"I don't want to…" Rocinante muttered.

"Why not?!" questioned his older brother, indignant and disgusted.

"Because… Well, because she'd be so mad at us. We'd desecrate her name if we did something like this…"

Doflamingo sniffed.

"So what?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "She was my mother too you know. And she's dead, she won't care. Are you going to start crying about it? Look at me. I'm not in tears."

"Well I'm not you," Rocinante said, crossing his arms.

"Are you just going to stop living because your mother is dead?" asked Doflamingo.

"I'd like to…" Rocinante murmurred.

"Shut up!" Doflamingo said suddenly. He grabbed his brother by his shoulders and began shaking him. "You don't mean that! TELL ME YOU DON'T MEAN THAT!"

"I don't mean it!" exclaimed Rocinante, frozen. This seemed to pacify his brother. Doffy retracted his arms and hung them by his sides. "I don't mean it," Roci repeated for good measure.

"Well then," said Doffy, his eyes widening behind those thick, black sunglasses of his. His mouth curving into a wry smile. "Let's do it!"

"This is horrible," Rocinante said. He was referring both to his brother's unsteady mind and their current situation.

"No, it's a reward," Doffy justified.

"For what? What have I done to deserve this?"

"Endured YEARS of pain and cruelty, that's what! If you're not going, I'll go by myself.

Doffy swung the door open and walked outside. The door began closing, squeaking and screeching on it's way. Rocinante hesitated. The door was about to close completely when a ratty brown shoe lodged itself in the gap between the frame.

"Well?" asked the voice connected to the foot. "Are you coming, Roci?"

Rocinante gave in, and slipped through the gap. Doffy led the way, knowing best where the shop was. Roci didn't like going out into town that much. It frightened him. His scars, his cuts, his bruises. They all ached upon seeing a scowl on a woman's face. A rock in a child's hand. A sharp knife held out in front of a man's torso.

Roci jumped when Doffy grabbed his hand.

"You've always been the weaker one, you know that?" said Doffy. Roci nodded, his eyes downcast. "Don't let them scare you." Doffy asserted.

"I can't." said Roci, his fingers pressed deeply into his brother's palm. "I can't be like you." Doffy whistled in appreciation.

"Don't we both know it?" said his older brother, stopping in front of the glass window. Roci looked up. The shop looked like a gingerbread house. It was built with brown brick, and had a slanting green rooftop. White curved metal adorned the edges of the roof, bearing a likeness to sugar frosting. It had been long since Roci had seen, much less tasted, a gingerbread house. But he could still remember the large palaces and elegant mansions he'd seen built with cookies. The master bakers of Marie Joie were indeed worthy of their titles. How Roci would have loved to have a gingerbread house for his birthday. Alas, July was most definitely not the season for it.

Doffy opened the door, and stepped into the quaint little shop. Roci followed, and was hit immediately with the scent of sugar. And not the fruity kind that he and Doffy would be lucky to come across. No, this was pure sugar, used for baking purposes. The kind Roci would pour into his palm and lick off his fingers. The kind that came in small packets that would be poured into bitter coffees. The kind that made his nannies and maids groan at the prospect of having to put him and his brother to bed.

"You like?" said his brother, grinning at him. Roci frowned. It was wrong what they were about to do. Very, very wrong.

"Let's go back," Roci pleaded, "this is horrible."

"Coward," said Doffy, meaning every syllable he uttered. Rocinante felt cold.

"I'm going home…" said Rocinante, dragging his feet back outside. His brother shrugged, and began browsing the aisles of cakes and pastries.

Rocinante felt another chill run up and down his spine. He began walking, increasing his pace with each step. Someone was watching him. His injuries began pulsing. His muscles tightened and twisted until Roci was sure they'd been tied into knots. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted him. His watcher. Dressed in all black. A knife in his hand. Rocinante swallowed and began jogging. He had to go home, he had to go home. Shit. What road was he on again? Doffy knew the way. Why hadn't he stayed with Doffy? He looked back. His pursuer was catching up. He couldn't stop now. He ran as fast as he could, ducking into alleyways, and running into large crowds. He looked back once more. He'd lost his follower. But he was lost himself, now.

A hand closed around his wrist, and Roci panicked, jerking away.

"It's me."

Rocinante turned to see his brother, toting a pink and white bag.

"Let's go home," said Doffy, curling his fingers into Roci's palm.

"You bought something," said Roci.

"Yeah," said Doffy.

"I thought you were going to steal something."

"Shut up. I'm going without breakfast this week. I hope you like muffins."

Doffy broke away from Roci to open the bag. Doffy pulled out a golden muffin, and gave the bag to Roci. Roci folded it carefully and placed it in his back pocket. It was a beautiful thing. His mother would have loved it. Doffy then pressed the muffin into Roci's hand. Roci ripped a chunk off of the muffin, and passed it to Doffy, who shrugged and popped it into his mouth. Roci cupped the muffin and bit into it. It was warm, and buttery. The bread was filled with nuts and raisins, and it was so, so sweet. And it smelled so, so good.

The brothers shared them muffin while they walked home. It was supposed to be Roci's birthday present, but Roci insisted that Doffy had some too. They finished the muffin, and walked home together, hand-in-hand, in a comfortable silence.

A.N.: *Sigh* I'd really like to think that Doffy was super protective of Roci, but we all know that reality… I thought I'd give 'em a little moment though. I am really curious as to the Donquixote brother's past. But as the Dressrosa Arc comes to an end, I realized that it's probably not going to happen. So I kinda did my thing and elaborated ^u^ Hope you enjoyed! Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, Birthdays, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! I'll see you tomorrow for Helmeppo!