His Sunflower Smiles

by Yazziyou's Daydreamer

Doflamingo wasn't expecting much when he has to stay on an island for a bit because of major storms. Instead of a nice relaxing time off like he was expecting he ends up with a baby to raise one that's going to be a hell of a lot more responsibility and patience than he or his crew ever expected. How will he get Crocy to stay and prevent his brat from becoming king of the pirates?

15. Chapter 15

My friend and I were working on corrections all over the place on this at the same time so I think we have everything looking nice but please tell me if there is any strangeness!

Also, please tell me how the writing sounds I allowed my friend to make some more adjustments and add and take out more to add to the story and flow than I normally do. We are kind of experimenting to see how it will work out so she can take more liberties with adjustments when it is hard to get ahold of me. She also is thinking about going back to school to be an editor.

Hey guys, sorry it took so long I just finished my first semester of grad school and lets just say it was a doozy. Loved it, but so busy and my body decided to try and off me again a few times, so I didn't do nearly as good as I was hoping, but it is so nice to feel like I am actually doing something and learning something again!

This chapter was extra long, 15122 words without my author's notes. I am really excited for the next chapter and am already nearly 500 words into it so I am hoping that I will have the next chapter up before I have to start next semester. I am having some major health issues, so can't promise it, but I am having a bit of a roll so I'll try my best!

Chapter 15

Crocodile felt like he was going crazy from being forced to stay in such cramped quarters for so long. Unlike the others, he couldn't stand the cold long enough to do more than very short walks, if he could even force himself to go out in the cold. For most of the winter, the man mostly stayed huddled up and surly as all hell, practically sitting in the fireplace. Everyone around him all the time had his already shorter social fuse fizzled to almost nothing every day, all day.

Crocodile didn't even have the ability to hide away from everyone unless they wandered around the nearby town due to most having social natures in the compound and due to the space that was far too small being used for so many people. It was just a miracle that having so many alphas together in such a space hadn't stirred up too much turmoil. It didn't make the place any quieter, though, especially with the lack of boundaries that the Donquixote family pirates clearly had. Crocodile didn't like how their undesirable behaviors were rubbing off on his own crew, especially Bentham, who had already been the most significant headache of his out of his head subordinates.

Luffy was also becoming a handful with his increased mobility and his new teeth coming in. He loved chomping everything in sight, chewing on hands, chair legs, and everything else he could get his little teeth into. Even though they were just his front teeth so far, they were sharp and his bite was getting stronger every day. Much to Crocodile's worry and displeasure the infant was still having issues with growling and hissing at the others. Doflamingo's fawning and cooing at the behavior irritated Crocodile and he was certain that the man was making the behavior worse. He just hoped that it didn't set in as a permanent thing. He knew that Luffy didn't mean anything by it. The brat was a baby, after all, and he was still just as lovey and sweet as always. It just worried Crocodile that his sweet boy would turn into a spoiled little asshole becuase of the Donquxiote family's fawning. Doffy was a prime example of what that did and he was what, 10? 12 when they got ahold of him? Crocodile dreaded to think about what type of snotty pompous tantrum-throwing man-child they could turn Luffy into without him there for some intervention.

Doffy was feeling far more laid back and content than he expected. The lack of total freedom to go about and do whatever he wanted without thinking about the consequences didn't bother him in the least. It had been almost disturbing. It freaked him out initially, but he had settled right in. He just loved the feeling of having his little family together with him all of the time and he enjoyed the little domestic moments he had on the daily with both of them. He also loved that both crews for the most part, got along better than he could have ever dreamed. If only sweet little Rosi was with them…. He would love his little Treasure so so much! Doffy knew it was just wishful thinking and he shouldn't dwell, but life would be perfect and complete if his Rosi were with them too.

Doffy also suspected that he was enjoying the lack of significant activity because he had always almost instinctively settled in during the winter more and the instincts were far stronger now that he had an infant to care for…. It surprised him, though it didn't concern him as much as he thought it maybe should….. It had been less than a year and he had become so accustomed to not being able to go wherever he liked whenever he pleased. As long as Luffy and his lovely Croco were with him, it was pure heaven to be cooped up, and being home just made it all better. Every day, he and his Sweet boy were getting even closer and more bonded. Doffy couldn't help but nearly swoon at his boy's possessive behavior. Luffy was such a cuddly, sweet thing and Doffy, no matter what Crocodile said, had never felt so proud and loved.

And Crocodile… Crocodile was amazing. He was still so quiet and reserved, but Doffy had gotten used to that. He was such a vicious witty beauty with his silver tongue and a hell of a twisted sense of humor to go with that hell of a great ass. Their Luffy had definitely taken more after himself, though, much to Doffy's delight. It made him so proud, he was melting anytime he thought about it! The infant had his momma's gorgeous looks but was much more demanding and, vocal and possessive~ It was so cute!

As long as Luffy knew he was loved and safe, Doffy didn't care if he constantly gnawed on everyone's hands or if he possessively growled and hissed over himself, Crocodile, or his favorite toys. Luffy was sweet, happy and healthy, and that was all Doffy cared about. They could figure out the rest later. He just wished that his Pretty felt the same way about the situation! He couldn't understand why the man was so concerned. Yeah, Luffy was exhibiting behaviors that were normally seen in children 5 to 10 years his senior and even a bit much compared to most teens, but he was a special boy and he was just telling everyone how much he loved them. As long as he wasn't feeling actual aggression towards their family, then Doffy couldn't really see the issue. He was older than Luffy when he started exhibiting such behaviors, but he was fiercely possessive of anything he had deemed as his, including his Mother and baby brother, and he had turned out perfectly normal! He treated his family with love and respect, and he even learned to share his sweetness with them.

Croco was far grouchier than normal, so Doffy suspected that the cramped space was the real issue. His poor pretty had been all cooped up for ages and Doffy knew that the other man hated that! He'd hardly stepped foot outside of Spider's Mill in months and he just seemed never endingly snippy and tense. The brunet snapped and snarled incessantly about the cold, spending the majority of his time swimming in layers, the plush fur coat Doffy had given him wrapped tightly around him like a second skin. Crocodile would spend most days as close as possible to the fireplace in Doffy's room with a nest of fluffy blankets lining his lap. He even disregarded Doffy's rules of smoking there, as he puffed cigar after cigar. A compromise was struck that when Luffy wasn't in the room he could get away with it. The man looked ready to lose it on anyone who even contemplated disrupting him, well, other than Luffy who he was being particularly broody and fussy over. The cold environment and lack of moving around seemed to have triggered some sort of aggressive mothering behaviors in the already temperamental brunet. He already had a territorial streak a mile wide on top of that, one of Crocodile's cutest and more attractive traits in Doffy's opinion.

Although Luffy loved the cuddling and helping his Momma person fix the nest, the pup was actively trying to escape his mother's instinctive attempts to keep him warm. The pup was already a little heater himself, and the room was kept plenty warm during the day. The hyper pup didn't enjoy sitting in the fire like Crocodile, especially if he could be exploring all of the hide-e-holes around the room, or burrowing in the nest or playing with Daddy and his favorite people! Especially his spinny person and his Buff! It was hard to sit still when there were so many things to see and do now that Luffy could move independently so well. Luffy's lack of cooperation made Crocodile even grumpier and more like his namesake as he grumbled and growled over his pup rejecting the countless layers he would drown him in and refusing to hibernate with the other man. Most often, when Crocodile wasn't practically trying to roast himself alive, he was dozing.

At first Doffy found the behavior to be cute, endearing even, but Doffy didn't think the amount his Croco slept and isolated himself was healthy. Crocodile liked being active, going places, being wined and dined and pampered. Clearly, he was bored and Doffy needed to cheer his Pretty up! He decided the best course of action was to get his Crocy out of the Mill for a bit. Doffy was positive once he got some fresh air and actually got to do something that he would enjoy that his mood would improve by leaps and bounds! He was in the mood to do something fun, something cute and memorable. It had been so cute when Bentham, Jora, a few of Bentham's crew, and a stern, clearly indulgent Pink had taken Buffalo out to play in a field near town. It positively melted Doffy as he watched his family play with the boy. It reminded him of cute little winter stories about children having snowball fights, making snowmen and hot chocolate beside a fire. All sweet and melty and adorable!~ Moments that he…. sometimes wished that had indulged in with Rosi, when he still could have…. That he should have had!

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"Croco!~"

"Close that damn door!" The brunet snarled, pulling the pile of pelts he was practically buried under nearly over his head. He nuzzled against the pile of pillows his body was half sunken into.

"Gonna' let the heat escape!" Crocodile grumbled, holding his pup hostage against him with one arm. He enjoyed the heat radiating off of his son and the sleepy morning closeness he was sharing with him. It was more than worth the whining and tantrum that Doffy had thrown over taking their son's morning snuggles.

"Croco! Rise and shine, it's almost noon! No more sleeping for my pretties.~ We have things to do today." Doffy purred, sauntering over to the pink explosion that was his nest, grinning ear to ear as the lump in the middle curled on itself even more and hissed quiet threats. Cute!~

"Come on, pretty! You don't want me dragging you out of here, do you? I'm not taking no for an answer this time." Doffy said, his cheerful tone turned sharp as he continued to be ignored. He'd planned the perfect winter day. A family day. Doffy had enough of Crocodile not allowing him to love him properly. He had been patient, more than patient, just like Pink had advised, but it wasn't working. He wasn't going to tolerate it any longer.

"Now."

"Doffy…. I-"

"The whole day's planned. Up." Doffy said, tone clipped. The unnerving monotone of his voice had Crocodile swallowing hard.

The brunet found himself sitting up before he realized he was even doing it. "Fine! I'm up!" He sniped, forcing down the urge to tilt his head to the other man. Ugh, what was up with him lately? He needed to get off this frozen ass island. It was messing with his head!

"Oh! Sweetness, well, hello, how are you?~" Doffy exclaimed, grinning ear to ear at his pup as he threw his hands up in an exaggerated welcome to his son. Luffy eagerly crawled to the man, making happy little squeaks and shrieks as he tugged at the man's button-up. The infant plopped down to look up at him, eyes wide and his face consumed by a bubbly grin. Doffy melted instantly, his irritation with his Croco totally forgotten as Luffy loved on him with all his might. He nuzzled enthusiastically into his palm, then practically dove onto the petting hand. It reminded Doffy of how tiny his sweet boy was and how cute and easy it was to cradle and cuddle him! "Luuuffy, my little sweet sweet Treasure!~ Look at how little you are, I missed you to, sweetness! Oh such flattery! Yesss, I love you too! Yes, I do, my Treasure!" Doffy cooed as he scooped the pup up and kissed at Luffy's face. A series of drawled-out blissed chuffs rumbled through the blond.

Crocodile grimaced at the heart eyes the pair were wearing for each other, not at all jealous or thinking about the trainwrecked dumpster fire his relationship had been … and still was with his own Caretaker…Parent? Nor was he sulking over his Luffy squirming free the second he realized the dumbass bird was there to threaten and torment the older man. He understood his pup not getting that the damn bird was a bastard, Luffy was an infant, after all. It still irritated the brunet that his son was loving on the other man so sweetly after he had clearly been an ass to him. Crocodile sure as hell hadn't been finished cuddling with his pup.

"Croco, didn't you say you were getting up? Come on Pretty, we need to get going!" Doffy chided the other man and scooped Luffy up in one hand. "Let's get you dressed too, sweetness! Need to keep you nice and warm! Are you going to see snow? Yeah?~"

Crocodile grimaced before forcing himself to get up. He still couldn't believe the idiot was forcing him out in that cold! Their pup in the cold! What was the moron thinking? "Luffy's way too young to be rolling around in the snow!" Crocodile couldn't help but snipe, even as he did his best to get dressed on his own.

"Fufufufu! Oh, Croco, do you think I'm such a bad father that I would just chuck my Treasure into a snow mound?" Doffy exclaimed. Although his face played at being amused with the other man, his tone certainly told a different story as the blond cuddled the infant closer at the very thought of not protecting his boy from the elements. The memories of when he first found his pup and the condition the baby had been in after spending who knows how long out in the rain and cold was still as fresh as the day it had happened in his mind.

Luffy let loose a squawk of displeasure at being forced into his jacket. It had a pokey feeling around his tummy and was annoyingly tight around his shoulders and hips. Even worse, it was restrictive to his movements and Luffy hated being confined, especially now that he had become so accustomed to crawling about and being able to do as he pleased. Luffy immediately turned to Momma person and let out a disgusted merp. It was as if he were saying something along the lines of, "Do you see this? Are you going to let him make me wear this horrible thing?"

The brunet grimaced, still in the middle of shimmying his pants on. "You know he hates that coat. I don't know why you insist on putting that thing on him. He can't move in it. You know he hates that!"

Doffy pouted, "But it's Iva Cutore!" He huffed, "He's so cute in it and he's finally fitting better… Why does he need to move anyway?" The blond grumbled, frowning down at his squirming pup.

Crocodile twisted his face up oddly before he smoothed it over and rolled his eyes, "he's a baby. Lu's not going to give a shit about anything like that!" Crocodile pointed out, "Besides, you're the one that always goes on about him being your free spirit! I suspect a free spirit doesn't like being confined and unable to move around." The brunet said, a lazy smirk twisted up his lips almost teasingly. After that, the man sauntered up to Doffy and glanced pointedly down at the undone buttons on the nice shirt he planned to wear. He didn't own a single outfit without them and something as simple as only having one hand wasn't ever going to change his style! He was a button up slinging, cigar-smoking, opulent jewelry-wearing sort of guy for life. Crocodile loved indulgence and he wasn't going to change that for anyone.

"Fufufu, I suppose you got me there, pretty! He's just so cute in his jacket, makes me sad to think about how he's going to outgrow it soon and yet he's still so little. I love him this size, so perfect and cute.~" Doffy grumbled with a pout. The blond sat the infant down before letting out an enticed purr as he eyed his pretty's, exposed chest. The brunet huffed in displeasure, tapping his foot as he puffed out his chest and waited for Doffy to do up the buttons.

"Didn't even ask me nicely!" Doffy exclaimed, a cheeky grin on his face as he reached for the other man's vest and began to button it. Both knew full well that Crocodile could do them on his own, at least for that particular style of shirt, but he was a spoiled bastard used to others doing it for him at that point, especially with Doffy there more than eager to take care of his Pretty.

"Like you care, needy bastard! You'd end up pouting the whole damn outing if I didn't let you fuss over me a bit." Crocodile grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Fufu, so mean! Can you blame me, though? I like taking care of you so much and my Croco is so cute when I do nice things!" Doffy teased, smirking at the way the other man's cheeks pinked as Crocodile grumbled about being too seasoned in life to be buttered up so easily. Ugh, he was so so cute!~

Luffy let out a disgruntled merp, still annoyed about the coat his Daddy person had put on him and about being ignored. The infant flailed, rocking back and forth on his back like a flipped turtle and letting out irritated little huffs as he clawed at the air.

"Oh! Lu~ Fufu look at my little turtle, such a grumpy boy!" Doffy cooed, scooping up the pup once he was done buttoning the vest he had placed over Crocodile's button-up. The pup gave the blond a disgruntled grandpa pout after that, not impressed with his Daddy's lack of empathy for his situation.

Doffy smirked at the other man as he pulled the infant's jacket back down around the hips. He ignored the outraged "BA!" the pup shouted at him, used to his son's outrage over having to wear a jacket at that point.

"Come on Crocy! Stop trying to procrastinate we have places to be and things to do!~" The young alpha purred, as he made his way towards the door.

"Wait, I don't even have my shoes on yet!" Crocodile iritiably barked. How dare he just walk off on him like that?! Stealing his pup and dragging poor Luffy outside into that cold, ugly hellscape. That idiot! Ugh, there was no way that Crocodile could let that irresponsible idiot go alone with his brat! "Bird bastard! Don't you ignore me!"

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"Getting me a glove isn't going to make me not hate this, even if it is a nice one." Crocodile grumbled, giving Doffy an unimpressed look. The fabric of the glove was thick, yet flexible, butter soft and lined in fur, but it wasn't like a glove was going to make the brunet feel any less like he wanted to punch someone's lights out; he was so agitated by the cold. Blues, he hated it and Doffy wasn't making him any less pissed off dragging him out there!

"Oh, is it pretty, eh, Lu-sweetness?" Doffy cooed, allowing a few snowflakes land on one of his fingers and held it close for Luffy to see. The man grinned at his awed infant. He purred lightly at the excited little sounds his boy made.

Luffy eagerly leaned forward, ignoring his confinement, and tried grabbing the flakes with tiny mittened hands as they melted away due to Doffy's boiling hot body heat. The pup let out a confused guff and huffed as Doffy snickered at his bewilderment due to the snowflakes melting into cold wet liquid.

"Fufufu, awe, don't get mad Sweetness!"

Crocodile snorted as Luffy arched his back and became grumbly. "Can we go back in now?" He said, his arms crossed and face burrowed into the collar of his fur coat.

"We haven't even been out here more than 10 minutes!" Doffy whined.

"Yeah, and I'm already freezing my ass off!" Crocodile hissed, not to mention that they were still in the middle of the scrap heap.

"Fine, fine! Your momma's not being fun, Lu!" The blond grumbled.

"Well that's your own Blue's damned fault, isn't it? I told you I hate going out in this crap and you're still insisting on it!" Crocodile snarled. "Gods damned freezing snowy hell, of all the shit places I could get stuck wintering in!" The brunet growled. A deep, raspy, reptilian-like bellow crept up his chest into his words as he thought about all of the wonderful boiling hot desert islands he could have been relaxing on.

"Fufu, calm down pretty! Once sweetness is bigger and I have my territory properly established in the Grandline, we can spend all of the time you could ever want on a nice warm spring or summer island!" Doffy assured the other man as he trotted off with the pup in hand to continue playing with the snow.

Crocodile sharply inhaled. The piercing frigid air sliced into his nasal cavity and lungs like daggers. Glaring at Doflamingo, he let out a roar of unbridled anguish and indignant fury. In the distant horizon, an avalanche of snow fell in a rumble from the mountainside. A few steps away, Doffy hardly even reacted, his pretty was being such a dramatic brat it was cute! He wouldn't give in and let Croco ruin their fun, though. Doffy continued manipulating the strings to play with the snow, much to the delight of the pup in his arms as he clasped his gloved hands over his Treasure's little ears. Ah, much better!

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After being forced into participating in several activities that he would never ever allow anyone to know he had done including making a snowman, snow angel, sledding, and participating in a miserable crushing loss at a snowball fight, Crocodile felt he had more than done his duty as a mother and that it was time to go back inside. It was weird to him that it was already getting dark when it was still so early in the day. He had forgotten how it was to experience a true seasonal winter. It wasn't like the climate of an average Grandline islands with one season with variations in heat and humidity all year round. He wasn't even sure if he had ever properly experienced it outside of maybe a few short times as a very small child.

Crocodile knew that it happened, but there was a difference between knowing about it and experiencing it. The thought that people could be born in a time of such cold was a little strange to him, but so was the thought that anyone could live on a winter island. Thinking about that sort of thing had him thinking about how he didn't have any particular island that he could ever call his birthplace. It wasn't like it was the most unusual thing, especially as a born pirate. From the little that he knew, Crocodile had been born on a ship in the thick of a particularly bad storm somewhere in the new world. The man grimaced, he hated thinking too hard about the little tidbits he barely knew and he wished he didn't remember…. The life he was born into… The people he was forced to spend a life time ago with… If Crocodile never saw any of them again it was too soon!

"Croco, your not listening to us!"

"It's not my fault you're so obnoxious I'm filtering you out." The brunet sniped, being dragged from his thoughts so suddenly made his head spin. A prick of icy pain pelted his face

Shit, was that hail?

Instead of just snowflakes falling lazily down around them Crocodile swore something had plonked off of his nose, giving a slight sting.

"Croco!"

More and more pieces pinged off of his face and head. He caught a marble-shaped piece of ice in his open palm, nearly as big as a quarter. Damn it!

"Doffy idiot, cover Luffy!"

The other man pouted at Crocodile. "He's fine, you know I wouldn't let him get too cold, Pretty."

Crocodile rolled his eyes then flinched ever so slightly as several more, even larger bits of hail pelted him. "I'm not worried about it being too cold idiot- Owe! Damn it! I'm worried about the- Oof- Fucking snow, no, hail! The hail, you moron! Are you too much of a blockhead to feel the hail?" Crocodile hissed, vibrating with irritation at that point.

Doffy huffed looking insulted that the other man would even dare to imply he hadn't noticed nor was he already way ahead on protecting his precious boy! He lifted his fingers and flexed them, making the threads that he had weaved around himself and his pup minutes before his pretty even spoke visible. The glistening razor sharp stings were in an almost birdcage shape over the pair and were so closely placed together they almost looked like a solid construct.

"Fufu, you have so little trust in my competence as a daddy! You'll hurt my feelings one of these days!~"

"Bastard!" The brunet growled, doing his best to hard himself with his hook's mace while trying not to look too desperate even as the hail and snow began to pick up and the hail began to fall in near doubloon-sized chunks.

"Shit! We need get in somewhere! Why did you lead us so far away, idiot!" Crocodile hissed, giving up on subtlety and yanked his coat over his head the best he could to shield himself with his one hand. Great, it wasn't just snowing; it had warmed enough to sleet, that's why everything was suddenly so painful. He had been so miserable and was already so cold and numb that he hadn't even noticed the water running down his cheeks. He refused to let that bird know what was going on, though. Crocodile's inability to use his logia's defensive abilities when wet wasn't something Doffy knew about and he was going to keep it that way. It was the brunet's only chance of escape if things got too out of hand.

Doffy was no longer grinning or looking teasingly at his pretty. Instead, he was fussing with something on the inside of his feathered mantle, making sweet chuffs and reassuring rumbles before putting his arms through its sleeves instead of letting it hang around his shoulders and wore it properly.

"I guess I should have been paying better attention to the weather! Looks like a warm front came in from the red line." Doffy said, having to raise his voice over the wind. He squinted up at the dark, full clouds that were quickly filling the sky and frowned. "Fufu, I sensed people not too far from here. We'd be better off checking that out than trying to get back to town from here."

"Fine, I don't even care anymore where you take me just get moving!"

Doffy was quick to lead the other man, grimacing as his feet sank deep into the snow he once easily walked over. Even with his abilities, the snow was riddled with too many holes and dissolved by the ice rain, failing to support anything. The slush soaked through his fine leather shoes and if he hadn't had such good observation haki, the white-out conditions that were becoming worse as they walked would have been blinding. He had to move far slower than he would have liked to because Crocodile had a harder time than himself. Thankfully, the people he sensed led them to a large cabin.

Doffy grimaced as he ducked to get through the doorway. He ignored the startled shouts of the inhabitants as they jumped up from the couch and made sure his lovely, shivering Croco got in before leading him to a large old stuffed loveseat next to the fireplace. The blonde grimaced at the scent of another alpha's stink on the ugly brown of the furniture as he shucked off his gloves.

"My poor Croco! Your skin is like ice Pretty!" Doffy crooned, running fingers over his Pretty's ghostly white cheek. Crocodile's pants were soaked to the knees. The fabric was stiff and covered in a dripping layer of partially frozen ice. His shoes weren't faring any better, the shiny black beauties weren't at all meant for cold or wet weather. That would have to be corrected. His poor, poor, lovely pretty! Doffy immediately got to work, removing the soggy shoes and socks. He whined at how cold and bright red the other man's poor feet were and at the clear hiss of pain that left the other's lips.

"-Ex-excuse me! I understand that the weather is frightful but could you at least answer me?! You didn't even knock before barging in!"

A mediocre-looking 6ft-ish late 30's alpha male angrily exclaimed, his chestnut beard was braided with red ribbon and he wore a simple cream button-down shirt. The beta woman stood behind him, donning a similarly styled long-sleeved burgundy dress. A cream hand towel hung on her front. She had darker, almost black hair braided in a bun and tied with another red ribbon.

Doffy gave the pair a sharp smile. They were so painfully disgustingly average. Insects daring to buzz in his ears, so forgettable, he wondered if there was a single other pitiful creature that would ever even remember they had existed if he snuffed out their wasteful lives? He would have laughed if he weren't so worried and focused on his sweet Crocodile when he saw the pair finally realizing who he was. The sweet aroma of their terror began to permeate the room, contaminating the nauseating stench of affection, security and contentment the couple had marked onto every surface.

"I am sorry I didn't-" the man stuttered, taking a step back and shielding the woman behind him.

"Fufufu, get me some towels, hot water, and hang these up to dry. If you prove useful, I might let you live after that sassy little slip, eh?" Doffy said, tossing the clothing to the pair without looking. He shimmied his pretty's pants off and removed his sweater, coat and even the mace without any argument or grumbling. It was more than a little worrying that the brunet wasn't putting up any sort of a fuss. Doflamingo nearly laughed as the stuffy woman made a scandalized little sputter when she came trotting back into the room and saw Crocodile in his underpants, feet propped up near the fire. Doflamingo himself began to strip, uncaring of the audience. They would be lucky if he was the last thing they saw. They should be grateful to see such a perfect being as himself before death.

He snatched the towels from the woman once he was done stripping, grimacing at the thought of using something of poor quality. The blonde was reluctant to use cheap things on his sweet, suffering Pretty. He was surprised at the towels' plush quality. They were nowhere near something that he would ever use but they weren't the practical rags he was expecting and seemed almost new, so that was at least a pleasant surprise. Still, when the storm let up and he could get them back home he would lavish his Crocy in a boiling hot bath with bubbles and exotic Alabastan hair and body oils for his troubles! They would cuddle as he massaged them dainty feet and chest and achy stump and tight hot-

The scent of an angry, horrified, and territorial alpha hit Doffy's nose, stopping his excited thoughts in their path. His massaging fingers paused and slipped away from his dozy, sweet lovely's scarred wrist. It clearly hurt terribly, similar to Crocodile's feet the stump had been an angry dark red when he first removed the mace. They would need to install some sort of lining inside of his mace. Crocodile's wrist was already chafed from it being worn too long. It clearly didn't protect against the elements either. Crocodile was lucky the metal's biting cold hadn't caused some actual damage to his already mangled flesh. It was something that Doffy was grateful for in the situation, as he suspected getting the badly scared flesh to heal would be a chore. Whoever took care of the initial wounds clearly had no idea what the hell they were doing, they hadn't healed well.

"Fufu, I don't see you carrying any water."

"Sir, I can't- this isn't appropriate!" The bearded man sputtered out, a panicked look crossing his face as an involuntary growl rumbled through his words.

Doffy straightened at that sneering down at the pissant that dared challenge him - involuntarily or not. How dare it, how dare it, how dare IT?! The only thing that saved the man was the slight movements he felt against his chest.

The blonde instantly melted and rumbled sweetly, "Oh, Lu! Are you waking up sweetness?" Doffy smiled more genuinely and reached into the feathered mantle he was still wearing, slipping his still somewhat limp, drowsy pup from the pocket he had added, just for him. Doffy couldn't help but to chuff adoringly when his baby looked at him all sleepy-like and made a slurred little peep. "Oh Daddy's sorry for waking you! So sleepy still! Did you have a nice nap?" The alpha cooed easily, pressing the pup into his collarbone with one hand and rumbled when Luffy nuzzled into him and let out a lazy yawn before glancing around and merping in hunger at the scent of food wafting through from earlier.

"I can't believe you-, ugh, did you just, how the hell didn't I notice Luffy wasn't-…..- Did I just see you magic my brat out of that damn pink monstrosity?"

Doffy huffed. "I've already told you! I have pockets! Why is everyone so stuck on that?"

"Uhuh….. Right…" Crocodile hissed as he eyed the offending pink monstrosity skeptically.

"I do!" Doffy insisted almost defensively. He once again was easily distracted by Luffy's increasingly insistent demand for food. "Oh, sweetness, are you hungry? Daddy will make you something!" He crooned, pulling out a small tin and bottle.

"Hey, where's the water?! I've given you plenty of time." The blond alpha barked, glaring down the frozen alpha in front of him. Where the hell was that woman too? Even from across the room, the blonde towered over the quivering man, his figure blocked the light from the fireplace, covering the man in his long, ominous shadow as Doffy's domineering scent choked the air.

"Uh I, yes, of course! I'll go grab it!" The man exclaimed, eying the tiny pup in the man's hand with badly concealed horror and confusion. Once he was out of sight, Crocodile let out a pained groan, slumping deeper into the loveseat that looked more like a stuffed chair compared to the large size of the man.

"No more Blues damned snow! Ya' better not expect me to put up with something like this ever again! Ugh, this is why I do my best ta' avoid winter islands. I don't think there's much I hate more!" Crocodile groaned, the cold had sunk deep into his bones, smothering every inch of him. He couldn't move a muscle. He felt powerless, weak.

"Not another flake! I don' want ta' even see outside again until that shit's melted away!" He demanded, the accent that hardly showed through most of the time became thicker as the brunet made sure Doffy understood how much he would NOT put up with any more discomfort. He wasn't some cheap simpering date damn it! He shouldn't have to put up with this sort of crap!

"I'm not havin' my pup out in tha' either!" The brunet snarled threateningly through gritted teeth at the young alpha, the love seat creaked from strain as he feebly pounded the armrest for emphasis.

"Crocy!~" Doflamingo purred, beaming at his surly lovely. Such a good good momma caring so much for their little Treasure's wellbeing! He felt like his heart would burst from his chest with how cute his Pretty was being!

"Stop looking at me like that!" Crocodile grumbled defensively, eyes darting away from the beaming man.

"But you're being so cute!~" Doffy whined as he did his best to ignore Luffy's annoyed merp even as he ran an affectionate finger through the pup's hair.

That bastard! "Don't you try buttering me up you bird bastard! I'm not that easy!" Crocodile shouted as he felt his cheeks burn. Baring his sharp fangs at the other man proved meaningless as the idiot blond began to make what Crocodile prayed wasn't a cooing sound before giggling disturbingly, reminiscent of a smitten teenage schoolgirl. Instead of his threats having the effect the brunet wanted, it was clear the blond alpha looked even more endeared if that was even possible.

Luffy had apparently had enough of being excluded on top of being hungry and made a sharp irritated shriek, ensuring the pair couldn't ignore him before making demanding merps and grabby hands at his Momma person. He didn't understand why Daddy person hadn't fed him yet and why the place they were in smelled weird. It made Luffy irritable. He wanted his Momma person who wasn't smelling enough of him anymore and had already gotten Daddy person's cuddles and reassurance. Now he needed his Momma person. Momma person was clearly not feeling good and wasn't happy and Luffy liked it when his Momma person was happy, so he would make sure Momma person got lots of smelling like him and cuddles so he would be happy again! Daddy person would make the stinky people go away and get him and Momma person food.

"Give him here!" Crocodile demanded, snatching the pup with stiff limbs from the now pouting man. The brunet swiftly pressed the grouchy infant under his chin, already used to the demanding little thing insisting on being able to rub his head and face all over the glands in Crocodile's chin and the scent glands along the curve of his neck. Possessive little brat!

"Better brat?" he half snorted, half chuffed as the infant immediately began rubbing his little face all over. He couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle at the happy, squeaky little purr that vibrated the kid's whole body after a few minutes. He wished he was so easy to distract. Just a handful of minutes cuddling and scenting had Luffy so happy the brat was purring and smelling sunshine happy.

Luffy let out a cheerful chirp, happy that his momma's smell was more comfortable and more relaxed.

"M-my dear! Let me take him, my husband- he's getting some.. uh, more wood!" The woman said from the doorway. She had a look of panic on her face and was positively fixated on the pup held against Crocodile's naked chest. The beta brunet's heart was banging out of her chest when she saw the tiny helpless pup trapped between the pair and scented remnants of the pup's stress. She'd heard the pup's cries of neglect while in the kitchen and had panicked at the sounds of a child in the house. The situation worsened in her mind as the pup changed to smelling happy and content with the pair, too small to understand the danger he was in. She felt like her lungs were being suffocated watching the interactions between the couple and with the child. This had to be some kind of sick way to pass the time for them!

The beta woman couldn't take her eyes away from the brunet's stump. Her stomach rolled as the patchy, discolored blob of deformed, lumpy spiderwebbed tissue actually petted at the pup and let wandering baby hands lightly grip and pet over the mess. It was-was just so disgusting just looking at it made her want to cry and throw up!

"Stop that stop that!" she'd wanted to scream as she'd watched frozen in the hallway. Normal people shouldn't have to be subjected to such a disgusting sight, forget encouraging a baby to play with-with that ball of fleshy deformity?! The woman's eyes teared up and she could taste bile when the man dismissed her with hardly a look and moved the stump towards the pup in a back-and-forth gesture. Like the man was encouraging the pup to play with the deformity as he held the baby up in his one good hand by his bottom, his hand so large compared to the infant that he was able to cradle its head easily. The baby was so, so tiny compared to the pair, hell, he was just small in general. Either man could crush that poor thing like a tomato, splattering him at any second in an effortless one-handed grip! The thought had her swallowing hard. She didn't want to see that, she couldn't!

The woman had entirely focused her worry on the baby… consumed by the thought of what would happen to it that would end up haunting her for the rest of her days, she hadn't noticed herself boldly approaching, that she had moved to a reachable distance towards the infant. She remained in a trance even when Doflamingo was no longer interested in seeing what she would end up doing and his amusement dropped like a stone, leaving him clearly aggressive and growling, nor when Crocodile's scent went from mildly irritated but calm and amused to dangerous and practically stinking of a very protective and ready to strike Crocomomma. Only then did she pause with wide confused eyes and let out a startled yelp when Luffy oofed at her before Crocodile or a very irritated Doffy acted out. The infant stunned even the pair when he let out a very disagreeing quick succession of squeaky bark-like sounds that sounded closer to a small dog's yaps, mixed with mouthy little merps and irritable guffs when she didn't move back fast enough for his liking.

Luffy clung possessively to his momma person. How dare that weird smelling stinky new person try to steal his momma person from him?! That was his momma person! That person wasn't going to get any chances to steal him away! Besides, his Momma person only let Luffy and Daddy person cuddles. He wouldn't accept any cuddling from anyone else! They wern't one of Luffy's special people, so they needed to just back off from his momma person and daddy person and go away! The grumpiness that he was feeling reminded the infant of how hungry he was too and considerably soured his previously bubbly mood.

"What the-"

Doflamingo snatched the woman up by her throat, possessiveness and protectiveness boiling over as he released a vicious snarl and throttled her, hardly even noticing her pathetic attempts at clawing at his fingers.

"Fufufu, my baby doesn't seem to like what you were doing too much…. What were you doing anyway?" The man's grip tightened to unbearable levels as he grinned down at her, making the woman feel like an insignificant little ragdoll that could be snapped and shredded to dust at any second he chose to end her. She fruitlessly gulped for air the best she could as the malevolence gleaming in Doflamingo's glasses felt like it might burn right through her if he looked at her any harder.

"Crocodile, pretty, cut, gut or hang?" Doflamingo purred, his tongue hung from his mouth as his his face radiated cruel, sadistic pleasure.

Crocodile grimaced, eying the relatively small space as the woman struggled. Her attempts to break free were pitiful, utterly useless. He wasn't sure how he felt about Doffy doing something like that in front of his infant, even if he didn't really care much about what Doffy was doing or the situation with the woman exhibiting such audacious, blood-boiling behavior. He was still a little stunned that she had been bold and stupid enough to even approach them in such a way. Crazy arrogant bitch!

"I... I- he's so little! I was-scared for him!" The brunette choked out after taking in a desperate wheezing breath. She was sure Doflamingo was toying around, hardly trying with her. It was just-just terrifying! She felt like he could snap her in two with the slightest twitch of his pinky and he was so, so tall! It felt like being in the grip of an oppressive spider while she was hardly a gnat in comparison. It was really starting to set in; if she didn't figure out how to get out of this, she probably wouldn't make it. Why her?! She was a good normal girl, her husband was a good normal man that paid their dues, this wasn't supposed to happen to them! To her!

Doflamingo snorted, his face falling as his expression became cold as ice. He glanced down at her, more than a little irritated and done, edging towards boredom already. The woman felt the terror in her soul rise higher and her heart fall even lower as she watched. If anyone knew anything about Doflamingo, it was that the easiest way to die an incredibly horrible death was by losing the blond's interest and or causing him to stop smiling altogether. Being boring was a death sentence.

Everyone on the island knew keeping Doflamingo smiling but not laughing gave a person the best chance of living…. and if not living, at least not living through a long, excruciating ending. It was Rules 101 for dealing with Doflamingo. Keep him smiling or entertained. At least if you did so and got killed, you weren't usually cut into little cubes one by one as you screamed your throat bloody. It was usually a one-and-done, hardly even aware that you were dying. The woman would rather that sort of death any day over what she knew she would end up with if she couldn't keep Doflamingo from getting too annoyed with her or got him too excited and sadistic feeling.

The woman had thought showing concern for the baby, whom both men were obviously protective and cared about, would have them at least softer with her? These damn monsters didn't make any sense if she was honest with herself. She knew for a fact that Doflamingo wasn't some nice guy; he'd killed more than his fair share of average joes just because. Sadistic freaks like that made her nauseous, and the fact that they had dragged a baby into it didn't make her desire to throw up all over the bastard's shoes any less.

She wasn't even sure why he was choking her out! Yeah, she maybe got a bit close, but she just said she was worried about the kid! She shouldn't be getting punished for that. It wasn't an unusual and wrong thing to do when one was worried for a child, after all!

The grip on her neck tightened, her head bulged from the pressure. Frantic, she scanned the room until the woman's eyes caught the dark, unimpressed gaze of the brunet man. His sharp knowing look was horribly cold and intelligent, completely heartless. She internally shuddered as his yellow-green eyes pinned her in place. He could have been so handsome if he hadn't had that ugly patchwork mess splitting his face. God the guy was so GROSS! DISGUSTING! She couldn't believe that someone as objectively good-looking as Doflamingo was into…. That.

"Crocy you aren't being any fun! I asked a question!"

"Don't drag me into this!" Crocodile grumbled, the pair completely uncaring of the woman that was being choked out in the middle of Doflamingo's whining that Crocodile wasn't playing along like he had wanted. She gasped in relief as the man eased his grip to prolong her suffering as they bickered.

She barely took a breath when the woman jerked, fighting down her gag reflex as the brunet's stump came back into view again and ran over the infant's back. So, so gross! He was so revolting! Blues she'd hack that thing off at the shoulder with a rusty axe so she didn't have to see that pitted wormy texture for another second if she had the chance! Sitting there like he owned her place. Did he have no shame? Clearly not if he thought it was appropriate to even think he was allowed out in the public eye. Let alone look down at her all condescending and thinking that not only was he fine or that he had any right to do anything but to apologize to people for having to suffer through catching a glimpse of him. She couldn't believe he was arrogant enough to not be profusely begging for forgiveness for people having to actually look at that!

Crocodile sneered at the naked resentment and disgust in the woman's glare. It wasn't the first time he was considered a monster to society, people were usually not so open about their issues with his physical deficiencies as they were about him just existing as a person born into the life of a pirate. Whether it had been true, they considered him to be evil from his first breath over being born under the Jolly Roger. He'd grown a tough skin early on because of people like her. He pulled Luffy closer to his chest, the pup was still growling equally as upset at the offending person. Doffy saw the hate in the woman's eyes just as clearly, the slimy judgmental bitch was criticizing his pretty's cutest most vulnerable features! She probably hadn't suffered a day in her life, but now he was going to fix that. The beta gagged and flailed as Doflamingo squeezed so tightly she was genuinely afraid her eyes would pop from their sockets as spittle ran down her chin.

"Fufufufufu, Let me get this straight… You thought…. it was okay-you- something I wouldn't think twice about whipping shit from the street on…. thought it would be okay to just waltz up to my Croco and what, snatch up my boy? Steal him from us? I'd say you forgot where your existence is on the food chain and how lucky something like you was ever even allowed to steal my air. Fufu…" Doflamingo's eyes caught something on the floor and his smile twisted into something particularly mean.

"You don't seem to be getting it so i'll give you an easy explanation…" He tilted his head, a mighty god beholding the lowly ant in his palm, "My existence, it's up here in the grand scheme of things." Doffy said, gesturing with his free hand above his head, nearly touching the high ceiling. "And you, well fufufu, you're the little shit eater in the dirt all the way down here!~" The man snickered, slamming his foot down on a tiny pale spider trying to skitter on by. He rattled the entire house without even meaning to. "Get it?"

"Fufufufu, and my boy…. My sweet boy is worth a thousand times more to me than even myself."

Luffy had quieted at the tension in the room. He was still being securely held by Crocodile and the infant was squirming uncomfortably, mirroring the strained atmosphere. The woman, now trembling, far too afraid to look at Doflamingo in any way, instead cast a lingering gaze at Crocodile's mutilated stump that the man was using to cradle the infant more firmly to himself again. God it was disgusting! How was that a higher-value individual than her? At least she didn't look like some gross freak. Where had her husband gone anyway? Why wasn't he here and trying to defend her at this point? Doflamingo, noticing her unsettling focus, couldn't resist the urge to toy with her further.

"Admiring my Pretty Croco's cute little scars, are you?" Doflamingo asked. He nearly sounded like he could have been teasing the woman if his hand on her neck hadn't tightened ever so slightly. If something about the man hadn't felt that bit more biting as he spoke, she could have easily fallen into believing that he was feeling nothing more than a twisted form of amusement instead of being insulted on the other man's behalf at her unwelcomed staring. God she couldn't tell what was going to happen to her at this point, it was an emotional whiplash all over the place, jerking her around like a puppet!

Luffy clearly sensed the unease practically smothering everyone in the room. It was making him tense. The suffocating feeling hadn't even begun to ease after a few minutes of the twisted half-game half stand-off his Daddy person seemed to be playing with the woman and Luffy was already sick of it and the lady. The unimpressed and still very hungry infant emitted a displeased whine, echoing the disdain of his special favorite people, particularly his Momma person with the whole ordeal. Doffy was so into playing around with the woman and would have been unable to resist his pup's demands of attention being refocused on him if he wasn't already being cared for. Crocodile was finally being a good, sweet momma after all, protecting their pup.~

The woman, realizing Doflamingo was none too pleased with her prejudice, begged for the mercy, something that the blonde never felt much of.

"Please, I beg you! I didn't mean harm. I just wanted to make sure the child was okay!"

Doflamingo's grin widened, the possessive delight evident in his eyes. "Make sure that MY son Is okay with me? That our son was properly cared about and for!? Presumptuous aren't we?"

Luffy, shifting in Crocodile's arms and shot a disgruntled look at the woman, as if conveying his solidarity with his daddy regardless of whether he actually understood a thing that was being said, let alone what was even going on.

The woman, her fixation broken by Doflamingo's unnerving comment, stammered, "I promise- I-I won't bother you again. Just let me go! I'll go far away from here, I'll go off to a different blue if need be! Just please let me live!"

Doflamingo's eyes gleamed with an unstable mix of possessive pleasure and dark amusement. "Well, well, Crocodile, our guest has finally started to realize her place in all of this. How fortunate for her. Or It would have been fortunate for her if she fully understood how little keeping insects alive meant to me and how much the presumptiveness and squeals of vermin pisses me off!~" The blond cooed, a large shark-like grin taking up his face as his fingers began to twitch at the thought of bleeding her out. He hadn't got to kill anything in such a long time! Months even, and the way she looked at his sweet, beautiful Crocy…. Well, it made his blood sing for screams of agony.

The room descended into a chilling silence. Crocodile's gaze remained fixed on the woman, weighing the threat she posed, less to their physical wellbeing. He could clearly turn the bitch into a pretzel with his blue's damned pinky with minimal difficulty. She might be a threat more to their reputation and control. Would letting go of such a weak uncouth bitch cause issues for them later down the road? Calling up Marines to their proverbial doorsteps… possibly even to Doflamingo's trash heap due to it getting out that the woman got away with disrespectful and obnoxious begging behaviors by the crew. That's what happened when you control a base through nothing but fear and violence, though if you give an inch, they may take a mile. Luffy let out a grumpy merp, tugging irritably at a loose strand of Crocodile's hair. Shit… But it wasn't right to have their boy, not even walking yet, be around this sort of thing so much. Even Crocodile was shielded from it a bit for his first couple of years! It made some pretty messed up monsters, Ugh, like Kaido or quite a few of Big Momma's older children. After a tense pause, Crocodile let out an annoyed groan and barked, "Release her, bird."

Doflamingo's possessive blood hungry grin faltered. "Release?" he sputtered as his jaw dropped, not at all expecting the other man to even contemplate doing something like that.

"Ya' deaf? Why the hell should we lift a finger when we have perfectly good mules for that? Unless you're deciding I need to start doing that shit and you know how I feel about that. I may be the best fuck you'll ever get, but I'll proudly say I'm sure as hell the highest maintenance bastard you're going to ever find and that means I don't do shit I don't want to, especially when I have a nosey bitch just sitting around that can do things for me. Luffy's been waiting for that bottle for hours."

Doflamingo pouted and let out a put-out huff before agreeing with the other man.

"Yeah, that's….. True. Fine fine! Where is that scared little piss ant anyways? My boy shouldn't have to wait so long! And what about us? We were never even offered anything! Little missus here is such a lousy hostess! Zero stars, whouldn't come back to take a piss on her table!" Doffy complained, grumbling like a small child. He made a show of reluctantly loosening his grip on the woman's throat. She staggered backward, gasping for breath and stumbling from how hard the hacking coughs she was having from being choked for so long. She dropped to the hardwood floor, her eyes glassy with fear and oxygen deprivation.

"Now, what do you say?" Doffy purred, fingers twitching and already missing the sensation of her rapid fluttery pulse in his hand.

"I'll g-go check on the water!" the woman scrambled to her feet, strands of dark hair flying loose from her once neat bun.

"No!…. You say thank you so much Sir Crocodile!~ I, as nothing more than a worthless piece of human waste am soooo grateful to you, who is so so much more beautiful and merciful than I could ever be!…. Blah Blah Blah some more pretty sounding platitudes- it would be an honor to offer you and your dashingly handsome and charismatic alpha all the alcohol and food. If I act like an entitled bitch again please step on me daddy!~" Doffy said, voice high pitched and mocking.

"Wha- No! Don't you dare say that shit!" Crocodile sputtered, "I'll fucking murder you right here if you say anything like that! Bird bastard, don't ever tell someone to say something like that to me ever again, hear me never!" Crocodile shouted, his face bright red. He forced out a calming breath and gave not only the woman but Doflamingo a final warning glare. "Now get my boy that damn water and don't listen to that simpering shit the bird bastard said."

"You're no fun Crocy!" Doflamingo teased before turning to the retreating woman, "Oh, and don't think I haven't noticed the little ones upstairs, ummm? If either of you try any sneaking around or ignoring us very patient kind guests… fufufufufu well.. I'm starting to get bored as it is."

The woman shook, smelling of panic and desperation at that point, "Of-of course!" She squeaked, tone incredibly tensed as she actually went to do what she and her husband had been claiming to do the entire time.

As the woman nearly ran from the room, Doflamingo let out a dissatisfied huff. "Cro~co, you're being such a party-pooper! I'm so bored and that bitch was so annoying and acted like such whiny demanding thing! My fun's all ruined.~" He pouted, flopping onto the couch sitting next to the loveseat Crocodile was currently hogging. The blond alpha completely ignored the screeching groan the piece of furniture made. Leaning back, he kicked his legs in the air like an impatient child and threw his hands in the air as he continued complaining.

"And the audacity of her! Even thinking of touching what's mine. I should do something to them just for neglecting you and not even trying to get poor Lu's water for his bottle! It takes, what, 10 minutes tops without the dials I have? I mean even with a wood-burning stove, they had just started on food when we got here, so it had to have been hot still or at least lit! And how stupid did they think I was? They couldn't have made it any more obvious they were trying to hide some brats in here!"

Crocodile snorted, going so far as to roll his eyes at the childish complaints of the other man. He himself had suspected, due to the strange extra scents in the air that didn't seem to match either person and just everything was feeling very off but feeling so poorly when he had first came in and still not being very good with Observation Haki had made him not 100% sure how many other people were around except that there had been at least someone that didn't wasn't being shown to them in the home.

"-And the way she kept looking at your adorable scars, too! Makes me want to cut both of her hands off and fuck her with 'em!" Doffy snarled, ringing his hands.

Crocodile bouncing a grouching Luffy a little gave the other man a disgusted grimace at the mental image that sprang up. For a split second, he wondered if the other man had ever been depraved enough to do something that messed up to someone before. He may be a cold-blooded bastard that enjoyed inflicting pain, torture and humiliation on others, but he sure as hell wasn't that sort of fucked up. He forced down a sick feeling as a memory he would rather die than let play through his mind tried to spring up. Even if it had the bird bastard turning on him….. Luffy never, he would NEVER see that sort of messed up shit either.

Ugh he needed a cigar. "I'm not saying you can't get rid of them after this is all done and over with. I was never suggesting that. But why the hell should we have to lift a finger when we have them to do all the dirty work?" Crocodile waved his hand in frustration.

Doffy's face lit up like a child who's parents agreed to buy them a puppy.

Doflamingo's face took on a darker, more thoughtful look after a few moments of silence. His possessive gaze fixated on Luffy, then slid to Crocodile's absently patting stump and his excitable smile slid closer to somewhat irritable and sadistic. "They'll regret it. We'll make sure of that, won't we, Croco? Being so rude to my Pretties." The younger alpha licked his lips in anticipation.

Crocodile forced back the grimace and uncomfortable tightening in his stomach. When he finally spoke it was with a blend of fatigue and finality. "We're not alone, you can't obliterate everything that's irritating."

"Crocodile." Doflamingo all but growled, bordering on dangerous. Before he could get too angry or worked up though, Crocodile was quick to elaborate and try to fix the situation.

"I'm just saying not in front of Luffy! I don't give a shit whatever you do, just not in front of him! He's already all stressed out and fussing and I don't want him getting freaked out!" Crocodile explained.

Doffy gave him a put-upon pout but then cooed about his Crocy being such a sweet soft momma and somehow didn't end up throwing a terrifying fit like the brunet was nervous might happen. He even let Doffy coo about how tired out his Crocodile must have been if he felt like he needed to make up reasons as why he didn't want to participate in the fun with minimal complaints.

The woman came bustling in moments after that whole thing had been settled with a pitcher full of warm water on a tray with baked muffins still warm to the touch and two large bowls of creamy white soup with some type of roasted fowl in it, likely a local snowdrop pheasant.

The birds gained gray and white feathers in frozen cold environments and often ventured out onto the ice sheets at a spot near the island. During the harshest periods of winter they fed on specialized kelp that clumped in ribbons on the surface of the ocean waters surrounding the island. The pheasants were considered a treat that only had good flavor during the winter.

Large chunks of potatoes and carrots floated in the soup, and was served along with a loaf of bread accompanied with a surprisingly good quality bottle of rum. Doffy had also noticed that the house was strangely big and nice enough for a couple that looked like a supposed logging family, not only was the food of high quality. Even if it wasn't anything that Doflamingo would usually touch the muffins smelled of orange and lemon even a hint of nutmeg. The rum was at least a 24,000 beri bottle of alcohol without counting how much it would have been to get it imported. The bottle was a brand Crocodile had been familiar with and was fermented at an island he had visited a few times in Paradise. So it wasn't an easy thing to get.

Where the hell did they get anything of this quality? Especially being supposed normal civilians. There wasn't anyone out there who should have been making anywhere near enough money to live like this. Someone clearly had been getting away with not paying proper dues. Just another reason to get rid of them. The food was just as good as the smell, and the ingredients were indeed a higher quality as Doffy had suspected. It was nice to have something warm in his belly he wondered if the oranges were relatively fresh and if they had any more rum? He was a little excited at the idea of being able to pillage the home of any other niceties that it may have hidden.

Getting fresh stuff in during the winter was very difficult. Unless in the southern parts of the North blue, which was usually pretty winter-free, it was best to just try and hunker down and wait things out in a well-stocked warm place. Maybe they would even discover how a supply line had gotten through and why the little bastards were providing for these useless fuckers instead of Doffy and his crew!

Although they were still eating like kings and were still able to get the occasional shipment of niceties through for themselves, it wasn't easy to get anything out of the region without an icebreaker, which also wasn't easy to get, was cumbersome in battles and didn't suit the crew's fighting style. Their ship also had to have great flexibility in how it could be maneuvered and for the different challenges that it would face when out on the grandline. A ship was a home and as much thought and money they had put in getting the ship built they wanted it to be with them for the long haul.

However because of the difficulties that the winters of the Northern Blue brought to a majority of it's islands it also meant that it was easier and safer to nestle in until the ice break. Being unwilling to move their base of operations farther south due to convenience and them all becoming a family in Spider's Mill and not having everything in place to move in and take over Dressrosa meant that they, like most other's got iced in. That meant that they had to rely on shipments of mostly more mid-northern, if they were really lucky, southern North Blue winter fruits, salmon, more domesticated meats and vegetables until the ice sheets started breaking up. About the only decent alcohol they were able to get at the moment was Vodka, something Senior Pink loved but not too many others on the crew including Doffy himself, not that he was drinking nearly as heavily as he once had.

"Poor sweetness! You were so so hungry my poor baby!~" Doffy crooned apologetically, as the infant made happy sounds as he kept a tight hold of his bottle and gulped the formula down like his life depended on it. The pup was not even done yet and Luffy already began to grumble for another. "Fufufu, such a cute little glutton my sweet boy is becoming! So demanding too!"

Crocodile flexed his toes near the fire and yawned before taking another sip of his rum. Doffy behaved in an equally as comfortable manner sprawled over the couch, with his legs laying over the pillows piled over all of the side furniture. They'd made the woman drag them around for him so he could lounge more comfortably. He was lounging sideways with Luffy cuddled up in one of his hands near his chin so he could scent and cuddle with his son. Neither men even acknowledged the woman standing in the corner of the room trembling with her arms hanging limp in front of her hands clasped together and her thumbs worrying at her apron.

The man had quickly come to heel, sweating bullets. The pair wouldn't have been suprised if the couple had a little chat about his wife's behavior earlier. The storm was still raging when he went outside to grab as much wood as he could to stack near the fireplace, making sure to fill it nice and high at Crocodile's orders. The pair then, irritated with the snow and wet floors, demanded that they be cleaned up. When they were shown where the bathroom was, neither was pleased by the size, but it was still significantly nicer and larger than expected, and it even had indoor plumbing. Both were very happy with the indoor toilet and had even surprised Doffy.

It was not all that common in colder, more remote areas of the North Blue not to have an indoor toilet due to the cold bursting pipes. It was often considered unclean to have one in the house, not that he thought the same way, but that was a common belief of many rural peasants of the more northern North Blue islands. That just added to the mystery of the people in Doffy's mind. Then the fact that they had not only a shower but also what would have been a nice-sized soaking tub for an average person. They were decidedly not coming off as authentic North Blue residents in his mind or at least they weren't any sort of simple forest-dwelling peasants, that's for sure.

Still, Doffy pouted at the tub when he saw it. He would be lucky if the water did more than cover his nuts while sitting as normally as he could in it. He'd have to squeeze in and sit with his legs like a frog if he wanted to actually bathe, but the shower was over a foot shorter than what he could do anything with and the stall was too small for him to even attempt to crouch. He pouted as he had wanted a nice hot bath so badly. He had to opt for a quick scrub. The pair demanded the couple heat the water for the bathtub as it wasn't nearly as warm as they had liked. After they were done, Doffy got a solid 'No you weirdo!' by Crocodile for suggesting a tongue bath for Luffy. The blonde had turned into a pouty ball of mild anxiety as he was worried about the products being used in the home not being explicitly baby-safe, the possibility of no water filter, and it still being drafty outside of the main area. Luffy was allowed to splash in the water a bit before being dried and anxiously monitored until his hair didn't have a single strand that was even slightly damp by Doffy.

By the time they had returned to the living room area a long table had been brought into the room. It was short, not much taller than the coffee and end tables that Doffy had been using and looked like it was meant for a meeting room. Now Doffy knew they weren't from this part of the North Blue. There was no way in hell.

The blond didn't know as much as he would like about the other Blues in that aspect, but that sure as hell wasn't a table you would typically see in the North Blue. He remembered seeing some tables just like that in some books and catalogs from the East Blue, though and he was pretty sure the South Blue too. But the pair didn't appear as powerful to him, even with his observation haki.

It was true; Doffy was certain the man was definitely not some totally useless weak thing like he behaved as, but he was still nothing but a fly. The others in the house were definitely not a threat either. Doffy wondered if a maker's mark was on the table but decided he was too lazy and didn't care enough about some weaklings trying to swindle him enough to even do anything. They would all be dead in the morning anyway no matter what the couple seemed to think.

The table was as close to the couch as they could make it and had 2 twin mattresses already with sheets pulled over them on it side by side and a futon hanging a bit across the foot area with gap spots here and there filled in with pillows and cushions. They had similarly tried to spruce up Crocodile's spot, adding the end tables and coffee table and a futon that was both a bit too short and wide for the loveseat bed they had made for him. Crocodile just raised an eyebrow at the mess, wondering why they hadn't just cleared everything so they could have made a comfortable nest on the floor in front of the fire…. Not that Luffy needed to be within crawling distance of fire or tempted by crawling. That get-up looked like it was going to be hell on his back if they had to stay any more than one miserable night. Why the hell did they have such a large table too?

Doffy was initially hesitant to lay down, not only disgusted with what he was provided with but also nervous about the scents on the mattresses. He may have been able to sleep pretty much anywhere and when necessary on practically any surface, but he was particular about scents. The mattresses were strangely smelling little of people and not in the way high-end hotels and such were with the mostly beta attendants and specialized scent neutralizing sprays but in a relatively freshly bought and hasn't been used in ages nor hardly at all way. He had thought it was just a fluke that the blankets had smelled similar when they were first brought out to them, but the new ones and the new pillows smelled like they had never been used at all… Luffy made it clear as Doffy was arranging things that he did not like it at all and didn't want anything to do with the makeshift bed as he began fussing.

"Poor sweetness! Daddy is sorry I can't bring you home to our nest!" The man cooed, before arranging his mantle onto the groaning table, only momentarily did he wonder if it could handle his weight. Ugh, he wanted his pretty with them too! So close, but so far…

Already sensing the other man's neediness Crocodile huffed. "Don't you dare! There is no way in hell that thing is going to hold the both of us, hell, it barely holds you! If you weren't all cock-eyed using that couch there would be no way for you to even lay on it anything but completely sideways! Now give me my brat so I can try to pass out for the next few hours."

"What! No! My Lu-Lu needs his daddy!~ He's been through a trying day and is very nervous to be away from me when in such a strange place with such annoying, grabby people!" Doffy insisted, encouraging the pup to settle in by chinning the infant and making sure his mantle was within reaching distance for the pup, particularly the shoulder parts that were especially strong-smelling from years of being exposed to his most potent scent gland oils. He grinned as the pup calmed enough to limply stay there. Eyelids already hooded, he quietly practically huffed his scent in. Doffy almost felt a little bad at how clearly exhausted his son was. Poor thing!

Neither man was the least bit swayed or felt guilty when the pair eventually came down. Two teens were wrapped in blankets and asked if they could please bring some futons out and sleep there as it was too cold to sleep comfortably in their rooms. No thanks. Not only were they clearly being deceptive in some way… not that they had been any good at it, but they didn't want these strangers around them while they slept, especially around their pup. The pair already hated the bitch of the house and why the hell would they care if they were uncomfortable? They would be dead in the morning. Annoying bastards! Doffy didn't even laugh at the absurdity, instead, he asked if they thought they were looking at a man that wouldn't kill them in a second for a cheese stick, preferably bounced off a hot piece of ass but still a cheese stick. He just didn't care about their lives so much and they just couldn't seem to get it. What annoying idiots!

Still, although the day had ended up sucking so bad wasn't all that bad. Even with some poorly camouflaged morons to serve them, it was nice having time for just the three of them and Doffy suspected that he would think back on the memory with some amusement and fondness. He had to share his Pretties with both crews so much and it was exhausting sometimes. By pretending the wimps in the place didn't exist, this was pretty nice.

Soon, spring would come and they could go back out plundering and building up their networks and a few short months after that…. It would be Luffy's birthday. It made something fluttery and bubbly fill Doffy at the thought that his boy had been his almost a year now. It was so strange to think that his angel had been in his life for nearly 9 months now and Crocodile for almost 6 if he counted when they first met. It felt like they had been with him for a lifetime and yet also a blink of an eye.

Luffy had long since fallen asleep when Crocodile finally did as well. It was only then that Doflamingo was able to settle in completely to. He lifted his fingers to lazily flick a few extra logs in the fire to make sure it stayed strong as they all slept. He then yawned a big toothy yawn, showing his knife-like canines, before letting loose a rumble of affection at how sweet his boy was looking, all snuggled into his coat with his little hands tucked against his chin.

Doflamingo's protective scent lingered, silently threatening the other people in the house that they better not even dare think about doing anything.

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In the morning, everyone was awakened by obnoxious banging and hissing arguments in the kitchen. No one was pleased with the sounds, especially Doffy, who hadn't been having the best dreams and had woken up feeling particularly territorial and anxious. He had been able to push it down the day before, but today was another day and he didn't even really care to try anymore as…. Well…. today was death day and that meant he got to play with them! There was no fanfare or anything special about the situation. After checking to make sure the weather was better, and it was, Doffy almost gleefully approached the kitchen.

"The Den-den is sick I don't know what to tell you! I don't even think it managed to get a single message out yesterday and it's getting even worse today! I'm not a veterinarian, so I'm literally doing everything I can think of, but for all I know, I could be making it worse at this point…. I doubt it's going to even survive!"

"But-so…. How are we going to get out of this then? They're definitely suspicious! I can't even figure out why though, other than you were taking your sweet-ass time with those two and that damn Den-den! They could handle trying to make calls while you helped me! Do you have any idea how terrifying that was? I got choked within an inch of my life by that psycho! And it was so damn cold last night!"

A younger, nervous voice spoke up with a more familiar accent than the pair, he was probably from around Joramoda, a chain of islands about 2 weeks Northwest of Blackjack Coastal. They had a distinctive difficult-to-replicate heavier accent. "Well…. I don't know anything much about the Crocodile guy, but Donquxiote's from the North Blue at least that's what's been known. I warned sir that this place would tip off folks most o' us aren't North Bluers. Especially that bathroom. We ain't seen dead with an indoor wastebox, err toilet inside. It's too big a risk! I hadn't ever even saw nothing like one until I moved south for that while. The washtub's strange too for this neck of the woods. I only ever known richblood having one so big indoors though they maybe perhaps been being seen in cities and such. So the bathroom may have triggered the suspicion…. Food too, even most people with money don't see such fresh citrus so far into the ice over times."

"Really?" The woman snorted, nearly sounding like she was going to laugh. "Blues, maybe I'm just way overreacting! Those sorts of things triggering suspicions? That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. Ugh, of course this backwater iceberg makes oranges suspicious! Who gets all triggered and weird about someone having an indoor bathroom or some fruit to work with? I could have just froze it or something! Who would know the difference? And honestly, why would they care? I mean, none of us had to go outside during that blizzard, so that was a good thing right? I also doubt two guys like that have ever been without an indoor shitpot! I mean, I'd just be happy that I had an indoor bathroom, I wouldn't question it."

"Sorry ma'am I wasn't trying to cause a scuff. You asked, so I told you what might most be the issue if they seem to be suspicious." the voice meekly replied.

The older man cleared his throat, sounding like he was trying to get the conversation back under control. "Either way, they seemed pretty set on leaving this morning if it cleared up, so as long as we can get them up and going on a happier note, we should probably be fine, right? I mean, I know it is Donquixote, but they have a kid with them and it isn't like we are physically much of a threat. As long as we keep our heads down I am sure we should be fine. I mean everyone is okay so far and yeah, it wasn't a great night, but we're all okay for the most part! So let's just keep up the pleasantries, get them breakfast and try to get them out of here as soon as possible without pissing them off by rushing them. Everyone do their best to keep everything calm. Once they are gone, we can try to get in contact with Sir, alright?"

The others made sounds of agreement.

But the bitch had to butt in….. "What are we going to do with the kid, though? We can't just leave it with them!"

"You really think any of us have a chance of saving that kid?" The older man scoffed.

"We already would have yesterday if you hadn't vetoed the poison in the food!"

"I told you that was a stupid idea! Donquixote is some form of super dangerous rare A dominant Alpha, he probably could have smelled it before it got anywhere near his mouth and then all of us would be dead and even if he didn't smell it, do you think they wouldn't have noticed? Donquixote may be young, but he is already quite the seasoned pirate and he's known for being damn smart! He's not going to fall for easy stuff and that other guy…. I think he's that desert menace from Paradise. Even if he isn't, he's clearly just as seasoned, if not more so and quick as a whip too!"

"It's scentless and tasteless. They would never know!"

"Yeah, well, I saw that baby being fed bits of those muffins and some of that soup, you could have killed him too!"

"Well… I- either way it would have been better! Two pirates down, a shitload of money for us and a kid raised by that monster won't grow up as another monster?"

It was after those words that Doffy was truly seeing red. Poison? Pathetic, why not scream I'm an incompetent shitless little coward from the rooftops? The man was right. There was no way that he would have fallen for it. Or hell, Crocodile honestly was even less like than himself with his naturally paranoid nature. The blond had been curious and even a bit amused by the clueless idiots chatting it up for the world to hear until they started threatening his Croco and sweet little Treasure. One second, they were all standing there gaping at him as he turned the corner; the next, the sounds of something jello-ee slopping to the ground and several quick splashes full of red filled the air, painting every bit of ceiling and wall and fixture in the space. Oops. Doffy reached up and wiped at his face, staring down at the bright red that dripped down his fingers and over his palm.

He didn't even get to find out who precisely that 'sir' was…. And the food was all soaked, too. Ugh and those muffins were honestly so good! Doffy took a deep breath; accidents happened. Welp, he guessed they were going out to eat…. That or he could get the crew to make them something. Either way, he needed a moist towelette and a nice relaxing vellum so he didn't burn down the entire damned island. 0 out of 5 stars on that wake up call, worst hostage room service ever.

To Crocodile's credit, he internally shrugged his shoulders, muttered an "Okay then." to himself under his breath, got dressed and was ready to leave within 5 minutes of seeing the mess that was caused by Doffy. No questions, no lecture, no trying to take a look at what happened. It was clear what happened and he wanted no part of it. He wasn't a saint or the next holy mother, as long as the crew were able to take that high-end antique floor clock he had seen in the corner he was perfectly happy to let sleeping dogs lie.

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It still wasn't clear what they were doing, but they sure as hell had a lot of booze, guns, higher-end food supplies,and had 3 dead animals. It was likely something to do with the illegal white den-den mushi trade. The loot was all marked with marine insignia, so probably smuggled out or stolen. The four predictably were total gods damned idiots.

The last den-den that was found was barely holding on and everyone was scared it was carrying some horrible pathogen. Instead, it was dying due to severe dehydration as they apparently didn't think to keep a water dish in with it in the middle of the winter in a dry house heated with wood…. and because the morons thought they could feed it nothing but salted peanuts, spicy snack cakes, and jerky. An entirely obligate herbivorous super-specialized animal. Ugh… as said before, idiots. That also meant that Doffy now had an extremely difficult to get, white Den-den of pretty above-average bloodlines that he could add to the gene pool of his beloved den-den collection that he was breeding.

Crocodile would give the outing a 2.5 because they both got something nice out of the deal. The brunet had gotten an incredibly rare vintage clock he had only managed to see twice and had lost at auction 2 years beforehand.

Doffy… well…. got the snail, and Luffy… uh he got shit for his end of the deal, shit, no… he got to spend some time!- ….. outside in a blizzard…. wait…then he was confined in an unfamiliar space, hungry for a bit and with not much to entertain him. Eww… was the best time Luffy had once the blizzard started up being stuffed in and sleeping in some weird ass feather dimension pocket? Fucking hell, a 2.5 was being pretty generous…. The guns and such were pretty nice, the clock and snail a major bonus for a dogshit outing, but Crocodile would have to be reasonable, and give the outing a 1.5 out of 5.

Crocodile guessed, or at least hoped that somehow, in some distant future, he might be able to look back fondly at the time… or at least it wouldn't be an event that was totally hell and misery. He was pretty sure with the shit the bird put him through, that had to count for something… really anything at that point?... He just hoped Luffy wasn't going to drag him into crazy and or stupid crap nearly as bad as his father. Doffy was his own bottle of crazy and chaos hell, enough to fill an entire vat and then a whole damn's ocean worth over. Though the brunet doubted that his sweet brat, or really anyone, could best the idiot, Crocodile just hoped that Luffy would end up growing up into a sensible boy and make calmer, more levelheaded decisions than that idiot father of his.

End Chapter 15

I hope everyone enjoyed it! I don't know why but I had absolutely horrible writer's block forever around the time it was supposed to start to hail in the chapter and I literally couldn't figure out how to write one paragraph that helped up the whole process. Most of this chapter was written in the last 2 days.

I am so excited that I can finally start to work on the chapter where our boy Rosinate comes in! I have been dying to write this since probably chapter 3 or 4. Especially after getting some really good introduction suggestions!

Guess who has such weird and worrying illness symptoms their doctor is trying to find a way for them to get admitted to the big kahuna of medical facilities, Mayo Clinic and is now spazing out because this critter has state insurance which is no longer accepted from most states! I am pretty sure she thinks I am totally insane at this point because I literally just laughed at the whole situation. Not even 30 yet…..

Anyways, better news I am actually truly nearly done with the first chapter of my comic that is inspired by one piece. It is an original story and comic, and Harrison finally gets to be his own original character in his own story! It's really sweet and messed up and emotional. There is found family, super dark themes, adventure, and lots of undealt with trauma stuff…. Harrison may or may not end up accidentally offing and destroying an entire island and being messed up from it for life… But he gets a bff for life so all is good! Anyways, I'll be posting the first chapter around mid-January at the latest. It is like fully ready for print quality highly detailed and colored illustrations. I'm excited about finally being able to get it visible to everyone.

Can anyone figure out what is going on with this new chapter?

(Beta has a note: have fun waiting guys)

By the way, please review! I get some of my best ideas from discussions and reviews and stuff and honestly, the one I am going with for next chapter was from a reviewer!