[He does know -- he knows and he doesn't, because Arlong was different, because Nami was clever and cunning and brave, and she was half the age Koby was when he left the island he knew, when he stumbled (stupidly, stupidly) into becoming a pirate's cabin boy. Because Alvida had been a nuisance, an annoyance on the seas, whose power mainly exerted itself in control, in you can eat when the deck's spotless, in you can sleep when I can see my reflection in those boots and sometimes, sometimes in if you're too tired or hungry or in pain to work, I'm sure the crew could find some other way for you to contribute, I'm sure if I lock you in the hold with them for an hour, they'll figure out a way you can be useful, Koby.
Arlong's brutality was written all over the burned-out hulls of Coco Village, all through the East Blue, in the bounty that was quadruple what Alvida's had been at it's peak. Still: they had both been children, they had both found a way to survive, they were both left with the ghosts of those years and now, now Koby wants to exorcise a few of them, wants to see if a year of freedom balances out two of captivity.
And that's why it has to be Nami.
So:] Yeah. I do. [And he leaves it, sleeping for now.]
Sure, yeah. I'm done wrapping everything, I think. A whole BOOK? [Oh, she's speaking his language now.]
( she's glad to let it lie — more than that, she's relieved. it's not something that comes up often, and most people wouldn't know what to ask to get it out of her. what arlong did to her was bad enough — she doesn't need to make anyone suffer for the nitty gritty details. it was bad. that's usually enough said. )
with PICTURES the pictures are important, so i know what it's supposed to look like you can even pick out some designs you wanna try if they look good to you. i can do stuff that won't bind your arms at first, so we can see if you panic
[It’s carefully tucked away, like everything Koby knows about her, little bits and pieces of a life Nami keeps locked up, unspoken about. He knows the urge, the need to keep it contained. He knows.]
Pictures, really? There are DESIGNS? Like an artform then, for real, not just for function. Does the kind of rope matter? Should I wear anything specific? What are the rules?
[A beat. Then:] You choose. I want you to choose. It’s Important that you choose. [That it isn’t his choice, that the control is gone, that’s the whole point. Surrender, like in Otherworld, like on the banks of the snowy river when she’d warm her hands on his pelt and nothing else in the world existed. That’s what he wants back.]
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cw: sa, just all the way down
Arlong's brutality was written all over the burned-out hulls of Coco Village, all through the East Blue, in the bounty that was quadruple what Alvida's had been at it's peak. Still: they had both been children, they had both found a way to survive, they were both left with the ghosts of those years and now, now Koby wants to exorcise a few of them, wants to see if a year of freedom balances out two of captivity.
And that's why it has to be Nami.
So:] Yeah. I do. [And he leaves it, sleeping for now.]
Sure, yeah. I'm done wrapping everything, I think.
A whole BOOK? [Oh, she's speaking his language now.]
no subject
with PICTURES
the pictures are important, so i know what it's supposed to look like
you can even pick out some designs you wanna try if they look good to you. i can do stuff that won't bind your arms at first, so we can see if you panic
no subject
Pictures, really? There are DESIGNS?
Like an artform then, for real, not just for function. Does the kind of rope matter? Should I wear anything specific? What are the rules?
[A beat. Then:] You choose. I want you to choose. It’s
Important that you choose. [That it isn’t his choice, that the control is gone, that’s the whole point. Surrender, like in Otherworld, like on the banks of the snowy river when she’d warm her hands on his pelt and nothing else in the world existed. That’s what he wants back.]
I trust you.