'Face forward and march. Face forward and march. Face forward and march. Face forward and march. Face forward and march.'
Shell continuously chanted this to herself instead of ripping the heads off of the booing women and men behind her. Unfortunately, Lily wasn't with her at the moment. Luckily, Law and Iva were. They were to go to the park and relax while Lily took care of the plane tickets and bridesmaids dresses. She also had to take Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin and get their suits tailored. Bepo, especially, since the adorable bear would be the ring-bearer.
That left Shell and Law with nothing to do. They were given a "mysterious" piece of paper with the word 'park' scribbled in Lily's chicken-scratch handwriting scrawled on it. Iva was sent with it, and decided to join them for the day. He (currently) would surprise them with his gender and apparel at the wedding, promising that it would match its colors. So, without a thing to do, he decided to accompany them to the park. Well, until he grew bored after the third magnolia tree they passed. However, the park idea seemed to be a terrible one, as some people were having a rally against the union between Doflamingo and his chosen bride.
The bride, which at the moment, was seething and held Law's hand in a death-clutch. Literally.
He gasped with pain, trying to gently pull his hand away without alarming Shell, yet was failing miserably. He pulled her towards the entrance of the gardens, and away from the angry mob. She follwed, albeit reluctantly. Once they passed the roses, they couldn't hear the shouts as loudly. It had become more of background noise. Being Friday, three days before 'the big day', it was well-known news that Doflamingo was tying himself down to someone a little better than himself. This didn't sit well with the jealous, and Shelby and the others were feeling it only half-way through Hell Week.
"Sh-shell...can you p-please...let go...of m-my hand?" Shell looked over at the struggling man and quickly released the grip she had on him. He sighed in relief and flexed his hand a few times, getting the blood circulation back into proper flow. "Miss Shell, please contain yourself. I have to deal with the taunts as well, mind you."
Shell apologized and turned to the pond nearby. She caught sight of some floating lily pads among the algae and ducklings following aimlessly behind their parent.
"Do you want to have children, Miss Shell...?" Law asked her, staring, lost in his imaginings at the very same pond she had turned her attention away from in order to address his question.
"Well...I don't think so...I'm not really a 'mom' type of person. I doubt Doflamingo is either..." She sighed and turned back to the lake when a thought struck her. "Though...Lily kinda is a daughter to me...I can't really remember when I started thinking of her as one, but now...I think I'd do anything to protect her..."
'Now that I think about it, Doflamingo said he thinks of her as one, too...' She smiled a little, recalling the time when Lily was poisoned. It led to Doflamingo admitting how much he loves her. He proposed to her soon after, saying he wanted to be a father to Lillianne, and support her and Lily for the rest of their lives. Shell was speechless when he proposed, as he was normally a careless man who didn't keep women at all.
Law took note of her silence and cam over to stand beside her. "Shell, are you-"
"-ok?" Lily lightly touched Doflamingo's arm, gaining his attention. They sat inside the hotel Lily had rented for Shell and his separation. He had been fingering a small pendant that hung from a long silver chain. If worn, it would fall between the breasts of a person, well, to be more accurate a woman whose finger he was wrapped around. The pendant was in the shape of a cirle, and more specifically, was his jolly roger...before he was a shichibukai and gave his crew over to become the Bellamy pirates. He looked up to his daughter-
That had a nice ring to it...his daughter...
He looked up at his daughter when she tugged at his sleeve, silently asking him why he didn't answer. He grinned, "I'm fine. Could you get me a necklace box?" Lillianne smiled wide and turned away from him, running quickly over to her messenger bag. She carried everything including the kitchen sink inside, for occasions such as this and more.
He looked back at the pendant thinking, 'Am I ok...? I know I love her...' He frowned. 'I'm getting paranoid...what people say doesn't matter. But still...she won't back out because of the rumors...will she?'
"Doflamingo, here's the box." Lillianne smiled up at him and held the plush white box up for him to take. He opened it and gingerly placed the pendant inside, closing it just as gently, then put the box inside his coat.
"Thank you, Lily. That will be all." He pet her head and stood up, intent on grabbing a nearby Baby Den-Den Mushi and calling Emporio Ivankov about a way to entertain himself. His bachelor party was to be held the night before the wedding - only a mere lonely two and a half days and three nights left. He wished it would be here already! He was bored out of his mind, and was practically grinding his teeth away in frustration. He couldn't get a hold of Emporio, so he opted to simply go to the nearest bar and hopefully drown his boredome with alcohol...
But, Lily protested, saying she couldn't go in with him (which she probably couldn't), to which he just chuckled and patted her head again. She literally dug her heels into the carpeting as she held on the back of his feathery coat trying to prevent his exit from the hotel.
She needed new flipflops by the time he made it to his limo waiting outside.
She just sort of...stood there as he closed the door behind him. Looking really sad...
...ah, well. She wasn't sent to watch over him, she was just there because she was bored. He knocked on the glass to the driver and told him to take him to the nearest club. He leaned back against his seat and ran his hands over the smooth leather. He was actually sort of nervous. he only planned to sit next to the barkeep up at the counter, then head out once he had his fill. Being with Shell had made him entirely less sociable than he had once been during his times of hopping from woman to woman.
Once at his destinantion, he climbed out of the back of the limo, just like he normally would. This time, though, it was minus the blonde and redhead on either arm. He strode to the front entrance, past the other patrons who had most likely been waiting in line for literal hours, and past the security guards, and into the smoky atmosphere of the loud club. He dodged past bustling men and attractive women until he had pushed over to his destination. Once he sat on the barstool and was comfortable, he signaled the tender over to him and ordered an orange juice and a Bumbo for himself.
"Lillianne..." Though he smiled, it didn't hide the warning edge in his tone. Lily stepped out from behind a large, sweaty man and walked up to the bar.
"You left me." She stated simply before she sat up on the bartsool directly to his right, then placed her small hands on the tall glass with her juice inside.
"Eh. You're here now, aren't you? How did you find me, anyway?" He smirked, half-turning to her as she nibbled on the straw in her glass.
"Valid reasons." Another short, simple reply. He recieved his rum mixture and swiftly downed it, motioning for another without taking his eyes off of Lily.
"Hm..."
"Hm." She hummed back, eyes half-lidded in a bored staredown with the rack of alcohol that lined the walls behind the counter.
"Lily-"
"OI! GOT ROOM FER ANOTH'R?" A muscled guy asked, sitting down next to Lily. "HEY, TH'RE PURTY! WHATCHA GOT? A S'NSET S'NRISE...?" He leaned a little too close to Lily for Doflamingo's comfort. "L'MME SEE 'ERE!" He snatched the glass from Lily's now shaking hands and took a big gulp. He smashed the glass against the counter shouting, "WH'T TH' HELL'S THIS SHIT? STUPID BITCH!"
Then he ran his hands onto the back of her head and pulled at a large chunk of hair, tilting her head back.
"YOU D'N'T DRINK FUCKIN' KID'S JUICE AT A M'THER FUCKIN' PARTY!"
Then things got out of hand.
Law suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Law?" Shell turned to him, concerned that he had suddenly stopped. It was sunset now, and they had simpy walked and talked in the gardens the entire time. Mostly about future plans.
She was unsurprised to find out that he planned to propose to lily after the wedding. He even had the ring already bought - a circular amethyst set into a silver ring with a ring of swirls etched into the metal around the jewel.
Said man tilted his head up to her with a confused look on his face. "I have the sudden urge to punch someone in the face as hard as I can..."
Shell knit her eyebrows together and put a hand on his shoulder. "That...is strange...I feel the exact same way..."
Lillianne felt terrible.
She couldn't help it if it just kind of...slipped out...
Could she...?
She cringed as the man took another blow to his face. Then his neck snapped with one last hit, but no, it didn't end there. He was still alive. Then his back hit the bar's counter, breaking through the sheetrock, metal, and wood.
A large, slightly tanned hand engulfed her own, and she was dragged away from the scene and out of the door. Night had fallen, yet she doubted she would be able to sleep that night.
"Lillianne..." Doflamingo started when they were in the back of his limo, "listen, you have nothing to be ashamed of."
She knew what he was referring to.
She had moaned.
It had been a low, almost inaudible sound, yet audible to the parties involved in the fight. The man had smirked, and that's when Doflamingo jumped out of his seat and wrapped his hands around the man's neck. He walked out of that fight with a quadruplegic on the one hand, and a bruised cheek on the other. Lillianne walked out with tussled hair feeling ashamed of herself. She couldn't help that when someone grabbed her by the back of her hair and exposed her neck that she was instantly turned on. Like a snap of the fingers. There were only four things that turned her on like that, and that was the reason she usually kept her hair tied back in a ponytail. That was why her sensitive spot on her neck was never exposed, usually being hidden by necklace chains or her jacket. It was why she never straddled anyone that might be able to grind against her.
And that was why she never let anyone respect her enough to call her "ma'am" or "mistress".
She always hid behind others, fearing she would betray them if she spoke up or got too close. And she felt like she had done just that back in the bar. Tears started streaming down her face as she sobbed.
Doflamingo wrapped his arms around his daughter and held her as close to him as he could. He promised her she wouldn't have to suffer her one true fear again. Never again.
"You won't be alone, I promise. I forgive you, Law forgives you or else he gets his throat ripped out And Shell already knows better than to hold anything against you. You won't be alone." He shushed her and stroked her hair, gently working out the knots as she cried herself to sleep in his lap.
OMGLOB GAIZ. I feel like this chapter was an excuse to make Doflamingo all fathery n stuff...opinion? Eh, whatever, what do I care?
...
...
I have all the care! *cries in a corner*
Ok, so yeah, things are kinda heating up, and some of these characters are getting too OOC for my taste...but I'll tell you a secret.
I already have through Day 7 done.
MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!But yes, mwahaha and all that goodness (I really have no clue how I did that...)