One, two, three steps.
He had managed to walk straight without looking over his shoulder, for only three steps. On step number four he felt something near his ear, not a fly or a bee, it was a familiar sound of strings cutting through the air. Lazily he looked around, keeping his hands on his pockets and slowly blinking, trying not to let his brother notice he knew about his presence.
On step number 18 he reached the lake, the only place where he could release his own voice, not to talk to Sengoku but to himself, without having to think about the kids joining his brother's crew, or about the overrated 'Executives'. But today, as the last four days, he was being followed by one of the string doubles of Doflamingo.
The first time he bathed carefully in the cold water, the second time he sat and smoked alone, and the other two times he slept for a few hours under the sun. He honestly missed talking to himself out loud, to curse and babble about his very own thoughts and, even when he didn't mind to do this in front of one of the string doubles, touch himself with the slow pacing and skillful manners he knew he wanted and deserved. Being around the crew, he couldn't afford to use his time on himself. Instead of that, he used every minute of his spare time to try to scare the kids that had just joined the family. Even when everybody was sleeping, he made sure to be around them, to even let them think he was some kind of perverted monster "Anything to keep them away from scum like us" he used to say to Sengoku.
He sat next to the water, taking off his coat and shoes and putting them in a messy pile behind him. He looked around lazily, trying to distinguish the familiar silhouette hiding in the trees. After a few minutes of not finding his older brother's figure, he assumed Doflamingo had decided to leave him alone.
Standing up, he unbuttoned his shirt, letting it slide from his shoulders to the floor. He kicked the now dirty shirt while struggling with his pants' buttons. Once he managed to be completely naked, Rocinante knelt to find a cigarette in the pocket of his coat, he snapped his fingers before finding it, activating his ability just in case.
Lighting his cigarette, he walked into the familiar cold of the water. He missed the sensation of being free to let his body sink and be free of the world. Since he ate his devil fruit, he was banned from the water and the ocean…quite an ironic punishment for a Marine, but a punishment indeed, and he deserved it. At least that was what he thought.
He walked until he noticed the water around his waist, inhaling deeply the smoke of the fine tobacco his brother bought him and running his soaked fingers through his hair.
"Fuck" he whispered to the sky as he saw a News Coo flying above him.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" he raised his voice and walked around the water, feeling the few little fish swimming around his legs. Looking down to the water he added some coherent words to his speech.
"You lucky bastards, you don't get to be part of the world, you just stay down there". While looking down he noticed the slight arousal of his member, "Well I'm needy, the water is fucking ice and I'm still hard" he thought. Taking his cigarette in his lips, his hand reached for his length, while he used his free left hand to caress his lower stomach, stimulating himself.
His shape became harder under his own slow, painful touch. He barely moved his wrist, allowing himself to feel slight amounts of torturing pleasure that, combined with the taste of his addiction's smoke in his tongue, was more than enough to make him pant and sigh begging for more of his own ministrations.
His self pleasure was suddenly stopped by a familiar and enchanting voice, almost singing.
"Roci, am I interrupting?" his brother purred when he pronounced the strong R in his name.
Before turning to face Doflamingo, Rocinante snapped his fingers under water, making the silence field smaller, so he would be able to stay silent in front of Doflamingo. Turning around, he took his cigar with the tip of his fingers and showed a big smile, trying to look awkward on purpose.
"It's fine Roci" he made sure to make the R sound like the sweetest song, once more "we're men, after all".
Doflamingo was sitting in the old, small wooden ruins of a pier built for the first owner of the land. Rocinante walked to him, as fast as he could without tripping with his own feet, knowing that if he tripped and fall into the water his brother wouldn't be able to save him.
When Rocinante reached his side, Doflamingo took the cigarette from his mouth and placed it between his lips, humming while absorbing the flavor. While he did this, Rocinante took his brother's shoes and threw them next to his own clothes. The older man reacted suddenly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Roci, you know I can't swim" he smiled tenderly at Rocinante's lips showing a a sad yet lovely curve. "Don't be like that, I won't risk my life just to swim with you…you clown" he barely laughed at the end of his sentence.
Rocinante remained in the water, thinking about how much of his lustful display Doflamingo had seen, about what would he do if somehow his brother was inside the silence field and he heard his voice. All of these thoughts were occupying his mind as he tried to look clumsy as usual, but innocent like he knew his brother liked young men to look. Doflamingo seemed to have a weak spot for innocent boys and loyal women and since Roci lacked loyalty, he did his best to look innocent and naive whenever they were alone.
Trying to make Doflamingo sink into the depths of his naive boy act, he slid his wet hands up the long and slender legs, feeling how warm his brother's body was. Doflamingo kept his mind and eyes focused in the path the both of them took to find the lake, still nibbling on the cigarette he took from his brother.
There were a few times in which Roci was blessed by fate and he could relax, touch his brother skin and recall times when they were happy, when Doflamingo had a lovely smile, instead of the wicked grin he showed him now. This was one of those times in which Doflamingo seemed to be as innocent as Roci pretended to be, and he couldn't help trying to touch, feel and memorize each part of his brother's body when he was like this. If Rocinante had any pain or ache, when he touched Doffy in that state, the pain would leave his body, he loved the few minutes they could spend like that.
Rocinante rested his head on Doffy's knees, not caring about his position that allowed Doflamingo to see his half erected member out of the water. The peace between them lasted only a few more seconds, when Doflamingo's voice broke the silence.
"Say, Roci" this time he didn't make the R sound like a marvelous song "were you talking to yourself before?". The question was asked with a perfect and lovely tone, but there was a deeper meaning to it. Roci shook his head slowly, playing fool and still resting in his brother's lap.
"Are you sure?" he asked, now his face was close to Rocinante's ear, trying to temp him to confess by being treated so sweetly.
Rocinante left his side and looked at him, using the very last resource he had rehearsed a few times in front of the mirror.
"Doffy…" his mouth moved to pronounce his brother name in a sweet tone, but no sound came from his throat.
"You know I" he touched his chest to show he was talking about himself "can't speak" he placed a finger on his lips, and moved it pointing to his brother. After 'saying' each word he made sure to make exaggerated pouts, knowing that Doflamingo would be distracted by his red lips and his finger playfully touching them.
Silence.
Rocinante was sure his brother heard him, he was sure he would have to run naked to the nearest Marine Quarter and save his life. "C'mon Doffy, I'm your little brother…c'mon…"
Doflamingo asked him to return to his side by moving his hand. Carefully, and still trying to calculate any chance of fighting or escaping, Rocinante moved back to his side. He was rather surprised when his brother's hands met the sides of his face and forced him to look up.
"I'm sorry Roci" he said while pressing his thumb against Rocinante's lips, causing the make up to fade "You were just…trying, right?" Rocinante nodded, placing his hands on Doffy's knees. "And no sound came out, right?" he asked as his thumb pressed harder. "Right?" he repeated. Rocinante nodded once more, trying not to show any things of the relief he felt inside.
Doflamingo smile and changed his tone to the sweet song his voice usually was when talking to his brother.
"Get me a cigarette, will ya'" Rocinante obeyed, knowing that now that the worst part was over he would just have to play along and make his brother feel happy for a while.
With almost all of his anatomy out of the water, Roci reached for the cigarettes and the matches, pretending not to notice his brother's eyes on his scarred back and legs. When he turned around to go back to Doffy's side, he knew the older man was studying his now flaccid length and that was hard to ignore. Not even the innocent brute he was supposed to be would've noticed that his brother was sometimes interested in him in more ways than one.
Back with the water up to his thighs, Corazón lit the cigarette on his mouth and then gave it to his brother. Doflamingo thanked him and placed the small thin cigar between his lips, caressing his brother's arm that was resting in the wooden pier next to him.
Glad that his act was a success, Rocinante allowed himself to let his thoughts drift from his reality for a bit and he was now Doflamingo's 'Roci', his precious brother and the last memento of his life as a Tenryuubito.
They shared silence once more. Doffy smoked very slowly and sighed when he noticed Rocinante was almost sleeping, half of his body under water, and the other half resting against his leg.
"Oh, thanks, I just needed to get that leg wet" he mocked, smiling with his wicked, tainted mouth "I thought you were keeping me company, if you're sleepy you might as well go back home". Rocinante was indeed tired, exhausted, but also relieved that his brother thought he was sleepy, when the reality was that after being so much time in the water he was feeling weaker each minute. Slowly, very slowly, he walked to the place next to the lake where he had left his clothes. As he emerged from the water, he noticed how he was at his limit "Damn those Ocean Devils" he thought as he fell to his knees, with his brother laughing at the clumsy display.
He rested his back on the warm fabric of his coat, not caring about being completely naked, he had been in worst situations in front of Doflamingo and he knew it.
"I've got a mission for you, y'know" Doffy said, walking to his side. "And I haven't been able to send you in that mission because you kept disappearing every afternoon". He spoke, standing and staring at him with the superiority he could afford to show in front of a naked mad that couldn't talk back at him.
Rocinante folded his arm behind of his head, and raised an eyebrow, letting him know he was interested in the conversation. Instead of talking about the mission, Doflamingo threw what was left of his cigarette and put his hands on his pockets. He lifted his left foot from the ground and placed it on his younger's brother chest, reminding him that even such an interesting creature like him was under Doflamingo's control.
Roci's hands took hold of the pale skin, and began to caress his ankle. "I've already played this game Doffy".
"You shouldn't go out by yourself without your notepad" he suddenly said "what if someone wants to talk to you?" he added, putting more weight into his brother's chest. Roci answered with a "I don't care" gesture.
"I know, I know" Doffy answered "You don't want to talk to anybody, am I right?" he moved his toes, reacting to Roci's fingers lazily teasing them "But still you came here and talk to yourself, to your mute self" Doflamingo smiled, supposing his mute brother would be ashamed by this. How wrong he was.
Instead of playing the innocent game once more, Rocinante moved his hand to his brother thigh, roughly digging his nails into the muscle. Once that Doflamingo was curious about the sudden change of mood, Roci moved both hands fast enough to make him fall to his side.
Laughter.
Rocinante still liked his brother's laugh. As Doflamingo tried to make himself comfortable in the floor he cursed him and told him to stay away, but still the laughter escaped his lips and made him look less menacing.
"You clown" he said, finally laying next to him.
Both of them were now in the same position, next to each other, staring at the sky. Rocinante spied him from the corner of his eye, noticing how much they looked alike. Doflamingo noticed the spying eye of his little brother and took his hand in his.
"Roci" his voice was almost a whisper "as your Captain, I forbid you to bring anyone else than me to this place". "Doffy…"
"Am I making myself clear?" he asked, squeezing his hand with all his strength. Rocinante felt guilt. He knew his brother was dominant, but now he was almost begging him to share something special with him. He almost felt like he was betraying him by trying to stop him from becoming a monster. Almost.
Doflamingo turned to him, trying to find an answer in his eyes. To his surprise, Rocinante shifted his position to hug him.
While holding his older brother, Rocinante knew he could carry on with his mission and still make Doflamingo feel less of a monster. He knew that his brother actually didn't mind to be a monster, but he wanted to make that hunger, that evil nature disappear along with his ambitions. He decided to stop the moment, and go back to their usual routine. He had to start working on his mission again, and if he stayed with his head resting on Doffy's chest for one more minute, he would confuse his real self with Corazón.
Slowly pushing him away from his body, Rocinante reached for his shirt. Kneeling on the floor, he started to dress when he felt the slender fingers that his brother had, tracing paths along the scars in his back.
"You should be more careful" Doflamingo said directly to his ear, sliding his hand from his back to his waist, and from his waist to the lower part of his stomach and caressing him in the same manner he did to himself before.
Roci froze under the tempting touch, knowing that for a minute, only for a minute, he had forgotten that his brother had this other side.
Torturing him, Doffy moved his hand along his chiseled torso, up and down, slowly enough for Rocinante to imagine at least 2 scenarios in which he had his way with his older brother. He felt how the free hand guided his face to meet the lustful expression that he knew so well, and then, barely a kiss to his plump lips. He knew Doflamingo was mad for his lips, he had used this weakness to distract him many times.
Not being able to stop himself, Rocinante pressed his lips against Doffy's, as his hands tried to meet the older brother's thighs. To his surprise, Doflamingo pulled him to his lap as he sat on the floor, letting him feel his arousal in his bare buttocks.
"Easy" his brother whispered as both of his hands ran along his pale thighs, enjoying the feeling of the thin blond hair against his fingers. "I need to stop this" Rocinante thought, scared. Usually his brother would tease him a bit and then allow him to escape, but now he was playing a tougher game. "Now."
Almost like he knew what was on Roci's mind, Doflamingo pushed him to the floor and ordered: "Get dressed, Corazón".
Every trace of arousal and desire was erased from Rocinante's body as he looked down to the fabric of his coat. Somehow he ended up receiving orders from Doflamingo once more. And he called him Corazón.
"So you just missed Vergo…" he thought. "Corazón" he repeated in his mind, over and over while dressing himself, Doflamingo watching him from a distance and only approaching him to get a cigarette from his pocket.
They walked back to their hideout together. Doffy kept talking about the mission all the way. Rocinante listened and tried to decide which information would be more precious, and when he should talk to Sengoku. His desire to fulfill his duty was stronger, thanks to the trace of deception and embarrassment he felt after having served as a toy for his brother. Being more distracted than usual, he fell to the ground, getting a scratch on his nose. He felt a strange touch in his arms, and before he could notice, the strings were pulling him off the floor and making him stand up.
"Roci…" Doflamingo laughed "don't you tell me you're still thinking about before" he approached him in a natural manner. Rocinante felt himself about to burst in crying anger when his brother touched his bleeding nose. "You know you're my dear little brother, I was just playing a bit" he added while he traced a bloody path in Roci's cheek "Don't be like that" he finished, showing him a wicked yet lovely smile that made Rocinante want to choke him.
After the confusing display, Doflamingo kept walking, leading the way. "But still you can't let anyone else come here" he talked without even pretending to feel sorry.
The innocent brute smiled, hiding his tainted nature.