So many of your reviews gave me the warm and fuzzies. Thank you!
Luffy drew in a shaky breath as he willed the pain away from his body. He withered in the corner as his mind screamed at him to focus on anything other than the burning heat of slashes on his back. His hands unconsciously clenched and uncurled rhythmically as he tried to regain control over his senses. He cautiously exhaled when he realized he was sweating from the pressure in his chest. His hands rigidly balled up into fists as he tried to distract himself from his injuries. His head rolled back and leaned against the stone wall.
"Fuck."
Luckily, he was alone. It was strange, being the only one. Well, he wasn't completely alone. There were slaves in the other cells around him but he didn't care for them. So, he was alone. The nobles decided he was useless since he couldn't even stand, and left him to wallow in pain. They didn't leave him any food or water, though. They didn't even leave him any bandages. Of course, they didn't; there was always a trade-off attached to seemingly merciful gestures. Nobles were never nice for nice sake. He learned that after Charloss...
After...
Luffy closed his eyes with a frustrated growl. "Great, fantastic time to think about your stupid-ass abandonment issues, Luffy. Absolutely brilliant." This was so fucking stupid. "Charloss was the asshole of assholes, anyway. Fuck that guy," he whispered through gritted teeth. "I'm not his fucking pet he left to the wolves. I was never his pet. He can go die in a fucking ditch. I hope he drowns in a pool of his own fat."
The pounding of his heart filled the silence. It roared in his ears and closed his throat. His nails dug into his palms as he tried to bring his attention back to his breathing. The moment he thought he found his control, his brain decided to mess everything up by making him think he was short of breath. He gasped for air as his body felt like thousands of ants were burrowing under his skin. He covered his face with his hands as he tried to block out his panic but his head was too loud. Don't let me go, I don't know what to do, I'm not good enough, I'm dying, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I can't breathe, I-
A loud slam startled Luffy out of his sudden attack and he uncovered his face. Two guards threw in a body and immediately locked the door as if they were quarantining a deadly plague. The small teen's hands trembled as the sensation of insects crawling in him started to fade. He watched as the body on the ground groaned and sat up with a scowl. Luffy recognized the guy. He was the damned middle aged idiot who could get drunk on anything as long as he believed it was alcohol. Of all the people, why did he have to be stuck in the cell with this dumb asshole? The old man seemed to reflect the same disdain when he noticed Luffy sitting in the corner.
"Great, it's the brat who got to skip a day," the man grumbled as he laid back down and sprawled out over the unforgiving ground.
"Go fuck a chandelier, dipshit," Luffy fired back. He was actually a little thankful for the distraction from the constant buzzing in his head. Only a little.
"I'm pretty sure that's not possible, brat."
"You just gotta believe," Luffy said airily, his voice still unsteady. He comically looked up at the ceiling like a naive, wide-eyed toddler.
The man snorted with a reluctant grin as he looked down at the floor. "I wouldn't ever want to believe in that. I don't even want to think about that. Thanks for putting that image in my head, kid. Real nice of you."
Luffy reached behind him to grab his straw hat. He winced as his muscles protested against the movement. His shoulder blades dug into his skin as he placed the hat on his head. "Only the best from your resident asshole," he welcomed with a tip of his hat. His back practically begged him to stop moving and his breath caught in his throat. His hat fell back and hung loosely around his neck, like before. Luffy watched like a third-party audience as his body trembled in his thin and poorly fitted clothing. "Goddamn it, I thought I was over this," he growled lowly.
"The hell's going on with you, kid?" the man questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Finally gone crazy?"
Luffy drew in a deep breath through his nose and shook his head. "Yeah, maybe," he replied with a chuckle. Caring about a noble. Yep, he's definitely crazy.
Broken Record plopped himself down next to Luffy with a grunt and rubbed his back. "Fuckin' hell, is it normal to get whipped every time you breathe?" he hissed with a small wince. He set his roll of bread on the ground and stretched his arms.
Luffy eyed the man curiously before his gaze turned toward the food. "I feel like you've been here long enough to know the answer," he muttered. "Why the hell are you sitting next to me, anyway? We're not friends."
"You could've fooled me," Broken Record said with a shrug. "I thought we had a bonding moment, yesterday."
Luffy snorted at the statement and smirked. "Right. You told me about your stupid crew, I told you about a fucking hat. So much bonding. I can see the connection forming between us. It's so powerful." He soulfully grabbed the man's wrist and mockingly squeezed it with a sniff. "Can you feel it?"
"Jesus, you need to tone down some of that sarcasm, kid."
"In your dreams, dumbass."
"I'll take that as a term of endearment." Broken Record leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Hell, I'm beat. Wake me up when-"
"I swear on my sanity, if you say, 'when my crew shows up,' I will tear your life a new fucking shithole," Luffy threatened, although his unwanted companion didn't seem all that affected. Broken Record just snickered a little with a content smile. His shoulders relaxed as he let out a sigh and drifted off into unconsciousness. Luffy watched as the man's breathing evened out and his head tilted to one side. The small teen waited for a few more minutes before he brought his hand up to the man's face. He snapped three times to make sure Broken Record was completely asleep before he reached out and grabbed the bread the man had neglected. He stared at the food for a few seconds, hesitation suddenly locking his joints. It's just a piece of fucking bread. You've stolen food from a withered old man, before! Just eat it! Luffy mentally barked at himself. Holy hell, what's wrong with me?
"You gonna steal from a friend, brat?" One of the slaves snickered in his gruff voice. "No mercy."
Luffy's head shot up in surprise, at the sound of the word. Friend? When the fuck was that title in the running? They were acquaintances at best. They didn't even know each other's names, for crying out loud. Luffy glared at the slave as he took a hefty bite out of the stale ration. "He's not a friend, you dumb bitch." That's right, I don't have any friends. He took another spiteful bite out of his loaf and chewed. He hated every second of it.
He was being carried. His small body dangled helplessly in the arms of someone much stronger and larger than himself. He was being scolded. He didn't pay attention to why. He just took in the dense jungle that surrounded him. It was oddly calming. He couldn't pinpoint why. His feet met a ground covered in snow. A thin jacket covered his pale skin, yet he felt no warmth from it. The strong figure was gone. Another figure in front of him ran away, effortlessly hopping over stones and creeks. He needed to catch up. He knew he had to. He sluggishly followed the small figure until they were out of sight. He continued to search. He walked through the seasons without even catching a glimpse of the figure. It frustrated him, for some reason. Why couldn't he catch up? Why was he so slow? He couldn't move. Something was stopping him. He tugged with his foot until he noticed the chain wrapped around his ankle. Why was there a chain? A shadow of a hand grabbed him and tugged him back. He began to panic as he struggled against whatever was dragging him away. His mouth didn't move but he could hear his voice in his ears.
"Somebody! Gramps! Ace! Help! Help me!"
Luffy aggressively slammed his mop into his bucket of soapy water, causing it to splash everywhere. He honestly couldn't care less about the mess he was making for himself. He just wanted the day to be over with. Ever since his little heart to heart with Broken Record, Luffy's been thinking about things he hadn't thought about in five years. Stupid things. Useless things from the past. He was still trying to figure out why he told Broken Record about his dumb-ass pirate dream! He didn't have time for the other emotionally draining bullshit his brain just decided to hurl at him all at once! Luffy took the mop out of the bucket and practically stabbed the wooden paneled floors with it.
The other slave with him looked over in confusion and slight distress. "You're gonna kill the floor…"
"Do you want me to use you as a test subject for ten different ways to perform unethical surgery with a mop?" Luffy asked, clearly hoping for the unfortunate soul to say yes. Sadly, the slave just hastily shook his head and went back to cleaning dust off the wall decor. "What a bitch," he grumbled when the slave pathetically tried to widen the distance between them like a frightened animal. He liked the other guy more, from a few days ago. At least that guy didn't lose his balls somewhere on the boat he was shipped in.
"Be quiet!" A guard demanded, although his booming voice didn't intimidate Luffy in the slightest. Before the boy could retort, the guard stomped off without a word.
"Go fuck yourself," Luffy hissed as he scraped the floorboards with his mop in annoyance.
"Somebody! Gramps! Ace! Help! Help me!"
Luffy grit his teeth as he glared at his reflection in the soaking wet panels. "Damn it." He could get why Gramps was in his dream. Every now and then he would think about how the shitty geezer was doing. He didn't like how the old fart would drift into his mind but it still happened. What he couldn't wrap his mind around was the fact that Ace was there. When the fuck did Ace become important enough to warrant a spot in his conscience? All that little shit did was leave him stranded in the jungle while he chased after the damn prick for months. Luffy sincerely hoped that fucker was torn limb from limb by a mother bear and fed to her children. Or maybe he was swallowed alive by that gigantic tiger and painfully digested. Luffy liked the idea of him slowly drowning in the turbulent ocean, too. Or he could've been ripped in half from his ass and-
"Uh, Monkey…"
Luffy snapped out of his thoughts and his throat let out an irritated rumbled. "What do you want, now?" Geez, he could feel the bloodlust hanging in the air. Did he do that?
The slave chewed his lip nervously as he pointed at the small teen's mop. "You've been cleaning the same spot for ten minutes."
Luffy looked down at the ground to see he had all but scratched through the polish and wax and damaged the wood while he was stuck in his mind. He pursed his lips and unconsciously rolled his shoulders, his back still raw and red. Normally, he would just accept his fate and deal with the punishment but his body withered when he remembered the lashings. The small teen quickly grabbed the bucket of water and haphazardly placed it over the gash in the floor. He could still see some of the splinters but it was a decent temporary cover-up. I'll just blame it on the other guy, later. Luffy turned his head to watch the slave use a rag to clean the windows. Poor bastard was probably pissing himself from the amount of bloodlust Luffy unintentionally leaked while thinking about all the ways Ace could die. Too bad, he was going to make the guy's day way worse. Fucking hell, Luffy. Just mop the goddamn floor.
It took another two hours, but the hallway was finally cleaned. Luffy discarded his mop onto the floor with an exhausted monotone cheer and stretched his limbs. The other slave wiped his forehead on his shirt and surveyed the area anxiously. Luffy eyed the slave with a disgruntled pout and crossed his arms.
"What's up with you?" His voice was slightly grainy from the dryness in his throat.
"What do we do about that?" the slave asked as he pointed towards the tin bucket in the middle of the floor. "Someone's going to notice."
Luffy watched the slave wring his hands, the cuffs clinking against each other. He bit his inner cheek as his eyes looked over the guy. He was pretty young, probably just a bit older than Luffy. His cheeks were hollow and grey and his body was pale from malnutrition. The boy quickly checked if the slave had any recent injuries and only found a small cut on his hand. That made Luffy feel a little more justified, even though he knew he was about to throw a trembling lamb on the chopping block.
Luffy shrugged when he heard footsteps down the hall. "I guess we should move the bucket and find some way to cover it up before anyone arrives."
"Um, right," the slave agreed as he looked around for anything to replace the bucket of water. Luffy just walked over to the bucket and stared at it.
I was just cleaning up and realized the bucket was covering a hole that other guy made. That's what I was doing. Definitely. Luffy almost laughed at his hilariously terrible plan, but it wasn't the worst one he'd ever made. I just need to sell it. Swear a lot and call the guy a dumbass and no one can tell. Don't over think the consequences. Who cares about what happens to that guy, anyway? He'll probably just get a few smacks. They might crack the whip. Maybe get out the fire poker if they really want to push it. Shit, I'm over thinking. Just pick it up, for fuck sake! He knelt down to pick up the bucket when the footsteps drew near.
"Daddy, I want another one, now!"
Luffy's hand froze at the sound of the voice.
"Auctions don't start until next week, my son. We'll be able to get you a mermaid, then."
"But I want it now!"
Luffy was sure his whole body was shaking, at this point. He didn't dare move. His joints locked, trapping him in one position as his chest tightened. He held his breath like his life depended on it.
"Rubber boy! Rubber boy!"
The memories he desperately wanted to suppress came flooding back like a dark wave of torture. Every touch, every whip, every gaze, every fucking smile. Luffy resisted the urge to curl in on himself and cry until the world was a distant memory. Of course, of all the days to show his ugly mug, Charloss chose today. It enraged him, knowing that the smug motherfucker still had such a hold on him, even when Luffy saw him strolling through the halls every other week. That was more exposure than anyone needed to be subjected to, in a lifetime. He should've been used to it, by now. Why wasn't he fucking used to it?
"What's going on, here?"
Luffy managed to turn his head upward to get a good look at the noble towering over him but the sharp end of a shoe immediately collided with his gut and sent him skidding across the ground.
"Don't look at me while you're so filthy!"
The small teen clutched his stomach and resisted the urge to throw up the already limited contents in his stomach. His ears seemed to muffle the sound around him and his eyes blurred so he couldn't find it in himself to pay attention to anything else except for how much he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
"What's with the whole kicked puppy look?" Broken Record questioned offhandedly. "Did something happen? Your pet died?"
Luffy sent the man a deadpan glare before he rolled his eyes. "No, I got kicked by someone I really didn't want to see," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around his stomach.
"Shit, really? By who?"
The anticipation in the man's voice perplexed Luffy as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Why the hell are you so excited about my suffering?" he asked with a hint of accusation. "It makes you sound like a complete jackass."
"I'm just a nosy person," Broken Record brushed off before he scooted closer as if he were about to get front row seats to the town's latest gossip. "So, who kick you? It couldn't have been a guard. You get kicked by them all the time. Maybe another slave? No, nobody has the balls to do that. Actually, it could be a slave from one of the other cells…"
Luffy snorted at the stupidity of the thought. "Seriously? No one outside of this cell has a will to live, let alone to beat someone up. Besides, if they grew a dick one day and decided to be all rebellious, they're asses would be in this cell. The nobles don't like trouble children. They treat it like some contagious disease. They quarantine that shit."
Broken Record raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Yes, that's why half rotten Old Man McWhatever was in here. Because he had the contagious rebel virus." He raised his hands and waved his fingers around to create some sort of campy ghost effect.
Luffy couldn't hold in a small laugh at the childish gesture. "No, they kept that decaying corpse here because he actually had some sort of fucking disease and they don't care about us. I think it was an attempt at spreading the plague to kill all the people who actually have a soul but it didn't work because we eat too much bullshit to be affected by some measly sickness."
"You kind of generate bullshit for yourself, little man," Broken Record remarked with a smirk. "So, who was the one without the self-preservation skills to realize attacking Champion Asshole wasn't a good idea?"
Luffy sighed and hung his head in defeat. "I was betting on you just listing off random possibilities until I fell asleep, so I could avoid this conversation."
"Come on. Tell little old me what's got your panties in a twist," Broken Record insisted. Luffy hated how the man's attention wasn't divided in the slightest.
The boy pouted as he thought of a few different ways to frame his sentence. In the end, his blunt approach won out. "Saint Charloss basically punted me across the hallway," he admitted bitterly. "His shoe was pointed, so it hurt like a bitch. I was already having some sort of panic attack over framing a slave for a hole I carved into the panels with a fucking mop. Fucking hell, I used to frame people for my shit without a second thought. Now, it's like some sort of huge dilemma in my soul. The same thing happened when… It just sucked," Luffy practically whined. He almost accidentally revealed the fact that he stole Broken Record's food, in the middle of his rambling.
His slightly tolerable companion held up a hand as a signal to pause. "Hold up," he started incredulously. "You got kicked by a celestial dragon? How the hell did that happen?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Luffy muttered under his breath. "They don't like it when people lower than them have direct eye contact."
"Yeah, but I glare them all the time and all I get is some disgusted snort," Broken Record pointed out. "The fact that they would kick you just doesn't make sense. Wouldn't they be scared of getting filthy slave germs all over them?"
"Yeah," Luffy said flatly, "I guess." His fingers dug into his sides as he balled up his hands "I was careless and I broke the floor with a mop. I covered it with a bucket and was going to blame it on someone else to avoid getting beat up." His brows furrowed as he remembered his thought process at the time. "I kept telling myself it wasn't a big deal but something in the back of my mind was just bugging me. It was like I suddenly just grew a bullshit moral compass and it kept smacking me in the face. I felt bad for him! I felt bad! Do you realize how creepy that is? I've never felt bad about anything I've done since I got here!"
Broken Record let out a low whistle. "Not even about that guy you gave a concussion?"
"Especially, not him," Luffy instantly replied.
"Cold."
"I'm being serious," the boy complained.
"Alright, alright, I'll drop in my two coins," Broken Record said as his shoulders sagged. "Holy hell, kid, you're so emotionally constipated. Just leave it be. Frankly, you should feel bad about framing someone else. That's just a dickish thing to do. I framed my crewmates for pranks, all the time, but those were pranks. No one got hurt. At least, not intentionally and it was just all for fun. You were setting someone up to get whipped in your place." The man's sigh almost turned into a groan. "As for why you suddenly have an angel on your right shoulder, I don't fuckin' know. I don't think you should dwell on it too much, either. It's a good thing. Just let it happen. Maybe it's because your brain suddenly switched on-"
"Hey!"
"Or maybe, by some divine intervention, you actually gained a moral compass. Who knows."
Luffy's face pinched in irritation as he scoffed. "Great, thanks for the help. Really appreciate it," he mumbled almost incoherently.
Broken Record lazily aimed a finger gun at Luffy with a falsely suave look. "Hey, anytime, kid."
Luffy ended up stifling his laugh as his eyes averted. "I stole your food." Shit, why did I just say that!?
"Yeah, I know."
Luffy's head snapped around and he gaped at the man. How the fuck does he know!?
"The old guy over there told me," Broken Record pointed at a slave sitting on the opposite side of the sell as he played tic-tac-toe for a bowl of water.
That son of a bitch!
"It's so easy to read your expressions," Broken Record observed with amused eyes. "I'm not angry. It's just one meal."
Luffy's lips curled at the tone of forgiveness. "Why are you being so nice about it?"
"What? I'm not gonna beat a kid over a piece of bread. That's not how I roll. Besides, I have a soft spot for you. Friends share with other friends," Broken Record stated with a wave of his index finger.
"I'm not a goddamn five-year-old!" the small teen shouted. "Stop talking to me like one!"
"You have the emotional capacity of one."
"Screw it, fuck you, shut up, I'm going to sleep!" Luffy promptly flopped over and curled into himself for warmth
"God, you're such a child."
Luffy kicked out his leg and his foot collided right into Broken Record's side. The man let out an indignant yelp at the unexpected force of the impact. "I'm not a child, dickhead!" the boy countered and stuck out his tongue in an unarguably childish manner. He wore a foxy grin he didn't have the conviction to wipe off.
Broken Record was about to retort but he held his tongue, to Luffy's confusion. A devilish smile crept onto his companion's face and sent shivers down his spine. "Brat, are you ticklish?"
All the color left in Luffy's face drained as he desperately scrambled to get away.
"Who knew Mariejois' Champion Asshole was ticklish."
"Are you asking for me to rip your tongue out of your disproportionate skull?" Luffy cheerily responded. The slave didn't say anything after that.
He stood next to Saint Charloss with a tray in his hands. A tea tray. Jasmine tea. His eyes were glued to the tinted liquid. Steam rose from the cups and the pot. He couldn't move his head or his eyes. He was stuck looking at the familiar tray.
"Daddy, he's boring! He's used to everything, now! He's no fun!"
"What do you want, then?"
"I want a fishman!"
"What do you want to do with this?"
"Hm… Throw it away!"
A tug at the rope around his neck jerked him forward and he stumbled. Some of the tea spilled onto the tray, but he was thankfully able to keep everything from falling onto the ground.
"Throw it away!"
Another yank on his rope took him off guard and he tripped. He tried to keep the tray level with the floor as he fell. Tea spilled everywhere. None of the pottery broke but he was on the floor with tea spilled everywhere.
"Throw it away!"
He covered the back of his neck and his head with his hands and tucked his knees under his chest.
"Throw it away!"
It was an agonizing wait for blows that would never happen. He just stayed there, waiting.
"Throw it away!"
Tea was everywhere.
"Throw it away!"
Nothing was broken.
"Throw it away."
He was on the ground.
"Throw it away!"
And he waited.
"I still think they'll come and get me."
Luffy groaned as he pulled his knees up to his chest and his head under his arms. "If you say that one more time, I swear, I will gut you like a fucking crocodile."
Broken Record chuckled as he looked up at the dreary ceiling. "I don't know why I have so much faith in them. It's just that… We argued a lot and endangered each other's lives every day. I may have thrown Bobo overboard more than once. But we were like a family. I just know they're trying their damnedest to rescue me. Or I'm just in denial," the man mused with a small snort. "Then they would really be jackasses." Luffy turned his head from his protective fetal position to stare at Broken Record in silence. His eyes seemed unfocused, off in his own little world. The man smiled ruefully at the small teen. "What? Not gonna call me a fucking dumbass? Where's the comment about me being a pussy bitch? Not even a lazy death threat?"
Luffy blinked slowly and straightened up to level himself with Broken Record's gaze. "You are a tragedy."
Ouch.
The two sat in silence. Luffy's mind was up in the sky or something while Broken Record just mechanically ate his bread. A thirty by forty tic-tac-toe board had been drawn on the ground with rock and the other slaves were all rallied behind the two players to see who would lose a week's worth of food. Luffy's ears just blocked out the noise. "Have you ever had some asshole do something really fucked up to you and you know it but you can't leave it be?"
Broken Record swallowed the piece of bread in his mouth with a confused raise of his eyebrow. "Nope. What's with the sudden question?"
Luffy rolled his eyes and carefully leaned against the wall. "Whatever, you won't understand."
"Hit me," Broken Record replied with a head tilt. It was the boy's turn to send his companion a puzzled look. He raised a clenched fist and nailed the man right in the shoulder. "Ow, what the hell!" The man retracted and covered his arm with a protective hand.
"You said to hit you!" Luffy explained frustratedly.
"It means to tell me! It's a figure of speech, you dumb brat!"
"Oh, fuck you! I hope you die choking on your 'figure of speech' words, old man!"
"Old man!? I'm thirty-two-years-old!"
"Yeah, whatever! Big deal! At least I don't tell people to hit me and expect them to take it as a figure of speech, whatever the fuck that is!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at the man and huffed.
Broken Record grinned victoriously. "Now we're back to normal!" Luffy furrowed his eyebrows at the words but the man poked his cheek with an index finger. "It was getting a bit too depressing, yeah? It doesn't suit you. We wouldn't want a repeat of the other day."
Luffy's face lit up in realization before he frowned and knocked Broken Record's hand away. "Haha, very funny. You knew I wouldn't get it, didn't you."
"Maybe," the man replied cheekily. He frowned as he looked down at his red shoulder. "Holy shit, you punch hard for a scrawny ten-year-old."
"I'm thirteen!"
Broken Record stared at Luffy with such genuine surprise it almost made Luffy punch him again. "Seriously? Jesus, kid, you look like someone's disowned kitten."
"I'm not a pet, you asshole," Luffy spat in disgust. "I'm thirteen. Besides, if I were ten, that would mean I was sold when I was four. No one wants a four-year-old slave. Trust me, they've tried."
"You've been a slave for five years?"
Luffy shrugged, although it didn't feel as nonchalant as he'd hoped. "I guess. Maybe six. Whatever, I lost count. I spent a year and a few months as some personal servant before I got tossed into this shithole." The small teen stretched out his arms with a wince. "I wouldn't really count the first one or two years as being a slave. It was more of… I don't know. It was just really fucking weird."
Broken Record seemed to contemplate Luffy's words for a moment. "How so?"
Luffy opened his mouth to reply but he snapped his jaw shut and met Broken Record with a deadpan expression. "Why the hell would I tell you?"
The man smirked as swallowed the last of his food. "You were just about to."
"As if," Luffy snorted. "I'm not stacking my shit on someone whose name I don't even know."
"You make a fair point." Broken Record picked up his small bowl of water and chugged it all in just three gulps. "Has anyone ever told you how much of a downer you are?"
"No way," Luffy sarcastically droned. "No one has ever told me that, before."
Broken Record pointed at the boy as if he caught him in the act. "There! Right there! That's the downer attitude. You need to lighten up, kid! Smile more, it does wonders!" The man pinched one of Luffy's cheeks and pulled upward so his face was in a half smile half grimace. "You're always so serious and angry at everyone. That's why no one likes you!"
Luffy looked at his companion with extremely unamused eyes. "Excuse you, dipshit. Plenty of people like me. How can anyone resist my nye indestructible charisma?" He half-heartedly pushed Broken Record's hand away with a small smile. "Besides, you're one to talk. Who was the one crying like a baby about their crew, for days on end? You're not exactly the perfect picture of optimism, either."
"I wasn't whining, I was reaffirming my belief in my crew," Broken Record said defensively. "You just interpreted it as whiny because you're a dumbass."
Luffy gained an amused expression on his face. "Someone's getting a little sensitive," he teased. He started poking Broken Record in the arm with a mischievous grin. "You were whining, weren't you. Everyone knows it, no use in trying to hide it. There's nothing to be ashamed about. The past is the past, my friend. It's okay. Just focus on the present."
"Oh, fuck off, you parasite," the man grumbled jokingly. Suddenly, he gasped excitedly and grabbed Luffy's hand. "You just called me your friend!"
"What? No, I didn't!" Luffy denied as he pulled his hand out of Broken Record's grip.
Broken Record's playful expression only grew. "Getting a little sensitive, brat."
"Don't go around stealing my words, fucker! It doesn't apply to this situation!"
"What're you saying? It totally does! Just admit it, you think I'm your friend!"
"In your dreams, asshat!"
"C'mon, no one's gonna judge you!"
"Fuck you!" Luffy flipped Broken Record off with a laugh.
Luffy stuck his tongue out at the guard who basically overhand slammed him into the cell and stretched out his aching limbs. He looked around the cell for Broken Record and frowned. "Where the hell is he?"
"You looking for Broken Record, brat?" an old slave grumbled. His spit flew everywhere and almost made Luffy kick him into oblivion.
"Yeah, where is he?" the boy asked reluctantly.
"He was caught trying to sneak two life jackets into the storage room, that little dumbass!"
Luffy froze. Lifejackets? Where the hell did he manage to get those? "How did he get the lifejackets?"
"Don't even think about it!" the old man snorted. "They won't let slaves on the deck for another ten years, after this! Some ships arrived and Broken Record had the brilliant idea of finding the lifejackets instead of unloading the damn crates. I told him it was fucking stupid and he did it anyway. This is why you morons can't be left alone! You're always doing stupid fucking shit."
Lifejackets. The only reason Broken Record would get lifejackets is if he wanted to escape. "They caught him."
"Yeah, that's what I fucking said!" The old man went back to eating and aggressively muttered to himself.
Everyone knew what happened to slaves caught escaping.
Luffy collapsed, right there, right in front of the cell door. He fell onto his knees and his arms hung off his shoulders like string. His eyes were wide open yet his vision was blurry. He vaguely heard noises and words in the background but he couldn't focus. Everything was numb.
Tea was everywhere.
They were friends.
Nothing was broken.
Why did he do it?
He was on the ground.
That idiot.
And he waited.