A/N: What to say...I've been going back and forth on whether to submit this or not. I wrote this last Fall because I listened to the Bullets by Archive and needed to write something sad and bitter. Very un-fluff stuff for a change. I guess I'll re-write this scene in Scar Tissue and consider this as a sketch. One reason being that I hadn't seen Doffy's past when I wrote this. So, I might change some things in this later on. But for now, I'll leave this here, please enjoy~
There was the resonance of the blood drips expanding on the floor and the golden eyes with their fury fading. The taller man hesitated before crouching to face the other man on the ground. An irregular line of bruises trailed his long legs. The spacious living room was an absolute mess. The glass of the long coffee table had a noticeable breach on the edge. Several shards from the floor lamp had scattered on the carpet and reflected the light coming from the lamps swinging back and forth from the ceiling a few meters above.
Doflamingo moved his tongue inside his mouth to try if he had a lost a tooth. The raven-haired filled his lungs with air cautiously, stopping and letting air out in turns each time he felt an uncomfortable sting in his side. He raised his right hand slowly from the floor and moved hair sticking on to his nose behind his ear.
"What do you know about my family, Croco-man?"
This was the first time he saw those eyes unguarded by their plastic walls and completely joyless. The wrinkle lines framing the blue eyes were deep and made the man seem suddenly so much more older. Crocodile felt like Doflamingo had just aged by decades as he studied the features of his face.
"It's not only up to your whims," the older man glanced behind at the taller man wearing his trade mark coat.
"You knew I was coming today," the blond man scolded with a delicate smile and hanged his pink cloth on to the bronze wall hook avaible, next to Crocodile's.
"And I told you to come tomorrow," Crocodile growled.
Before Crocodile had the chance to form his thoughts together the man in front of him rose. The blue eyes left Crocodile's along with the man who was now gone from the room.
"Spoil the brat as much as you want."
Doflamingo's forehead twitched when he heard Crocodile hiss the words, staring at him like a low grade wine.
"You think celebrating her birthday is babying her?" Doflamingo provoked.
"I think you do that with the others too."
"The others as in my family, Crocodile?"
The older of them snorted:
"Family, huh."
Doflamingo closed in on Crocodile, hovering over him only a few inches away.
The younger man was not smiling and warned Crocodile:
"You don't want to go there."
Crocodile's eyes seemed to lack of any kind of warmth when he smiled:
"It's sad to see you imagining something that isn't there."
The answer from Doflamingo was immediate:
"Funny how it sounds like you're talking about yourself."
Crocodile's mouth tightened downwards and his hook hand budged. The gesture didn't go unnoticed by the other and he tore his gaze away from the older man. Crocodile's smile grew back, even wider, when he laughed slowly:
"You really think they love you?"
Doflamingo's chest tightened as his breathing halted.
"That makes you just an easy prey."