( yes yes yes everyone is having a crisis these days it seems. )
legend has it there are those who can change their shape without consuming a devil fruit a person not quite human but not quite fish-man, either it is said their power lies within their pelt, and if stolen, one could even control such a being
any particular reason you're interested?
( he has a feeling he knows why, but koby came to him. koby can use his big boy words. shanks doesn't need to guess everything. )
that's a relief it's my understanding it could have been much worse
( which isn't necessarily a reference to mihawk, just — talk around town, things he's heard from nami and bee. people aren't just changing, it's like their minds are being consumed, too. )
( there's a long moment where shanks doesn't reply. it's a strange feeling, to know that mihawk is just ... gone. he has a million questions. how? why? when? but none of them seem particularly appropriate at the moment. or maybe it's just easier not to talk about it.
he remembers all too well what that absence feels like. shanks might have been the one to leave first, but that hadn't meant he hadn't felt like he'd lost something. like some invisible fire had gone out and left him cold. he doesn't have to imagine what koby must feel now. he knows it like the back of his hand. )
are you still by the river? i have a ship docked upstream, you can't miss it you're welcome to find a room here, in the meantime
( he's not ignoring the issue, he's just ... conveniently not addressing it. )
[It's a relief not to be asked about it, which Koby knows damn well is cowardly. It's an open, aching wound that he's deliberately ignoring right now. So he leaves it, let's it be.]
Where did you get a ship? Do I even want to know?
[It's much muuuuuuch easier to judge Shanks for theft instead.]
( there's a time and place for everything, and now is neither the time nor the place to ask. but shanks will ask, when he feels that time is right. he's still processing his own emotions about it. that familiar nagging feeling that they've left too much unsaid lingers on. perhaps in three to five business days he and koby can have a real conversation about it. )
i'm a pirate, koby i stole it from a wharf
( he doesn't say luffy helped, but luffy may have helped. it's monumentally more difficult to commandeer a ship with only one hand, after all. )
( it's not hard to miss. but shanks has seen some truly strange things during his time on the grand line, so a hot pink seal barely even registers as being odd. in a way, it almost feels like home. he calls out to the seal below: )
Koby? Is that you?
( who else would it be? it doesn't hurt to ask, though. just in case. and maybe he's also buying a little time. he's not entirely sure how he's going to get a seal on board without a crew to haul the nets. )
[Does the seal roll it's eyes and splash water up at Shanks with it's cute little pink flippers? Absolutely, it does. Disrespectful.
But then it -- he -- disappears under the water, reappearing on the other side of the boat, scoping out the riverbank thoughtfully. Moving around on land as a seal is very undignified, but so would transforming back into a human shape and being naked, so Koby decides to sacrifice his dignity in favor of lumbering up the rocky bank and scrambling onto a fallen log until he's about an equal height as the deck of the ship.
Then, gesturing impatiently with a flipper: come closer, I did my part. Maybe Shanks can find a board or something, a makeshift gangplank. Or honestly just pick him up -- he's not a big seal at all, just a little fuzzy guy.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Good. What do you know about selkies?
no subject
legend has it there are those who can change their shape without consuming a devil fruit
a person not quite human but not quite fish-man, either
it is said their power lies within their pelt, and if stolen, one could even control such a being
any particular reason you're interested?
( he has a feeling he knows why, but koby came to him. koby can use his big boy words. shanks doesn't need to guess everything. )
no subject
I see. Fantastic.
I have a theory that's what I am now, but I still need to test it.
no subject
was it the sickness? the infection?
( and then, a moment later, because he can't help the inevitable swell of concern in his chest: )
are you alright?
no subject
[There's a very long pause.]
I didn't hurt anyone.
no subject
it's my understanding it could have been much worse
( which isn't necessarily a reference to mihawk, just — talk around town, things he's heard from nami and bee. people aren't just changing, it's like their minds are being consumed, too. )
do you need help? what can i do?
( this is why everyone comes to you, shanks. 🙄 )
no subject
[Koby hesitates again, part of him wanting to lie, to keep pretending everything's okay. But:]
I don't know. I haven't been back to the cottage since
He's gone.
I don't know if you knew.
no subject
he remembers all too well what that absence feels like. shanks might have been the one to leave first, but that hadn't meant he hadn't felt like he'd lost something. like some invisible fire had gone out and left him cold. he doesn't have to imagine what koby must feel now. he knows it like the back of his hand. )
are you still by the river?
i have a ship docked upstream, you can't miss it
you're welcome to find a room here, in the meantime
( he's not ignoring the issue, he's just ... conveniently not addressing it. )
no subject
Where did you get a ship?
Do I even want to know?
[It's much muuuuuuch easier to judge Shanks for theft instead.]
no subject
i'm a pirate, koby
i stole it from a wharf
( he doesn't say luffy helped, but luffy may have helped. it's monumentally more difficult to commandeer a ship with only one hand, after all. )
no subject
Wonderful. I'll find your ill-gotten ship, be right there.
[And yes, within twenty minutes there's a spotted harbor seal circling the boat. A...hot pink one. Shhhh.]
no subject
Koby? Is that you?
( who else would it be? it doesn't hurt to ask, though. just in case. and maybe he's also buying a little time. he's not entirely sure how he's going to get a seal on board without a crew to haul the nets. )
no subject
But then it -- he -- disappears under the water, reappearing on the other side of the boat, scoping out the riverbank thoughtfully. Moving around on land as a seal is very undignified, but so would transforming back into a human shape and being naked, so Koby decides to sacrifice his dignity in favor of lumbering up the rocky bank and scrambling onto a fallen log until he's about an equal height as the deck of the ship.
Then, gesturing impatiently with a flipper: come closer, I did my part. Maybe Shanks can find a board or something, a makeshift gangplank. Or honestly just pick him up -- he's not a big seal at all, just a little fuzzy guy.]