Archive of Our Own ^beta

Roger heaves, rubbing at his bruises as he sheathes his sword.

The Doghouse sails away in the distance, Garp's enraged shouts still audible despite the distance. He laughs to himself, getting cut off by a cough that shakes his body. He covers his mouth, grinning in relief at the lack of blood when he finally stops and checks.

The king hums, glancing around the area. His beloved crew is further down the shore, gathering the treasure left by the rookie pirates, who they were 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 when Garp showed up out of nowhere.

During the ensuing scrap with his rival, he could've sworn he 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. He squints, crouching down and picking up a handful of black feathers. They were scattered all across the sand, oddly made of metal and flint.

A small shadow flitting around Garp, leaving scattered black feathers, with no Voice or Haki he could sense? Odd, borderline creepy. Maybe he's hallucinating, that's a symptom of some sicknesses, right?

He huffs, turning sharply and dropping the feathers as he makes his way back to the Oro Jackson. Crocus is definitely going to yell at him for picking a fight, but what can ya do. He hums a tune to himself, it was fun despite the bruises and strain on his chest!

Roger perks up as the crew greets him, eagerly showing off the chests of treasure they gathered. New World rookies always have the best loot, after all. There's a flicker against his Observation, whispers of a beloved pair of Voices. 𝘙𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 and 𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴.

He turns around with a bright grin, easily locating his kids. Shanks and Buggy. Red and Blue. The duo are pushing a large chest up the gangplank– well, Red's pushing it and Blue's perched on top. They seem to bickering about something again, so he wanders over.

"Hey kiddos! What you got there?" He leans down with a head tilt, and they both startle, Blue nearly falling off the chest. Their Hakis flare and curl in repeatedly, and their Voices whisper with guilt. Red speaks up before the captain can dwell on that too much.

"We found this chest, so it's all ours! Finders keepers, right?" He grins, straw-hat tilted awkwardly on his head. Roger reaches over to adjust it while Blue chirps, "Yeah, so none of you can look at it! It's all ours!" He sprawls over the lid protectively, pouting and keeping the chest firmly shut.

The king snickers, looking up as his partner/first mate walks over. Rayleigh scans them all over, gentle waves of Observation brushing against their senses, before sighing loudly.

"Alright, alright. You two can keep your secret treasure. But at least let Gaban help you carry it on board." He waves the navigator over, who quickly grabs the chest even as Blue screeches, clinging on with Red running after both of them.

Roger sighs, leaning to rest his cheek on Rayleigh's head, "They're so damn cuteeee..." He trills, and his partner huffs fondly. "They are. But that chest was giving off an odd feeling... I think there might be some kind of blade or other Voice-having object in there, or some poor trapped animal." He shrugs as the king hums.

"It's probably nothing they can't handle! They'll come get us if it's worrying– hopefully." He chuckles and his first mate shakes his head before reaching up to grab him by the ear, "Alright, lets get you to Crocus, I can hear the strain on your lungs."

The infamous captain laughs, wincing lightly as he's dragged off.

~

The door shuts as Gaban leaves and Shanks sighs in relief, slumping back against the chest as Buggy rolls off the top of it to sprawl on the floor. "That was a close one, huh Blue?" He grins at his brother, who just flips him off.

The faint purple haze around the chest fades, and there's a soft series of taps. Buggy reaches over, tapping his own code, and Shanks quickly un-does the lock. The lid swings open and out pops their new best friend, panting.

Rosinante climbs out of the chest, tripping and faceplanting, of course. "That was way too claustrophobic, I could barely fucking breathe." He complains, sitting up and letting the duo start smoothing out the feathers of his coat, "Why did we have to 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 me on board again?"

Shanks shrugs, tossing a crooked feather to the side. They have to preen the coat to make sure it doesn't 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 start a fire. "Sneakin' ya on is more fun!" Buggy reaches over and smacks him on the back of the head, like an asshole.

"We snuck you on because you're a stupid Marine! Dad's too strict, even if Captain would've been fine with you coming aboard." He explains, wincing as he accidentally knicks his finger on the edge of a feather. The wound doesn't stay, of course, barely even bleeds. Pros of having a Devil Fruit.

The blonde sighs, shaking his coat out a bit and going sit on one of the hammocks. "Well that's fair, I guess. Uncle Garp's probably tearing that poor crew apart for losing me, though." He chuckles, and the duo join in, scrambling to sprawl across the hammock with him.

They cuddle up smoothly. Red halfway off the edge, Rosi curled around him, Blue mostly buried in black feathers. "I'm surprised they couldn't sense me, guess that proves the theory that the Nagi-Nagi hides Haki." Rosinante chirps, lightly messing with Shanks' hair while Buggy messes with his.

The red-head giggles, rolling over to nuzzle against his taller friend's chest, "Your Fruit is so cool! Much cooler than Blue's." He teases, laughing when the bastard reaches over to smack him.

"Hey! His stupid ability doesn't even help in fights! At least mine makes me immune to your swords n' shit!" He snaps back, the marine laughing between them as they bicker. He'd put a Silence bubble over the room, so they can argue as loud as they like, nobody will suspect a thing.

They hang out for a half-hour or so, Shanks & Buggy showing off their things while Rosi marvels at how different the set-up is compared to the rooms on Marine ships. Eventually, the junior swordsman's stomach growls, and they all perk up.

He grins, snapping his fingers and spinning on the blonde, "Great idea! How about you go steal some snacks? Dinner ain't gonna be ready for a while, so thievery it is!" Buggy nods in agreement, pigtails bobbing with the movement since he ditched his beanie, "Yeah, make sure to grab some dried meat– uh– jerky, yeah, that's what it's called."

Rosinante shifts, visibly wary of the idea, but the pirates activate their Puppy Dog Eyes™ and he sighs, caving easily. "Alright, but I'm stealing as much lettuce as I can get my hands on, and no bread!" He snaps his fingers, a faint purple haze forming around him as he Silently slips out the door.

The duo fist-bump, not seeing anyway this could possibly go wrong.

~

Rosinante loves his friends, he really does. He just doesn't love their 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴.

He takes pleasure in the fact that he can speak freely even while sneaking around. "I am never gonna regret eating that damn Fruit, but what I 𝘢𝘮 gonna regret? Listening to those two!" He rants to thin air, Observation flared as he weaves between shadowed corners and out of sight-lines.

"I mean, seriously, a treasure chest?! I get that pirates can never resist treasure, that's apparently how Red even ended up here, but 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭!" The marine gestures angrily before slipping out of the storage closet he had to duck into.

"Idiots didn't even tell me which way to go, thank fuck they're making dinner so I can smell it." He complains mildly, hopping up to the support beams as one of the Roger pirates passes below. He grimaces when dark feathers scatter as he lands, but shrugs it off. They're pitch-black and pretty small individually, no-one notices them unless they're specifically looking.

The blonde waits in a shadowed corner until he's sure everyone has stepped out of the kitchen for the moment. He can smell soup, so evidently it'll be a few hours until actual dinner. Long enough that the pirates feel comfortable leaving the galley unattended.

The last man lets the door swing wide behind him and Rosinante darts through Silently. "Who ever said non-violent Devil Fruits were useless? What an idiot. They think Observation has no use either?" He comments as he happily skips towards the pantry.

He nudges the door open, grabbing a flour bag to prop it open while he searches for snacks. He's been accidentally locked in the Marine pantry before, and would prefer not to relive that.

"I suppose there 𝘢𝘳𝘦 disadvantages to Silence, like your allies not being able to tell where you are." He mutters casually as he debates what to grab. No lettuce in sight, unfortunately. "𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒷𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓈." He snipes in his native tongue, cracking open a box to check what else they may have.

A shadow falls over him, and the grand mistake of not being more careful with the feathers hits him like a bullet. Rosinante slowly shuts the box, turning his head to glance over his shoulder cautiously.

𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 fucking 𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩 is standing in the doorway, face shadowed and eyes gleaming with a sharp Observation glow. 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. Because Donquixotes have the worst luck in history.

"𝒥𝑜𝒹𝑒𝓇!" He yelps, trying to dart for a corner or something, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 to get farther away— But a hand quickly snatches the scruff of his cloak, yanking him up to eye level. The blonde winces, trying to curl in on himself as the pirate glares viciously at him.

"Little Marine–" Silvers speaks slowly, studying him in a way that makes him shudder, "–How did you get on the ship, and why can't I hear your breathing? Hell, I can barely even 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 you." His tone curls lightly with curiosity, Haki swaying in a way that almost seemed 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥.

Rosinante shifts a bit, freeing his arm from under his cloak and snapping his fingers sharply, "Sorry— this wasn't my idea... 'm not here on orders, either." He mutters nervously as the pirate stares blankly at him. He bites his lip anxiously, fang implants clearly noticed by the way Silvers' eyes widen.

Before those signature gold canines can be addressed, a shout echoes down the hall. "Hey Ray! I found more of those weird metal feathers I saw on the beach!" Rosinante winces and ducks his face into his collar as 𝘎𝘰𝘭 𝘋 𝘙𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳 casually walks into the galley with a handful of black feathers.

Silvers huffs and turns, holding the marine out towards his captain, "And I found the source. No clue how he got onto the ship, but he claims he's not here on orders." Rosinante isn't really paying attention to what the swordsman is saying as Roger reaches out, plucking him away and holding him under the arms like a cat.

"You're just a little guy! About the same age as Red and Blue, I'd wager. What're you doing this side of the Grand Line? Garp kidnap ya?" The infamous captain rambles, tilting his head as Rosinante scrambles to try and get his voice working again. The Nagi-Nagi is buzzing under his skin, responding to his anxiety even as he forces it down.

A pair of Haki signatures flare frantically as racing steps thunder down the halls. His eyes widen even as he slumps in relief, both pirates snapping their heads around to stare at the doorway, and the two idiots trying to shove inside at the same time.

"Shit— Captain, Dad, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵!" "𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪, we're here to rescue you!"

~

Rayleigh is officially having one of the most confusing days of his life.

It started pretty normal, dealing with New World rookies while Roger ran off to pick a fight with Garp against doctor's advice. But then Red and Blue started being weird about a large treasure chest they found, and Roger reported seeing a small shape scattering dark feathers around the Marine's hero.

Walking down the halls, finding some of those very black feathers, and following them only to discover a scrawny, uniformed teenager with an oddly faint Haki presence? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 promptly flung the day from slightly odd into deeply weird.

Now, the crew's sons manage to shove their way past each other and into the galley as Roger politely drops the little marine. The blonde darts and meets the duo halfway, all three desperately clinging to each other for a second before pulling back.

Red reaches up to his friend(?)'s cheek, "You alright, Crow? Sorry, we didn't think anyone would follow a random trail of feathers." He worries. Blue, meanwhile, is glaring around at the dark king himself and the captain, looking very upset.

The Marine kid nods, lightly leaning into Red's touch, "𝐸𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓎 𝒷𝒾𝑒𝓃. Just a little freaked out, but I'll be okay." He speaks softly, Haki presence swirling and fluttering around him, dancing between Red and Blue's signatures smoothly.

Blue huffs and punches the blonde in the side, "Good! Cause I did not want a reason to try and fight Dad or Captain, we would've lost even in your honor." He complains, grabbing onto the feather cloak and hauling himself up to the taller boy's shoulder.

Red chuckles and turns, finally catching the adults' confused staring. "Oh, right! Dad, Captain, this is our friend Rosinante! Rosi, that's Dad and Captain." He introduces without explaining, as he is prone to do. Roger laughs, clearly amused by the whole situation.

Rayleigh sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Okay. One thing at a time. How in the hell did you two befriend a Marine?" He gestures at the uniform, which causes Rosinante to tuck his oversized cloak around himself further, glancing away anxiously. Red pouts at the action.

Blue rolls his eyes, "He's Garp's favorite trainee and pseudo-nephew or something. We ran into him while Captain was fighting the guy like a month or two ago, at the island before last." He casually explains while Red and Rosinante whisper to each other.

Roger tilts his head, "Wait wait wait, how'd you sneak him onto the ship? No offense kid, but you're not exactly hard to spot." Rayleigh lets him have that one, he was going to ask that anyway. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘰-𝘯𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Red and Blue glance at each other, looking appropriately guilty while Rosinante sighs heavily, "They stuffed me in an empty treasure chest they found while you guys were handling those other pirates." He shrugs while his friends sputter indignantly, "Thing was probably used for extra storage. Not the worst plan they've ever come up with."

There's a several second pause before Roger cracks, laughing so hard he has to go sit down. Rayleigh, admittedly, huffs fondly and shakes his head. "Alright, alright. Decent plan, though we are going over different strategies later. It could've been better."

The kids all glance at each other, using some silent communication before Red pipes up, "Wait are you gonna kick Rosi out or not?" He tilts his head while the other two nod hesitantly.

The swordsman pauses, staring down at the children before glancing over to his captain, who finally got ahold of himself and is smiling softly at him. He grumbles a bit before turning back to their kids, "He can stay until Garp comes to pick him up."

The subsequent cheering from his apprentices and seeing the little marine smile is worth the trouble, after all.

~

Gaban stares at the kids. The kids blink up at him.

Two of brats he recognizes, of course, and adores. Shanks & Buggy, the ruby and sapphire treasures of the crew! But the blonde in the oversized coat and 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 is new. The navigator chuckles, silently noting the way the kid flinches.

"Captain, what'd Silvers say about adopting more kids, again?" He teases lightly, looking up at the man. Roger just laughs, reaching over to ruffle the mini marine's hair, "I didn't pick this one! The kiddos did! Turns out Garp has a 𝘯𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘸 and never said anything!" He grins, nudging said nephew closer.

Gaban crouches down a bit to be at eye level with the clearly nervous child. "Welp, anyone the kids and Captain say is a friend is welcome aboard! I'm Scopper Gaban, what's your name?" The lanky kid blinks at him from behind long bangs, briefly glancing back at the Red & Blue duo, who give him supportive smiles.

".....Donquixote Rosinante. 'M Garp-san's 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 nephew." The kid speaks carefully slow, with an accented lilt Gaban can't quite place. What he 𝘤𝘢𝘯 place is the brief flash of golden fang implants.

He glances up to his Captain and Rayleigh carefully. Roger just tilts his head with a 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 in his eyes, meaning he absolutely knows what Gaban saw but doesn't think it's worth mentioning. Silvers meanwhile just shakes his head the smallest bit.

The navigator grins casually, standing back to full height. "Alright then, Rosinante! Let's introduce ya to the rest of the crew, hm? Don't want you getting thrown overboard cause of your uniform!" He sees the crew's treasured sons high-fiving in the background while Rosinante just nods, following behind him with soft steps Gaban that struggles to hear.

Introducing him to the crew goes smoothly enough, even with Roger and Rayleigh vanishing somewhere and the apprentices shouting about training or something before running off below deck.

Petermoo compliments the kid's choice in weapon, a flintlock apparently. Millet, Erio, and Spencer immediately manage to tell that he's training in the Marines' 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 work. Marx takes one look and immediately storms off, muttering something about 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯 and 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 and 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴.

Rosinante turns to him after they've been around to everyone on deck, "You're the navigator right?" At his nod, the blonde tilts his head a bit, bangs parting to reveal sparkling red eyes. "Can you– do you have any maps you could show me?"

Gaban chuckles and ruffles his hair affectionately, "Of course! Cmon, I've got my hands on some pretty detailed ones, and even some in other languages–" ; "Really?!"

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘱, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

~

The door to the captain's cabin clicks shut and Roger groans into his pillow, sensing the way Rayleigh's Voice and Haki is twisting. He knows what his partner is gonna bring up, but that doesn't mean he has to look up and address it!

"𝘙𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳." His first mate hisses out, making the man reluctantly shift to rest his cheek on the pillow instead of burying his whole face in it, "Yes, Ray? What is it?" He mumbles, trying to play dumb in hopes of avoiding the topic for as long as possible.

Rayleigh groans and marches over, grabbing his collar and forcing him to sit up. "Don't even ask that. You 𝘴𝘢𝘸 those golden fang implants. You heard his accent, the language slips. He told us his 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦!" The blonde shakes him a few times before releasing him and sitting down roughly on the bed, head in hands.

Roger fixes his collar and looks over sympathetically, "Yeah, the boy's a Celestial Dragon. But that's never stopped us before, and besides, this one is 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘱'𝘴 apparently!" He tries to put a positive spin on the situation, elbowing his partner in the side affectionately.

Rayleigh huffs, leaning into his side and accepting a quick forehead kiss. "I'm just concerned. The more we run into Celestial Dragons and those weird knight guys... It's putting a bad taste in my mouth." He mutters, narrowing his eyes at the floor. Roger hums in sympathy, memories of God Valley flashing unpleasantly in his head before he shoves them back down.

Before either of them can continue angsting or discussing what to do, a loud thud echoes and the cheering shouts of their crew suddenly erupt. Not like something just happened and they 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 cheering, but like they have been and only now can 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 hear it.

They glance at each other before hurrying back above deck, nudging their way through the circled (and mildly drunk, as evidence by the smell) crowd. There's a clear space in the center, and it's—

The kids. Shanks and Buggy, with their sword and dagger set respectively. Rosinante with his knuckles coated in Haki, coat flaring around him and scattering those metal feathers everywhere. All three are wearing matching feral grins, eyes sparkling.

Red and Blue share a glance before darting forward in unison, forcing Rosinante to dodge awkwardly as the swordsman goes high and the clown goes low. The marine stumbles over his own feet and thuds to ground, but recovers in a smooth roll, coat taking a hit from Red's sword.

The trio are 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, going at each other like feral animals. Shanks and Buggy dance around each other easily, working together as they were taught while Rosinante– doesn't even throw a punch. It's all blocking and dodging, a parry or grab here and there. Roger tilts his head, curiosity lacing through his own signature alongside Rayleigh's.

The cheering increases in volume when one of Blue's thrown knives cuts across Rosinante's cheek, prompting the marine to hiss and back away from the duo. Red twirls his sword, grinning while Blue retrieves another dagger. "Aw, is the government's pup too afraid to fight the King's favorites?" He taunts, Buggy shooting him a 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 look.

That look is quickly justified when Rosinante 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘴 and grabs one of the feathers of his cloak. Red's eyes widen, darting to the thin, pitch black dust coated across their entire fighting circle. There's a good bit on the duo too, which they frantically begin trying to shake off while the marine—

Presses down on feather, snapping the rachis against the vane. There's a 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, and collective realization why the kid smells like smoke. The dust ignites into a small inferno, causing the crew to scramble back. Roger cackles despite himself, ignoring Rayleigh's startled swearing.

The fire doesn't burn for long, the crew has long learned the usefulness of having fireproof coating. Once the smoke clears, Rosinante is standing there, smug and unharmed while Red and Blue cough aggressively, patting out small embers on their clothing.

The marine steps forward and helps them up, clearly checking for wounds, "I've told you a million times, Red. Don't call me that." The tone is somewhere between a scold and a tease, but Roger's never been very good at picking up on stuff like that. Shanks and Buggy grumble, but they're smiling, so the captain doesn't see a reason to bother them.

Rayleigh apparently does. The blonde storms forward, subtle crackles of Conqueror's prompting the crew (and admittedly, Roger himself) to chuckle as he looms over the trio. The kids all flinch, turning to look up at the first mate, who crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow.

"It was his idea!" Blue is quick to accuse, pointing at Red, who gasps in betrayal, "You rat!" Rosinante stays silent, ducking the lower half of his face into the feather collar and looking away shamefully. Rayleigh sighs loudly, and glances over his shoulder to give the captain an exasperated look before turning back to the trio.

"Regardless of who's idea it was, you two know the rules on sparing! Not unsupervised and not with sharpened weapons!" He scolds, counting off the rules on his fingers. Rosinante hums, flinching when Rayleigh turns to him, "Ah– uhm, we technically weren't unsupervised....?" He stutters out, looking at Roger for help.

He laughs and walks over, resting a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Give them a break, Ray! Training is never a bad thing, and I'm happy we got to see the lil marine's fighting skills. Good job kiddo!" He praises quickly, ruffling the boy's hair. Rosinante blinks, eyes sparkling behind his bangs. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Rayleigh sighs and smacks his hand off, "I'm aware. But still, you boys need to follow the rules. They're there to keep you 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. And the crew is too drunk to be considered supervision, Rosinante." He narrows his eyes at Gaban, who is nursing a bottle. The kids all sigh and nod along with a bit more scolding, prompting another laugh out of the king.

Roger suddenly remembers something. "Hey, why couldn't we hear all this? My cabin isn't very far below deck, and it was pretty loud up here once we started to hear it." Rayleigh hums in agreement, glancing around, "Yes... And actually, when I first found Rosinante..."

Blue coughs, snapping attention back to him. Red is smiling and the marine is giving them a very distressed look, which only intensifies when Buggy reaches over and grabs his fluffy collar.

"That would be because of this Fruit eating idiot."

~

Rosinante sighs heavily, shutting his eyes for a moment. "That's hypocritical, Blue..." He mumbles, slumping more onto the fool and forcing him to hold him up, "Ack—! Okay, well, you ate the thing on purpose! I only ate mine because of 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 jackass!" ; "Hey! Don't drag me into this just cause the Ocean hates you guys!"

The two quickly begin bickering and Rosi sighs again, cracking open his eyes to look at Silvers and the king. "I ate a Devil Fruit not too long ago, about a month. It's called the Nagi-Nagi no Mi, or the Calm Devil Fruit. It makes things Silent, entirely, in the purest sense of the word." He explains, leaning off Blue so he can tackle Red to the ground.

"It prevents things, living or not, from making noise. Applies to projectiles and non-physicals too, like gunshots and explosions. It apparently muffles Haki signatures, which is how I snuck aboard." He shrugs, avoiding eye contact with the pirates by watching his friends maul each other. He winces a bit in sympathy once the biting starts.

There's a soft pat on his head and he glances over, expecting Roger to have invaded his personal space again. Instead he makes eye contact with Rayleigh, who is smirking slightly. "Not obviously powerful, but very useful if you know what you're doing. I'd say that's a good ability, hm?" The man ruffles his hair a little bit before stepping back.

Roger laughs at whatever expression is on Rosinante's face at the moment, so he ducks his head down and glares lightly, before huffing and casually reaching over to scruff Red off Blue. "Thank you for the praise, Dark King-eh." He admittedly stumbles at the end, vocal tic slipping out, but thankfully no one mentions it even as his face burns.

The captain eventually stops laughing, and bends down to eye level. "So, if it's for nothin' to do with your Fruit, how'd you do that fire trick with your feathers?" Rosinante raises his head, Blue sighs beside him and mutters something that makes Red laugh and Rayleigh huff.

As one of the crewmates calls everyone into the galley, Rosinante happily rambles about how the cloak functions. It's something he enjoys explaining, even if it's outside his h̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ main interest. The careful blending of steel, flint, and a glorified fire-blanket is fascinating, and he truly will never stop appreciating the gift.

Rosinante eats, talks to a few more crewmembers, is briefly forced by Red to admit he has the potential for Conqueror's Haki despite not displaying it— but throughout it all, he's not scared. That was his main worry, when climbing into that treasure chest. That his old fear of anyone unknown, anyone bigger than him, would reignite and leave him stranded.

But. It's nothing like that. Sure, it's still a bit unnerving to be around so many powerful people (𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 D, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴— 𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘦), but he doesn't feel like he's in 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. Instead, the entire crew has been welcoming. They keep patting his head, asking if he wants to see something, wondering about his interests and training and how Garp treats him...

They're 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥.

Rosi shifts, settling back against the railing. The sun is setting and the Roger Pirates are all hanging around on deck, somebody playing music. Red and Blue are tucked into his sides, halfway under the feather cloak as he watches the stars appear.

He smiles and fixes Red's hat when he notices it slipping out of the corner of his eye. "𝘔𝘶𝘨𝘪𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘢 would be a fun nickname, eh?" He whispers, careful not to wake the duo as he thinks it over, "Hm. No, it's better to stick with Shay, Red, and Spark. Three nicknames is enough."

Rosinante turns his gaze out to the sea, enjoying the peaceful sight of calm waters and the sunset. That peace is quickly disrupted when he spots a ship and extends his Observation enough to feel a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 familiar presence at the edges.

He freezes before carefully getting up, trying to keep calm and making sure not to wake Shanks or Buggy as he rests them against the railing before darting off. His Observation isn't very reliable when surrounded by strong signatures, but he's able to pick out the 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 and the 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪 signatures that mean Silvers and Roger.

He finds them hanging out with Gaban and nods politely before turning to the captain, trying but evidently failing to hide his mild panic. "Roger-san, Garp's on his way over. I think he finally noticed I was missing." He manages out, ducking his head nervously.

Rosi doesn't expect them to 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩. A quick coil of Observation confirms they aren't laughing at him, so it's very confusing. Rayleigh thankfully explains while Roger wanders off with Gaban, "We don't see fighting Garp as an inconvenience. Roger finds it fun, and he generally focuses on him and not us, so it's more of a spectacle than a threat."

Rosinante nods slowly, "...Okay, that's fair, I guess." He mutters, flinching a bit when Silvers pats his head before getting up to go stand with the other two. The marine sighs to himself before walking back over to his friends and nudging them awake. "Hey, Garp's coming to pick me up—"

A couple minutes later, the Doghouse pulls up alongside the Oro Jackson, and Rosinante is being embarrassingly held by the infamous pirate captain as Garp stomps out onto deck, "𝘙𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘙, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY— Oh, there ya are." Rosi sighs while the pirates laugh and the vice-admiral jumps from one deck to the other.

The brute quickly swipes him from Roger's grip, dangling him like a cat by the scruff. "What were you thinking?! Senny would've torn me a new one if I returned to base without ya, not even mentioning what your little gang would've had to say about it! And I turn my ship around to find you with 𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴?!" Garp scolds loudly and he winces, ducking his head a bit.

"I just... wanted to hang out with Red and Blue..." He gestures behind him at the duo, who wave (Shanks excitedly and Buggy nervously, of course). Garp narrows his eyes before turning to Roger with a raised eyebrow. The man grins brightly, "Calm down, hero! We took good care of your lil fledgling, though it was pretty startling to find out someone managed to 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 aboard!"

There's a bit more grumbling and reassurances, but eventually Garp readjusts his hold and jumps back onto the Doghouse, dropping Rosinante and storming off to start getting them back to Marineford, where he'll definitely have to deal with his Dad and Aunt scolding him for several hours.

For now, he gets up and runs to the railing, grinning brightly and waving, "It was fun! I'll bring the others next time, I promise!" Red and Blue rush to the railing of their ship aswell, the pirates laughing behind them. "See you next time!" ; "Bring snacks! And more weapons, I wanna spar again!"

Rosinante laughs brightly, the sun flashing green as it vanishes below the horizon and the Oro Jackson fades from earshot. He smiles softly, resting his arms on the railing and imagining the chaos that will unfold once he introduces one friend group to the other.

𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵...