion looking painful especially thanks to her long fingernails and the sheer force and anger behind the motion. 

She has to look away, feeling distraught by what she's seeing. What the hell is going on in this village? Is that woman having cramps? Is she angry because she has some form of stomach disease? Does she blame her body for her woe? Are all the people here just batshit crazy? 

She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her frayed nerves. She'd love to come across something normal at some point. Like, anything, at this point. 

Okay, maybe it's her fault for looking in on a private scene, but still. That's not how normal people act. Right? Sure she hasn't gotten out of her village in quite a while now, but still. These people were supposedly human just like her. 

Just when she's finally calmed down and evened out her breathing, her newfound calm is disrupted. 

A dark voice chuckles. "Fufufu. Sweetheart, didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to peep?" 

Her heart rate immediately shoots back up as she's about to let out a startled scream in terror. 

Just before she can - which would inadvertently alert crazy woman no.2 from inside the room - Doflamingo appears. He's dangling upside down from the roof, clasping his hand around her mouth. "Ssh, darling. Wouldn't want to draw any attention to your illicit activities, hm?" 

Her eyes widen almost comically as she just stares at Doflamingo in complete confusion and disbelief. 

The large man is actually hanging off the roof, upside down, grinning at her with what confusingly much looks like a frown because it's the wrong way around. 

She tries to figure it out, but she can't. How's he just suspended in the air like this? Shouldn't he be falling off? Is this some sort of devil fruit that can make him fly? The up-up-down fruit? No, that doesn't make sense and frankly it hurts her head to even try to think about. 

Chapter 3: Return to the palace

When he finally lets go of her mouth again, she shakes her head. "Doflamingo. How did you-?" 

He shrugs nonchalantly. It's so disorienting to see him hanging upside down. How is he doing this? "I told you I'd get you back to Acacia today. I'm an early riser." 

"Oh. Me too. That's convenient." She's feeling a bit awkward now, conversing so casually with this king. Why is he upside down?? She can't get over that fact. 

Doflamingo does a spin and is suddenly standing in front of her upright again. His smile turns into a frown. "Unfortunately there's been some... complications." 

"Complications? What kind?" 

Doflamingo sighs, a shadow passing over his face. "There's criminals at large in Acacia at the moment, terrorizing the people. The royal army is looking to defeat them, but the situation is far from resolved." 

"Oh. So you can't take me there?" 

"Unfortunately not. Of course I'll make sure that you have everything you may need. We value hospitality greatly here in Dressrosa." 

She bows slightly. "Thank you. You are too kind."

"You're free to keep your room here for as long as it takes to resolve the situation as well, of course. Mi casa es su casa." He flashes her a charming smile. 

Another night around the crazy woman? Oh god. She's a bit hesitant to bring it up, but she'd rather face this conversation than the manic woman. 

"Actually, I ran into the woman you said was staying in the same house. She seemed a bit... out of it?" That's the most polite way to phrase it that she can think of. 

"Out of it? What did she do?" Doflamingo seems genuinely concerned. 

"She said I'd never be able to leave again and she got incredibly vulgar and hysterical. It was really scary. She also locked me in my room for the night. I don't... I'd rather not spend another night in the same house as her, if there's any other possibility." 

He hums to himself, looking into the distance. "I see. You see, the people here, they're... challenged by the most simple daily interactions. This village is a bit of a safe space for the mentally disabled. But they are harmless, so you were never in any danger." 

"Oh!" That certainly explains a lot of things. The sobbing woman hurting her own stomach as well. "Shouldn't they be supervised in that case?" 

Doflamingo chuckles softly. "Are you telling me how to run this place?" 

She flinches back. "No! No, of course not, I just couldn't help but overlook-" She points to the window behind her that Doflamingo had caught her peeping into. 

Doflamingo seems to derive great amusement from the way she'd made peeping in sound like a most normal thing to do, but he doesn't comment on it again. "There are safety measures in place, of course. Worry not. Some doctors live in this village together with the... patients, so to speak. Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions, hm?" He chuckles softly, relishing the chance to admonish her. 

"Right. Right, okay. But is there any way you could find a different place for me to stay in?" 

Doflamingo grins. "Could it be that you have something against the disabled, darling?" 

"What?! No! I just didn't feel safe around that one woman in particular." She huffs, feeling indignified at the accusation. 

She continues. "But I really would like to go home as quickly as possible. I'm sure the people in my village are confused about where I've gone. I usually trade them some of the game I hunt." 

Doflamingo sighs. "Well, I'm afraid they'll just have to worry for a little longer. There is currently no safe way off of the island." 

An idea seems to pop into his head. "But if you are truly so uncomfortable staying in this village, then I could offer you my own residence for the night, of course." His smile has become almost mischievous. 

"Yours? So the palace your henchman dude brought me to yesterday?" 

"Trebol, yes. Would that be alright with you? If it wouldn't be too indecent for you to spend the night at my place, that is." It's hard to see through the sunglasses, but she's pretty sure he just winked at her. 

She can't help her immediate reaction, blushing faintly at the insinuation. "No, no, that would be fine by me. I'm not that much of a prude." 

"Good. Me neither." Doflamingo grins widely once more. 

Before she even really knows what's happening, he's wrapped his arm around her waist just like the night before. 

"Careful! Please! I don't want to puke again!"

Doflamingo just snorts. "You didn't puke last time, darling." 

"But I nearly did!"

He scoffs, letting her latch onto him tightly before he moves his arm and jerks them upwards again. 

Now that she's experienced this once before, she feels minimally less terrified but still can't manage to stifle her small scream as she feels the wind rush past her. 

If she was a little braver, she might have looked around and seen the country rush past under the two of them, but she never manages to find that courage. 

By the time Doflamingo lands with a force that rattles her entire being she's trembling and incredibly green in the face. 

"Are you still with me?", Doflamingo asks in concern, trying to pry her off of his clothes, but she's clinging to him desperately.

She had assumed the second time of this happening would be easier on her, but if anything she just feels even more sick now. 

When she opens her mouth to reply she nearly ends up throwing up so she quickly presses her lips shut and covers her mouth with her hands. 

Doflamingo frowns down at her. "Oh dear." 

He holds onto her tightly as he quickly strides inside the building they've landed in front of, his long legs working in their favour as he's able to cover distance quickly with his long strides. 

He opens a door with his foot before quickly setting her down on the edge of a bathtub, offering her a bucket to spit into if she needs it. 

"Good on you for not throwing up on me. This is my favourite coat." 

She can barely focus on his words as she sits there, hanging her head over the bucket, trying to calm her upset stomach down. 

He leaves shortly, returning after a few minutes with a glass of water in hand. "Here. It'll get rid of the bad taste." 

She nods gratefully, taking the glass and drinking eagerly. 

"You're not very resilient, huh?" 

She shakes her head slowly. "Apparently not. Were we... flying?" 

He nods in confirmation. "Yeah. Do you need to lie down for a bit, sweetheart?"

She's tempted to refuse just to not embarass herself any further but quickly comes to realize that her pride is a little less important than potentially ruining any of his fancy regal furniture, so she nods. Flying, huh? He must be in possession of some sort of devil fruit then. She'll have to ask him about that later. 

As if he'd never done anything different in his life, he picks her up again, letting her lean her head against his shoulder as he supports her calves with his hands. 

The following hours pass like a blur. After being set down on an extremely comfortable sofa in some sort of common area she proceeds to take a nap for an hour or two. Doflamingo then sends a young boy called Dellinger to her to show her around the palace a bit. His high-pitched voice unsettles her a little at first, but after listening to him talk for a while it's not so bad anymore. Dellinger explains that Doflamingo himself is of course a very busy person being the king and that she should feel honored she's been given this much attention so far in the first place. 

Dellinger adds that she's gotten a lot more attention than the others so far, but completely shuts down when she tries to inquire what he meant by that, only laughing in a painfully loud and high-pitched voice. She can't help but take a dislike to Dellinger. He may be younger than her in age, but that just seems to make him even more of a brat. 

Come evening, Doflamingo saunters back into the library that Dellinger ended up parking her at, telling her to enjoy herself and pick out a book of her liking. She's never been particularly interested in books, in fact she's read so few of them in her life that her literacy isn't that great and the process a slow and arduous one, but she's been spending her time browsing through what appears to be a children's tale about the fairies in Dressrosa. It's mostly images, which she's definitely grateful for. 

Doflamingo peaks over her shoulder, looking at what she's reading. "Do you believe in fairies?" 

She shrugs, looking back up at him. "I don't actively believe in them, but there's always something weirder on the Grand Line, right?"

His face widens into one of those grins she's become so accustomed to lately. "That's all too true." 

He walks around to stand in front of her, helping her up off the chair. "It's about time for dinner, if you're interested?" 

She nods, smiling at him gratefully. "That'd be awesome, thanks. I haven't had much to eat today." 

Doflamingo frowns. "Did Dellinger not offer you anything? I specifically instructed him to take good care of you." 

"He did, I just felt a bit too queasy to have anything yet." 

"Ah, I see. Well, then you'll have quite the appetite for what I have planned for you. Come." 

He strolls off, clearly expecting her to follow him. For every step he takes she has to take two, so she's awkwardly jogging behind him to not lose him in the labirinthine halls that the palace consists of. 

When he notices he slows down, falling in step beside her. "My apologies, sweetheart." 

"Sorry, you're just so... big.", she pants faintly. 

"You should see my executive Diamante. He's far taller than I am." He says it in a jovial tone, but something about the grim outset of his face tells her that that's something he's not all that happy about. 

"Sounds annoying. Having to crane your neck up to look at somebody all the time."

Doflamingo's face softens incrementally and he smiles down at her. "It is. A true pain in the neck, so to speak." 

Her comment seems to have appeased his apparent jealousy of the other man's height. 

The village chief from her home had had a similar problem, always comparing his own height that that of the other villagers, although he had been particularly short in nature. Doflamingo, being the giant that he is, seemingly having the same issue amuses her greatly as the two of them head off to have dinner together. 

Chapter 4: Dine and Wine

When they arrive at the dining room there is a large table for two already equipped with napkins, cutlery and even some lit candles. 

For some reason she cannot help but ask herself if this is something he had planned on initially, even though his question about if she had eaten yet seemed so genuine at the time. 

Doflamingo pulls back her chair for her swiftly along with a "Here you go, mademoiselle", which does make her feel incredibly special. This is a king, after all! 

Nobody from her home island would even believe her if she told them that she got to dine with a king. 

When Doflamingo sits down, one of his legs briefly comes in contact with hers, which he apologizes for with a grin. "Apologies. It's always a struggle parking these long legs." 

She cannot help but have a bit of red creep up her cheeks as she nods and smiles back. Before she can get flustered any further she decides to steer the topic towards a safer route and asks him: "So, what's for dinner?" 

Doflamingo chuckles. She could listen to the sound all day, his deep voice and kind chuckle making something in her heart flutter just a little faster. 

"I don't want to ruin the surprise for you, darling. I hope you don't mind surprises, hm?" 

"N-not at all.", she stutters. Stuttering like a young school girl, what's this about? She really needs to get a grip on herself or he'll think her to be an immature whippersnapper. 

Dinner swiftly comes into the room, carried by some servants. 

For Doflamingo they set down a lobster dish in front of him. She watches as he licks over his lips with that absurdly long tongue of his and some part of her can't help but wonder how that would feel licking long strides over her-

She shakes her head as if to shake the thought off. Sure, he's been flirty with her so far, but she needs to stay focused here. 

For her plate, she gets a dish that is typically Dressrosan according to Doflamingo. Once she digs in she can really tell how hungry she's become over not eating much of anything all day. 

She tries to mind her table manners, but it's hard whenever the dish before her is simply so delectable. 

Beyond a few polite inquiries of whether the other person is enjoying their dish, the two of them eat in companionable silence. 

She can't help but continously steal glances at Doflamingo and she's pretty sure that he's doing the same to her even if it's impossible to tell through the glasses. 

Once she's done with her dish and has asked him to pass her gratitude for the amazing meal on to the chef, she can't help but ask curiously. 

"Do you usually eat alone?" 

Doflamingo finishes his bite of lobster - the way he's been tearing his food up with such royal elegance yet an underlying almost primal amount of strength is definitely doing things to her - before he replies. "I usually eat with my family. They're very loyal, but they can be a little much to take in for outsiders."

She nods. "Oh, Dellinger is part of that family, right?" 

When he nods in confirmation she adds: "If the others are all characters like him too I'm sure that'd be a bit much to handle." 

Doflamingo freezes almost unnaturally mid-motion, holding completely still all of a sudden, drawing back his lips ever so slightly. "What is that supposed to mean?" 

Her eyes widen. She's never seen anyone hold that perfectly still, to have such perfect poise and complete control of their body. "I just meant that it would be a very lively dinner for sure. I'd stick out like a sore thumb!" 

He resumes motion, visibly relaxing slightly as his large lips assume another smile. "Ah. I see. For a second it sounded like you had some negative views on my family there, sweetheart." 

She gulps, once more getting the impression that this is not a man, but an animal of prey sitting opposite her. There's just something in the way that he carries himself, some part of him that makes her want him in such a basic, carnal way that makes her rub her thighs together with anticipation. 

"Not at all, Doflamingo. I don't know them yet after all, it'd be rude to assume." 

"Indeed." He draws out the word, taking his wine glass into his hand and swirling it around. She can feel his gaze bore into her and she'd give good money to know just what he is thinking about right now. He takes a long sip before asking casually. "Do you have anyone at home?" 

"As for my family? Technically yes, but we don't see each other that much anymore since I moved out into my own hut." 

"Perhaps someone of a more romantic nature?" 

Her heart does a somersault in her chest. He's actually asking her if she's single? That can only be a signal of his own interest, surely. 

"Noone at the moment, no." 

"Good. So there's noone you would become unfaithful to." He doesn't bother to explain, leaning back in his chair, giving off the impression of a content, self-assured cat. 

Her mouth is working quicker than her brain, making her spurt out the next question so boldly before realizing that it truly is far too blunt. "Are you offering yourself for the position?" 

Doflamingo starts smiling broadly, those perfect porcelain teeth on full display as he grins at her boldness. "Sweetheart, I don't "offer myself". I claim and take what I want to be mine." 

If she had a few less sips of that delectable wine, if she hadn't started falling for him little by little, that statement may have rung some alarm bells with her. 

Swallowing her fear of rejection and last remnants of sanity she continues with another bold question. "Am I something you want?"

Doflamingo throws his head back, laughing loudly, his mouth open impossibly wide as the sound seems to reverbate from the walls of the room. 

Eventually he calms down again, grinning at her in a truly manic fashion. "Why, sweetheart, if a little wine makes you this bold I'd have offered you some the second I met you. You really don't hold back, do you? Yet maybe I shouldn't be surprised, granted you hugged me so boldly even during our first encounter." 

A hug? She doesn't recall it at first, before the image falls back into her mind. How she'd been unable to control her own body and had wrapped her arms around his neck without her own volition. 

But she is unable to think entirely clearly with the alcohol making her thoughts fuzzy at best, so she latches on to one aspect of that - giving up control. 

Before she can lose herself in some more fantasies around that, he speaks again. "You are. You are something I want. Or rather, someone. Since the moment I first laid eyes on you I just knew I had to have you." 

He gets up, walking around the table and offering her a hand to get up as well. 

The size difference now once again apparent, she looks up at him, heart thrumming wildly in her chest. Her throat feels a little tight and her head a little light-headed. This is happening. It really is happening. 

"Doflamingo-" 

"Call me Doffy, sweetheart. Everyone I care for does." 

Her mouth is starting to go dry. He cares for her. He actually cares for her. After such a short time period too. She has no idea what it is that she's done right to win the affection of this large, regal man so quickly but boy is she glad that she has. 

"Doffy." Using the nickname makes her feel oddly ecstatic, like it's a forbidden drug that she's finally allowed to taste. 

"Good girl.", he replies, reaching out and cupping her cheek with his impossibly large hands. "You really are one beautiful gem."

She can't help but lean into the touch. His hands are oddly cool to the touch, providing a nice juxtaposition to her own heated cheeks. 

Doflamingo grins and leans down, his breath fanning over her face. "There is one room that Dellinger left out during the tour earlier. The royal bed chambers. Perhaps you'd like a private seeing with the king himself?" 

Chapter 5: Time for bed (NSFW)

Before she can even reply to his question about whether or not she'd like a private seeing of his bedroom with him he's hooked his arms around her legs and her back, picking her up in a bridal carry. 

She gives a small, indignified yelp at first, but when she looks up at him, her heart stops for a few seconds. 

In this angle, she's actually able to see his eyes for the first time. If she was falling for him before, now she's plummetting. 

His eyes have surprisingly long lashes, his irises are of a deep, red colour, the right eye being just a bit paler in colour than the left. 

He's currently looking down at her, looking a little hesitant as he keeps walking with her in his arms. She wonders if she's the first person that he's ever shown his eyes to. 

"You're beautiful.", she breathes out quietly, almost a little scared to ruin the moment. 

Doflamingo lets out a soft huff. "Thanks, sweetheart." She's completely unable to read his voice and it scares her a little, worrying that she might have destroyed this vulnerable moment for him.

He doesn't say anything else so she takes the time to admire him further.

How safe she feels being carried in his massive arms, how small she feels being pressed right up against his large chest and yet how protected. 

Something in her brain seems to click. She wants this man. It's not even so much a passing attraction anymore now than wanting this man to truly be hers, to belong to her, to stick with her through thick and thin. 

She can't help but wonder if he feels at all similar about her. His eyes now focused on the halls up ahead, she still finds it so incredibly hard to read him and his expression. 

Even just generally, she feels a bit off-kilter with him. Usually she's always been good at reading people, but with Doflamingo she finds herself truly unsure. 

He's always smiling and laughing so she's sure that his general disposition must be rather joyful, but there's something there, something that's just out of her reach to grasp that she cannot identify. 

Something that would help her in understanding him significantly better, she's sure of it. 

Doflamingo faces his back to the door to his bedroom, opening it with a hand from behind. "Ready, sweetheart?", he coos lowly. 

It takes her breath away. It's lavish yet also delightfully simple, a large king sized bed taking up center stage in the room, velvet curtains available for whoever would prefer some privacy. 

There's a neatly kept desk, some book shelves and two doors to adjacent rooms. 

She wonders just how much time he even spends in here, if it's neat by choice or by lack of usage. 

He carefully sets her down on her feet. "Home sweet home. Within the larger home, anyways."

If she's not completely mistaken there was a tone of wistfulness to his words. 

He lets her look around for a second, her reaching down to run her fingers through the incredibly fluffy, large, pink rug laying on the floor. 

She looks at him questioningly and nods towards the closed doors, unsure if that's something he's okay with being asked about. 

"Oh, that's just the on-suite bathroom and my wardrobe." Doflamingo walks over to one of the doors, revealing a gigantic walk-in wardrobe which is positively bursting with vibrant colours. 

She takes a few steps inside, looking around. Some of these outfits look like they belong at a carneval shop more than any king's wardrobe, some look like they've been plucked straight from exotic birds. 

There's also an incredibly large assortment of suits and part of her can't help but think that he must look absolutely stunning in one of those, in comparison with the far more lax clothing he's been wearing in the few days she's known him in. 

Doflamingo wraps his fingers around her wrist, gently pulling her back out of the wardrobe. "Don't get too distracted, love." 

Something in her feels both giddy and a little silly, so she can't help but ask. "Are you already missing my attention... Doffy?" 

He laughs softly. "You keep getting bolder and bolder. Do you want me to put you in your place so badly?" 

She laughs but honestly she's not so sure if this was banter or not. 

"If that place is on your bed, then yes." 

The reply seems to distract him sufficiently, as he picks her up by her hip and carries her over towards his bed as if she weighed nothing at all. 

Once there, he places her down on it, quickly crawling over her and grinning down at her smugly. She's completely dwarved under him and if his grin is anything to go by he's quite loving the fact. 

Her heart is thrumming against her ribcage. This is happening. This is actually happening. It won't just be flirty banter from here on out. But her feelings - especially her lust - quickly take over, putting her doubts off to a later time. 

"You look good beneath me.", he hums, looming over her as it feels that he's undressing her with his very eyes beneath those shades. She wonders if she can get him to take them off. Not that she's had countless experiences, but she's always preferred getting to see the eyes of the men she has sex with. 

Her brain is somewhat short-circuiting, so she only manages to say: "Well, you look good above me too." 

She reaches out with her hand, placing it against his chest, feeling the warmth and vibrancy under her fingers, the steady beat of his heart. 

It's far more relaxed than hers and she envies him for how relaxed he appears if the rate of his heart is anything to go by. 

She wants to trail her hand lower to trace his abs, but he stops her, grabbing her wrist with his hand and pushing her arm back against the bed, hand above her head. 

"Don't be so impatient, my sweet. You know what they say about patience." 

He lifts her shirt to place his surprisingly still cool hands against her stomach, the feeling making her gasp faintly. 

"I'm not even doing anything.", he chuckles, his thumb tracing languid circles on her stomach. 

He may not be, but on the inside she's nearly going mad. She wants him, oh god she does. He saved her from those kidnappers, he's taken care of her so well and somehow even though he's so far above her in power and relevance, he still wants her. 

There's a confusing mix of gratitude, debt and sheer horniness swirling around her brain, making her already fuzzy thoughts even more disjointed. 

Finally, he does take his shades off, revealing those beautiful, red eyes she'd already been able to peak at earlier to her once more. 

"Do you want this?", his voice is such a soft, velvety murmur and she practically mewls as she says yes in turn. 

He doesn't wait for a second longer, lips crashing down on hers as his tongue plunges into her mouth. It's even larger up close, inside her mouth, than she'd expected but frankly this is so much more than she could have expected to begin with. 

She tries to let her tongue dance with his but his muscle proves far superior in strength, pushing her back, exploring every inch and corner of her mouth until she can barely breathe anymore. 

Only when she's nearly about to let him know that it's too much does he retreat, his eyes slightly glazed, licking over his lips. 

"Your taste drives me mad, my love.", he murmurs. 

She barely has the brains to articulate that she feels the same so she nods, not wanting any more embarassingly blunt comments to come out of her mouth. 

"Go on. Let me hear that sweet little voice of yours.", he commands, but when she's about to speak he suddenly bites into her throat, silencing her words and making her yelp in both pain and surprise. "What the-!?"

Doflamingo chuckles. "Oh, you're not a fan of biting?" 

He licks over the bite, trying to soothe the sting with his saliva. 

He wants to mark me as his, the rational part of her mind says. I'd give up my entire identity to be his, the not so rational part in her heart screams. 

"No. I don't- appreciate violence.", she chokes out after gathering her wits. Sure, she might appreciate a light bit of pain here and there, but she feels like she needs to lay out a safety net here. They haven't talked about a single thing regarding sex and she'd rather push back now and have him ask for permission rather than being surprised with some sudden nipple clamps later. 

"Shame. It's such a key part of humanity, darling.", he muses before kissing her once again, a little less invasive this time. 

The cool hands on her stomach move upwards, carressing her breasts tenderly before pulling the shirt off of her. 

She could swear that she heard a bit of tearing but she might have just imagined that. If anything, it just heightens her arousal further. 

He runs his thick broad tongue over her breast, making her moan and tremble with need as her already hardened nipples seem to get impossibly harder. 

"I do so love a receptive vessel.", Doflamingo hums as he gently kneads the breast he's not currently paying attention to with his tongue. 

"Doffy...", she moans, trying to reach him with her other hand, which he promptly adds to the one pinned above her head. 

"No need for you to do anything. I'll make you feel good, sweetheart." 

Another low moan escapes her, her hips bucking up at the promise, seeking friction. 

"So eager for me. Such a good girl.", he hums, the vibration being carried to his tongue, making her shiver against him. 

"Oh god...", she pants. 

Something like a manic glint shoots through his eyes as he kisses her almost hungrily. He mumbles something into the kiss that strangely sounds a lot like. "That's right. I am a god.", but the moment passes as quickly as it came and she's already forgotten about it again by the time Doflamingo starts pushing down her skirt. 

She wriggles against him, trying to facilitate his removal of her clothes to the best of her ability. 

The skirt struggles to go down her hips, being rather tight in nature, so Doflamingo growls almost viscerally before simply ripping it in half. 

Perhaps he'd be willing to lend her something out of his excessively large wardrobe after this to compensate, or so she hopes. 

He distracts her by kissing her once more as greedy fingers start pushing her underwear aside, getting closer and closer to her folds. 

She's quivering underneath him, never quite having been with somebody this strong, this self-assured, excuding dominance through each and every pore. 

"Please...", she pants up at him, not bothering to specify what it is she is pleading for exactly. Judging by the hungry glint in his eyes he's more than happy to give her exactly what she wants, no, what she needs anyways.

His fingers are teasing her, touching her everywhere but exactly where she needs them the most. They trail up and down the insides of her thighs, drawing circles on her pubic mound, never quite digging into her folds and giving her the touch she so desperately craves. 

"Please, Doflamingo. I need it. Please, please don't tease me any further.", she begs, not even caring that she's pleading so desperately when his touch is all she can think about, all she can beg for. 

"You sound so good when you beg, darling.", he grins, bringing up his large fingers to her mouth, coaxing her to open it for her to suck on them. 

His digits are so much larger than those of any man she's ever known but she's eager to take them, sucking on them, batting her eyelashes up at him like she's never done anything else in her life. 

Teeth on full display in another wide grin, Doflamingo seems to enjoy the sight greatly. "You're doing so well, darling. Making me want you even more. Such a good little slut." 

As if to prove his point, she sucks on his fingers more eagerly, taking them deeper and deeper into her mouth until she's nearly gagging on their length. 

"So tight and warm. Can't wait to feel you even better later.", he compliments her before withdrawing his fingers. 

He smears the saliva on her folds before finally, finally digging into them, running his fingers along the length of her. 

She mewls and moans, bucking up against him, so desperate to have more and more of this feeling. 

"All wet for me. Oh yes, I'm going to have my fun with you, sweetheart. So soft... so compliant. You're such a treat."

He teases her clit for a moment, gently running his finger up and down and drawing moan after moan from her while he does before stopping the stimulation once more altogether, making her beg him desperately for him to continue. 

"What did I say about patience, darling?", he coaxes, though he doesn't actually seem to mind much. 

After an agonizingly long pause his fingers are back, going a bit lower to tease her entrance before he starts pushing one inside carefully. 

She's lifting her hips higher and higher to allow him easier access before he rests his body on her, forcing her down. "Down. Good slut." 

That finger alone is already completely driving her nuts. She can't even begin to imagine what his cock's going to feel like with fingers this abnormally large. 

He starts moving his finger in and out of her before adding a second, her already feeling slightly stretched even when it is simply two fingers entering her. 

His lips meet hers once again, muffling her moans as she keeps trembling underneath him, the tremble getting even more pronounced whenever he adds his thumb rubbing her clit to the sensation. 

She nearly comes undone there and then, her toes almost painfully curled, eyes squeezed shut as she sings for him. 

"Don't." The command is short and abrupt, and so is his sudden lack of motion inside her. She opens her eyes to look at him quizzically. 

"You're going to look at me when you come. Understood?" His tone is a little harsher than before, a shiver running down her spine at his domineering personality. 

"Yes, Doffy.", she pants. 

"Say my name properly." 

"Yes... Doflamingo." 

He lets out something between a growl, a purr and a chuckle at that. "Good slut. Now keep those desperate eyes open while I pluck away that lovely innocence from you little by little." 

She's so close. So damn close to her release, so she just nods and does as he says. 

He waits for a moment longer to ensure she's actually following his command before resuming his motion, a little slower than before, which is positively driving her wild. 

"Please... Doflamingo. Go faster again." 

Once more he stops completely, patting her cheek harshly with the hand he'd been using to keep her arms pinned. "Don't you dare tell me what to do, insolent little slut." 

She's never been much into degradation, but coming from him, she's starting to feel herself being turned on by it. Especially when those hands of his are doing such wonders on her body, pushing further than normal sized hands usually even could have, finding her spot with practised ease. 

"I'm sorry." She's so desperate, desperate that he won't punish her by denying her pleasure even longer. 

"You better be. Or I won't let you come at all." 

It shouldn't, but the thought of being so completely at his mercy, entirely unable to finally reach her climax, turns her on even more. 

"I'll be good. Promise." 

After what feels like forever he finally resumes, picking up the speed at which he is fingering her and rubbing her clit. She's so close to coming undone, her walls clenching around his fingers a few times almost involuntarily. 

When he speeds up further she instinctively closes her eyes again, the habit hard to break through. This time, she's rewarded with a sharp slap to her breast, her eyes flying open as she gasps. 

"Listen to me when I tell you things, you inattentive whore." 

She nods, a few tears of surprise, anger, pain and pleasure stinging in her eyes at the harsh reprimand. 

But it all fades away quickly when she's just so close to her high, teetering on the edge of climax. 

"Come for me, pretty darling. Let me see how you unravel.", Doflamingo coos in a much more gentle manner, kissing her softly once more. 

So she does. She completely falls apart under his capable hands, moaning and shaking, even spurting a little as she comes undone, Doflamingo relentlessly continuing his motions, nearly overstimulating her even more sensitive core and insides. 

She keeps her eyes on him the entire time even when her vision starts to get a little hazy, desperate not to disappoint him again. 

His eyes are drinking in her features, trembling and quivering beneath him, so completely unravelled by just his hands. 

By the time she's capable of rational thought again, she notices that he's taken off his pants and boxers. 

His large member is standing erect, precum pooling at the top as he strokes it with leasure, taking in her debauched sight.

"I can already tell you'll be a good one.", he praises, leaning his forehead against hers as he lines himself up. 

She's not typically a cowardly person, but the size of that cock is making even her feel a little unsure about her own capability of taking him. 

As if he could read her thoughts, he speaks again: "Don't worry your pretty little head. It always works out one way or another." 

Something about the way he's speaking seems a little cryptic, but she pays it no mind, trying to brace herself. 

She was right. It's a struggle from the first second as he presses his large head against her entrance, barely giving her time to adjust as he slowly but unforgivingly pushes inside her without so much as a question for if she's okay. 

He groans lowly, cursing about how tight she is as he continously pushes further without slowing down. 

It really is a tight fit, her walls feeling impossibly stretched out, possibly beyond what she should be able to take. 

She's never pushed through intimate pain quite like this, his continous movement giving her no time for pause as the pained sensations keep piling up. 

He's still not even bottomed out by the time he's pushed it in as far as he can, a frown marring his otherwise beautiful face. 

"Of course I can't even bottom out. Worthless whore.", he snarls, the words hitting her like a whip. 

She's tempted to argue, tempted to snap at him for insulting her when she's this incredibly vulnerable - and in pain - because of him, but the faint sting of her breast reminds her all too well of what fruits her resistance had born the last time, so she stays quiet. 

"I guess it will have to do.", he grunts before starting to move his terribly large cock in and out of her. 

If not for his callous words, she might have started to enjoy this more than anything else. The pain eventually grows dull, her already overstimulated parts wet enough to at least facilitate things, but in her post-orgasmic clarity his words echo over and over. "Worthless whore." The phrase feels familiar. But why? 

She lays there, taking all that he's giving her without much complaint beyond her groans and grunts as she tries to figure it out. 

The woman. The crazed woman. "We're all his worthless whores. His breeding bitches." That's what she had said. A shiver runs down her back and her walls clench tightly around the intrusion involuntarily. 

"Fuck, baby. Just like that. So fucking tight. Good girl." Doflamingo thinks she's still fully into this, that she's clenching so tightly around him because she's loving this. 

Which she would be. Which she was enjoying. But now the goosebumps are starting to raise on her skin. She can't push him off, he's too heavy. Will he hit her again if she tries to resist? 

But he's been so kind to her, so nice. She wanted this. Wanted him, fantasized about him pounding her just like he is in this very moment. Would she really let a bit of him getting physical and degrading her ruin that? 

"Breeding bitches." It had felt like such a ridiculous, laughable term at the time. A silly alliteration conjured up by a confused mind. But her entire body goes even more tense, clenching around his cock again as she realizes with searing intensity that neither of them are using protection. 

She has no idea how many days really passed since she left home. At what point of her cycle she is. 

Her panicked thoughts spiral further and further, clearing her mind and making her realize just how much of a terrible idea all of this is. 

She's willingly given herself to a pirate. Not just any pirate, but one of the seven warlords. 

She's jostled out of her thoughts when he speeds up impossibly, pounding into her with an intensity that makes her entire body shake and that is sure to leave her terribly sore. 

"Gonna fill you up good, darling. You take me so well, slut." The change between nicknames is jarring, and she's glad that now he is the one to have his eyes closed, teeth gritted, unable to see her horrified expression.

With a guttural groan Doflamingo finds his release, pushing himself to the brim into her, letting all of his cum spurt straight into her. 

Some part of her wants to cry, another wants to scream and her still overstimulated parts betray her by taking pleasure in this treatment. 

He doesn't pay any attention to her own enjoyment of the situation thankfully, rolling off of her once he's let all of his release into her, panting and wiping the sweat off of his brow before getting up, his fingers moving back and forth strangely. 

"I'll go clean up. You stay like that for a bit." 

He doesn't even bother looking at her again and something in her panics even further. Why would she need to stay like this? What reason could there possibly be? 

When he's walked into the on-suite bathroom, she immediately tries to move, to get up too. But she can't. Some invisible force is holding her in place. 

She struggles fiercely, but there's nothing she can do, it's like all of her limbs are completely stuck in place, unable to move. 

She can't help but whimper, her fear intensifying tenfold at laying here, so completely and hopelessly vulnerable, waiting for Doflamingo to return. 

He takes his time as she can hear the shower running, a hummed tune faintly being audible over the noise of running water. Isolated tears are starting to run down her face. 

What has she done? Who has she willingly jumped into bed with? Her family was right. "You're not ready to be living on your own.", they had always told her. But it's not like she willingly approached this situation. That was the kidnappers' fault. 

But it's fine. It's going to be okay. She'll talk to Doflamingo about this. He's been so kind and sweet to her, they just needed to communicate what they both wanted and needed from the experience beforehand. That's all. 

Eventually he does return, a cozy light purple pyjama pant now covering his legs. He frowns as he sees her face with its glassy eyes and obvious tears. 

"Sweetheart? What's wrong? I wasn't too rough, was I?" 

"A- a bit.", she stutters. Now he's all sweet again. Who is she to shame his kinks? There are probably lots of people who are into degradation. She shouldn't be taking this so personally. She let herself run away with her stupid intuition and now she's ruined her enjoyment of getting to sleep with a freaking king. 

"I'm so sorry. Here, I'll clean you up." She hadn't even noticed that he'd brought a wet towel with him, dabbing at her sweaty skin gently as he starts to clean all of her, returning to the bathroom a few times to refresh the towel as he delicately cleans her most intimate parts too. 

Somehow the tender care makes her cry even more. 

He grimaces, looking at her in confusion. "What now? I'm being gentle." 

"S-sorry. I just... It was all a bit too much." 

Doflamingo sighs, discarding the towel besides the bed as he crawls in towards her, pulling her towards his chest, her body now suddenly able to move once again. 

He cradles her head gently, putting a tender kiss on top of it as he speaks quietly as if to a wounded animal. "That's okay. I know I'm a lot to take in. But you did so well for me, my sweet. I'm so proud of you. Please don't cry. I'm here. Ssh." 

She finds herself melting in his arms, the soft words, the kind reassurance being exactly what she needs in this moment. "Oh, Doffy. I'm sorry. I didn't wanna ruin the afterglow..." 

"It's okay. I forgive you. You haven't ruined anything for me." 

He keeps on soothing and reassuring her again and again as she gets more and more drowsy listening to him. She feels safe like a little child in their parents' arms as he keeps doting on her, whispering sweet nothings and promises of a better tomorrow. 

"For my new year's resolution, I'd like to stop killing my family! Cheers!"

Version with lineart:

Reference: (taken from @physics-of-one-piece 's amazing provision of North Blue Doflamingo scenes. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!! They're a total life saver for being obsessed with this silly flamingo psycho.)

and finally, a little sneak peak from an AMV that's so big that it'll take me another few months to finish!

"Losing your sanity with the Donquixote Brothers" playlist LIVE NOW!

Somehow the youtube gods are merciful with me tonight for the video is only blocked in Russia. Please refer to the drive link if you can't access it, both the mp3 and mp4 version are there! ^-^

The songs are arranged from least to most insane according to my personal opinion.

I also tried to make them blend into each other / let you recuperate after particularly insane ones, but make your own judgements!

All of my One Piece playlists for download here:

source for picture (treasure cruise)

Had this stuck in my mind so I wrote a short third chapter to "Doflamingo's Little Dove":

"What are you doing, dove?", Doflamingo demands to know as he wraps his large arms around you from behind, as you are currently seated at one of the large mahagony tables in the living area. 

"Just picking out some music." 

He hums, the vibrations sounding against your skull as he leans his chin on top of your head. "For any particular reason?" 

"Well, I saw this huge white dress in town the other day. The-"

He interrupts you. "Yes, I know the one. You keep telling me about it." 

You pout slightly but keep writing down your notes. "If you already know you might as well not ask." 

Now, he can't have you being like that, of course he can't. 

He turns your chair around until you're facing him, looking down at you, eyes covered with his sunglasses as per usual. 

He lets the silent staring get uncomfortable for a moment before admonishing you. "Don't be so disrespectful." 

You barely surpress the urge to stick your tongue out at him and instead answer his initial question. "Wedding songs. That's why I'm picking out music." 

You've definitely caught his interest with that. "For somebody from the palace? Or perchance, for us?" He leans closer, close enough so you can smell which perfume he chose to wear today. 

Even after all this time, your heart still starts pounding in your chest uncontrollably when you admit to something like this. "For us." 

Doflamingo chuckles. "Always so eager, my darling dove. Perhaps you'd like to be the one to propose to speed things up as well?" 

"No! No, I just like fantasizing about it, okay? This isn't me telling you to get a move on." 

"Good." Doflamingo's voice has suddenly turned hard and cold within the blink of an eye. "Nobody tells me what to do, not even you." 

He gives you some space again, backing off. "In any case, add "Danse Macabre" to the list." 

And with those ominous words, he just leaves you sitting there, humming a tune - perhaps the song he mentioned - as he exits the room. 

Is that supposed to mean anything? You can't tell. It may be a good or a bad sign, even now it's still difficult to read Doflamingo sometimes. 

When you find a recording of the song on a disk in the palace's extensive music library and listen to it, you cannot help but get an image into your head. 

An image of a cat playing with a bird, pawing at it with outstretched claws as it toys on and on with its item of prey sadistically with no immediate intent of eating it. 

The bird flailing desperately, struggling to get away, chirping in shrill tunes as it begs and begs for the ordeal to finally be over. 

You quickly take the needle off the disk and take a deep breath. How could such a violent song be a serious suggestion for a wedding song list? 

Knowing Doflamingo, if he's serious about this then there is no way whatsoever that you would be allowed to take the song off of the list either. He'd know, of course he would. 

A deep unrest creeps up your spine, lodging itself into your very essence. You're not blind, you know well enough that your lover is a dangerous man. 

But why do you suddenly feel like you are not safe from him either?