ⓘ A Sewing Machine Is A Device That Provides A Several-fold Increase Of The Speed At Which You Can

28. Kimono

Kidd - 22 | Killer - 26

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Kidd injury recover from loosing his arm

Killer's not doing much better mentally

bathing again

with hair washing role reversal

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

-thank you wife for telling me kimono (きもの/着物) literally just means 'thing to wear' and helping me get unstuck with suggesting coat redux.

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

He's starting to remember more and more of each day, the haze of pain and drugs slowly lifting as his body heals. What was once just vague feelings are starting to be actual lucid moments, a few minutes at a time.

<><><>

Killer's there at his side every time he comes around; even if he can't remember, he knows it's true.

Killer's on the chair facing him today, feet propped up on the nightstand, but careful not to disturb the bottles of meds or the canteen of water. He's fiddling with something in his lap, but Kidd's not sure he has the facilities to figure out what.

<><><>

When he drifts back again, he practically begs Killer to let him up; he's exhausted, he's hurting, but he also has to pee and he would like to take a piss like an adult for once.

Halfway there, and Kidd knows they aren't going to make it if Killer walks him there - and Kidd relents and lets himself be carried if only for the fact it means he won't piss on himself in the hallway.

He'd hate all of this more if he had the energy to even make it back to bed before he's passing out again.

<><><>

He wants to eat with the crew.

He wants to see his crew.

Heat & Wire keep assuring him everyone if fine, but they're too quick to placate and refuse anything more. Killer won't even entertain his questions, and Kidd nearly cries when he finally has the awareness to notice that Killer's hair is almost completely gone, shorn just past the helmet.

He can't bring himself to ask, and Killer offers nothing back.

Kidd needs to see his crew.

<><><>

Finally Killer relents, but he has his own stipulations. The big one being Kidd needs to look presentable if he's doing this.

Kidd - who is tired of sponge baths and fever sweat sheets - allows him to be man handed into the bathroom again, this time letting Killer pamper him in the warm tub. He's too tired and heavy to appreciate it fully, but soaking in the warm water already has him feeling more like a person again, and he lets Killer scrub him down, wash his hair, tend to his still healing wounds.

Kidd see them for the first time, then. He'd been aware his left arm was gone, but it didn't sink in until he sat in the water, bandages off, healing stitched skin on display. It's not just his shoulder, but his reflection in the water, his neck and chest, his gut. His right arm bears more marks from where he tried to defend himself and if he crosses his forearm across his chest he can see the long injury drawn out across his entire body, from forehead to groin.

No wonder Killer's been so quiet. Gormaichean. He owns his partner big for this - the fright he must have caused the man.

Its a wake up call, as he watches Killer mother him in the water's reflection, combing his hair like the invalid he is. He can't even bring himself to bitch about it, instead just letting the continuous motion and the still water lull him into a doze, until the bath starts to cool and he's all prunie and wrinkled.

Then Killer's hauling him up and toweling him down, and Kidd says nothing about the zen-like focus his partner pays him, afraid to break whatever peace Killer has found in the actions. The absolute concentration Killer directs at him once he is clean and dry, and Killer starts to work the ointment into his stitches before wrapping them once again.

The stitches still pull at his left eye a bit, and it feels like Kidd is just endlessly crying. He's almost relieved when Killer wraps his face back up, the tears hidden in the gauze.

Killer gives him a moment to compose himself as he slips Kidd's legs into his pants, starts dressing him slowly and reverently. Slides his boots on for him and laces them like they're something precious.

The shirt Killer pulls out to dress him in is unfamiliar. Unlike Killer, who liked to hide behind long sleeves and higher collars, Kidd's ruined too many shirts with his devil fruit, the small sharp edges that came hand in hand with weapons and scraps tearing the sleeves to shreds after a single fight. But he doesn't have the range of motion right now to be pulling a tang top on and off. Kidd is too broad chested for it to be one of Killer's, the solid dark colour not in his partner's usual tastes either. It's short sleeved and very low necked, and it's a button up that Kidd realized was Wire's as Killer slide it up his right arm. It's a snug fit around his bicep but it's not unwelcome, and the hem stops just short of the thickest part of the wrapping on his left arm as Killer carefully works it over the healing stump.

While his face heals, Kidd's not surprised Killer doesn't offer him his googles, but at least the bandages have the side effect of covering his forehead and keeping his hair pushed back out of his eyes.

<><><>

He hadn't realized he'd drifted off again until he he wakes up to the feeling of anxiety. Not his own, but his partner's.

Killer's staring at their makeup bag on the bathroom counter - foundation in hand; It's going to rub off on the bandages all over Kidd's face. Kidd decides for him, pulling the bag closer and picking out the black eyeliner pen and his favorite shade of red eye-shadow. "You can at least fix up my good eye, yeah?"

It's the first thing either if them have spoken since entering the bath

Killer patiently paints his face back on, Kidd watching him intently, trying to get a read on him though the mask.

It's not usually this hard, but Kidd knows things have changed again.

Kidd lost.

It's been a very long time since that's happen. He'd forgotten the feeling.

He drops his jaw gently, parting his lips as Killer pulls out his favorite lipstick, Killer's thumb pressing against his chin. Kidd can see Killer's eyes this close, his attention completely on his task.

His hand is next, Killer matching the nail polish to Kidd's lipstick; Kidd realizing with a pang that it maybe a long time, if ever, before he's able to do things like this for himself now.

Its intolerable: this weakness. It is inexcusable, especially from a Captain. Kidd can not loose again. He wont stand for it and neither should his crew.

Killer inspects Kidd's appearance, seeming hyper aware of the way every hair falls, and even with out gelling it up, spends a few moments carefully arranging the drying locks.

Kidd's hates every moment of it, hates that Killer is still so shaken that he's stressing about how Kidd's hair is styled.

"You died." Heat will tell him later, just the two of them as Wire takes watch and Killer finally, FINALLY falls asleep. "And Boss Killer was more than willing to follow you. I thought he was going to turn on us when we tried to stop him."

Hates that he was too weak to protect Killer from himself.

Satisfied, Killer steps back to look him over, a Captain's Return. Kidd understands why Killer believes they need this, the crew need to see Kidd as someone strong, even if Kidd doesn't feel that himself at the moment.

But Killer has one last touch, pulling a heavy weight across Kidd's shoulders. Physically, physically, it's not too much - Kidd thought his coat destroyed and gone, but Killer appears to have salvaged the red fur lining and it's been reworked into a presentable coat once again. it's also nearly a third of the weight of the original one, and his left arm can shoulder the weight with little strain. The weight on his heart, however is crushing.

Killer carefully balances it over his shoulder's draping it back like a King's cloak.

Kidd will earn that weight back. He won't fail them again.

20 questions for fic writers

@master-of-the-sorrowful-order, who has become one of my favorite people to brainstorm ideas with, thought it would be cool to have me fill out this questionnaire, and i agreed =^.^=

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

I have 34 works under Mekachu04, 4 works under my old nom-de-plume, and at least 5 orphaned works flouting around in old fandoms

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

of the 38 will linked to me: 142,059

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

173rd Airborne Brigade (The Umbrella Academy)

Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark (Good Omens)

I'll think of you every step of the way (Good Omens)

Whenever this world is cruel to me (Good Omens)

Southbound Hearts (One Piece)

4) what fandoms do you write for?

These days it pretty strictly One Piece, for the Kidd/Killer duo

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I didn't used to because i'd just get overwhelmed (in a good way!) and didn't know what to say. I've done a lot better in the last year or so, even if sometimes it takes me a few months to collect my thoughts. i think i'm just more confident shouting into the void, and when the void answer back, i no longer know what to say, ya know?

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

XD ... uh... that tends to be the genre i enjoy writing the most. as far as endings... toss up from a VERY old one from 2007 archived under my former name, or Cephalophore. (Pluton & Last Emperor Blackbeard are also very close) (all from One Piece)

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Living without, Living without, Living without you or Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark, both from good omens

8) do you get hate on fics?

not as much on the fic themselves, but offsite i get shit for the concepts i like to write for. just block and move on with my day

9) do you write smut?

poorly. i dabble in it, but i have a love/hate relationship with it. i like writing the emotions and thoughts that go along with such intimacy but i dun really know how to write the act itself

10) do you write crossovers?

I'm not opposed to crossovers, but the only true crossover i ever wrote never got shared because i got stuck in the middle and it lies languishing in my wip folder I much prefer fusions/ AU where one series is inserted into the world of another, but with little to no interaction with the cast of that series.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

if so, i dun know about it. Having said that, I have had *ideas* stolen. In a previous fandom, i had a BNF steal one of my AU concepts wholesale and they couldn't even be bothered to leave a kudos on the work they stole it from. (they even admitted it, though they did not know i was the original author. i had reached out to them on twitter (which did not have my fandom name) because i had thought it was so cool that we both had the same idea. i had shared my story with them (not stating it was mine, just *a* story with a similar idea) and they flat out said that's where they got the idea. The fact they did that, but couldn't even be bothered to leave a kudos or comment still hurts, not gonna lie. (at the time, the fic was several months old and had zero comments and only like 8 kudos)

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

!!Yes! its a very recent thing, and it's been super exciting! Not just on the fic exchange side, but getting to chat cultural differences

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not so much, but my dear friend above has been great a helping me work out of plot pits I've dug myself into and also going back and reworking stories that certainly needed more context for the reader. We spend a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other and i know soon i'm going to stop using the no beta we sink like the punk tag and that neat!!

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

Currently, Punk Aibou aka KiKi aka KidKil aka Eustass Kidd x Killer. the problem with "all time favourite", is its always going to be the current one, even if they are in a rotation. Ineffable Husbands is sitting right there, along with oldies like Starsky and Hutch.

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

* Side eyes the pile * i got so..... many.... I think, heartbreakingly, it's Southbound Hearts. I have an outline, i have a three part plan... but i fear i bit off far more than i can chew with that one, and I'm really struggling to get characters to sound right.

16) what are your writing strengths?

hmmm... i feel like i'm doing stuff no one else is. maybe it's just cause my little corner of fandom is a little isolated these days, but i feel a lot of what i write is *becuase* it doesn't exist yet, at least on a03.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

finishing a story

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

it's a tread carefully thing. i feel it has its place - like you see in movies - but authors really need to look at *why* is this in another language? I try to keep it for more when characters are making a point to exclude someone from a conversation, but a clever reader might be able to read between the lines, or someone who knows the language gets an extra little part written just for them, like they're in on the secret. Or if the whole purpose of a piece is focusing on communication. i have one story where some guys are just screaming at each other in other languages as a form of dick waving, only to find out that the guy who speaks more languages is technically illiterate, and the story ends up being about cultural genocide im pretty cool with loan words getting sprinkled in; i know some readers get annoyed by it, and it has absolutely been done terrible more often that not, but that's never bothered me

19) first fandom you wrote for?

oh.... its been soo so long... probably G-Force. not Gatchaman or Battle of the Planets, but this adaptation specifically. XD that has all LONG been lost to time. I think the first fanfic i *shared* for was the animated mighty duck series back on a Disney message board. pre ff.net

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

i have no earthly idea. i did LOVE writing KiKi'tober [2024] and while it's not the most polished thing i've done, it was the most memorable to write

Another very specific rec list of fics keeping Tawny sane while work sucked.

Yes, yes, I am writing this when I should actually be working.  Thank you all for my self-care routine and giving me some serotonin these last couple of months.  

New Horizons, Old Troubles @unproblematicme Pirates and omegaverse! Sexy and swashbuckling. That’s all you need to know. And Newt is the hero we all deserve. 

Over the Sea @redundant-angel Angsty and sweet South Downs Cottage fic.  I love a fic where they still have to work through things for their HEA and this is handled beautifully. Plus the weather and scenery is so atmospheric. 

Blow out all the candles @teslatherat I love a historical au and the detail in this is lovely and engaging.  It’s so sweet and hopeful. Victorian Rent Boy Crowley falls in love with a client….

The Rite of Falling @contraststudies and @teslatherat Beautifully written. Beautiful art work.  And I love the characterisation, and the way the pacing builds the pressure.  A wonderful priests au. I’m biting my nails over my this and swooning by turns. 

Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark by @mekachu04 with art by @wargoddess9 I just found this! set in cannon and the premise is amazing, and it is so sweet and sexy and lovely.  I want to eat it with a spoon. 

In our own strength confide by hapax.  A second fic I love that addresses how they both deal with their trauma and their freedom.  Beautifully insightful character study of both of them. Also angry Aziraphale is very good. 

The Fabric of your Hair @saretton Sooooftttt.  I love it. So tactile. And just, gah, the yearning, the yearning. Hairdresser Crowley and Tailor Aziraphale stealing touches where they can. Read it and bring a fainting couch. 

Divine restorations and repairs @sylwritesstuff and skimmingthesurface  Just started this, and think I’m possibly the last person on the planet to get to it, however the characterisation is fantastic. The detail that has gone into the world building is so immersive.  I can’t even…..Beautiful, beautiful….

Sanctuary by @leilakalomi  This is an exquisitely crafted Hunchback of Notre Dame au, and powerful and I am still in awe of how Crowley is portrayed so well in Aziraphale’s pov.  It’s wonderfully done. 

And safe for aye, may my darling be @naromoreau and @gayforgoodomens  Celts vs Romans, except the two who fall in love, obviously. This fic will kill us all.  You have been warned. 

tried some new techniques out, and while there are some things to fix, i learned alot. =D story printed with permission: http://hells-half-acre.livejournal.com/190948.html

9. Loyalty

Kidd - 15 | Killer -19 (only talked about - not actually present for this one)

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Kidd's named himself Boss of the Heaps

Teenagers in danger

Kidd gets himself shot

future crew cameos

Names

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

Somehow in the last year - Kidd's gotten himself an entourage.

A half dozen were older kids that he and Killer had kicked the asses of at some point over the years. There was the not!sisters that went everywhere together, and Kidd welcomed them with a heavy heart, feeling his own former partner's betrayal even time he saw the duo. Wasn't their fault though, and Kidd was getting better about not holding that against people as of late. Throw in a handful who were just sycophants that he'd fallen in with, and then one or two city folks that ran out of luck and had headed to the Heaps to hide.

They'd been under the impression the Heaps where no man's land - they didn't know the it was Kidd's now. He'd nearly turned them away, sent them back to the city, but they'd prostrated before him and he'd never seen anyone do that before. Curiously had kept them around, nothing more.

And then Boogie had brought him another outsider, a large monster of a woman that had nothing but disdain for Kidd and clearly wanted to be anywhere but the Heaps. She had, like the others from the city, had run afoul of one of the bosses. Unlike the others, she knew immediately who he was.

"Solider Boy talks about you."

Kidd froze in place, his people turning to look at him curiosity. "Sorry," Kidd decides finally, "Don't know any solider boys."

She shrugs.

"What did you think the name drop was going to get you?"

"One more night still breathing."

"Hmm... Fine. Granted."

***

Being a teen and the boss did mean people thought he was an easy target. Unfortunately, sometimes it was people he'd given a second chance to. There weren't a lot of guns on Kutsukku - smuggling weapons past the Marines out in open waters carried too high of a risk, and few on Kutsukku had the funds for the payment demanded for them.

But just because there were not a lot of something did not mean none were on the island. Kidd just learned the hard way what a bullet felt like, hot and sharp in his side. It had completely blindsided him, not even an option in his mind, and he had stood there dumbly as his brain attempted a reboot.

A second shot never came - not because Kidd or any of his crew reacted, but instead the woman, the one from the gang Killer ran with now, stood over his crumpling assailant, rusting pipe in hand. She looked about as shocked as he did, stepping back uneasy as he was rushed by his own people.

The bullet responded to his -pull- gracefully at least, and he held the small ball of metal in his palm as someone else saw to the blood pouring out of his gut. It -sang- harmlessly in his hand now, the treacherous little thing, and Kidd -rolled- it over and over, committing its weight and song to memory so as to not ever fall victim to it or its kind again.

His man named only Sunglasses watched the little bullet -dance- in his hand uneasily, before Kidd closed his fist around it, face daring the other to make a comment.

None came.

***

"What was your name again?"

She shrugged, rubbing at the bracelets on her thick wrist. Kidd could understand that.

"Why'd you save me?"

"I told you, Solider Boy talks about you."

"You mean Killer, don't you?"

"Boss Athair doesn't think he's earn a name like that yet, took it away."

"Fuck him." Kidd growled. She smirked. "How.... how is he?"

She looked contemplative, "Quiet. He follows order, doesn't complain, and personally, I think he's damn proven himself. Ceannard, Boss Athair's second, has taken a shine to him, thinks he's got promise. Honestly, I think more of us like the two of them than Boss Athair these days."

Kidd picked at his bandages. "That's why you're here. Because you picked Killer over your boss."

"Solider Boy convinced me to leave before I ended up.. well," she gestured to the man whose skull she'd bashed in, "not unlike him."

Kidd looked at the corpse.

"He had a gun."

She nodded. "City Boss - one of the big ones. He's got god money, and delusions of grandeur. Buys up all kinda of shit, all kinds of people. Kinda man you don't tell no too."

Kidd scowled. "Well, fuck him too. That trick won't work a second time."

"Hope not." She said, so quiet Kidd almost missed it.

"Well..." he hedged, "at least while your own boss has a stick up his ass, as long as you don't mind the smell and the toxic waste, you're welcome to run with us."

Only thing cuter than a kitty in a box is a kitty in a bag. She pulled it down, and has been sitting inside watching me for the last hour

16. HighSchool

Kidd - 14 | Killer - 18

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Puberty found Kidd

meaning inconvenient erections

and some possible pining but he's not ready to explore that

additionally, note the ages,

and that they are still sharing a bed

Killer's working for one of the island's bigger bosses

Kidd is really smart

even if he's essentially illiterate

Killer's using his mob connection to get Kidd textbooks

... and to better their lives in other ways

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

It's impossible to ignore that things are changing between the two of them. Life is change, but Kidd didn't remember a time not living in Killer's pockets and now he's got more him time then he knows what to do with. Where Killer used to be, Kidd is either alone or bullying the other Heaps punks that think he's easy pickings since he's solo. They don't make that mistake twice, and Kidd has to admit, the occasional throw down is exhilarating. He might start pulling his punches and hoping someone will come back for a round two.

Admittingly, Killer used to ditch him often enough to go hook up with Victoria, sneaking back in at the eleventh hour and Kidd would roll his eyes and pretend he hadn't been sitting up waiting for him to come crawling into bed. When she'd kicked the both of them to the curb last year, Kidd thought that would the end of that. Except Killer still was disappearing on him during the day now.

Killer'd been an early riser their whole lives, so Kidd was used to waking up alone. The older boy - man now, Kidd supposed - wasn't a deep sleeper to start with and had always had trouble sleeping past sunrise. But he rarely went far before Kidd was also up for the day. Lately, the moment Kidd picked his head off the pillow, Killer was heading out.

He'd maybe see him for lunch, but unless Kidd asked him in advance to stick around, Killer was a ghost until evening.

Which was whatever. Kidd didn't care. Hell - it was maybe a little nice in the morning, ever since Kidd had come to the mortifying revelation that the only time he didn't wake up rock hard these days was because he'd creamed his pants at some point in his sleep. Which could have been awkward as hell considering that most places they squatted were too small or too drafty to sleep in any configuration other then curled up together, including the dingy shack they were holed up in now.

Still lazying in their little shared 'bed' now - a broken singles' mattress filled with paper trash - Kidd had to think very hard about not imagining what it was like to sleep next to Killer every night, to imagine Killer still in bed with him in the morning. With a whine, he drug his fingers down his face, pulling his head out of those thoughts, and forced himself up and to his feet. He either needed to deal with this or clear his head, and then get on with his morning.

Killer had left him a filled canteen of clean water, a couple hard boiled eggs, fresh baked bread and a new book.

Another part of their new normal; breakfast and a gift. Killer had fell in good favour with one of the bosses back when they still ran with Victoria, and without her taking up his free time, Killer had been taking on more errands for the gangs. Kidd wasn't real sure how he felt about all that yet. He was vaguely aware Killer had been involved with the gangs before they'd become a duo, but an island wide coup d'etat left him on the loosing side. He'd been pretty paranoid about the bosses since then, but Victoria had to go and change his mind about them all not being vicious warmongers. Boss Athair didn't ask for Killer's loyalty and paid more coin for a single errand then the both of them usually scrapped together in a fortnight.

Enough for three fresh meals a day. Enough to pay someone to actually wash their clothes instead of rinsing them in seawater and beating them on the rocks until they were 'clean' or fell apart. Every one of Killer's safe-caches had a full coin purse, and now even Kidd's did too. 

If it kept up, they might even be able to rent a real room next winter, in a real building.

With blankets or even a fireplace.

An actual bed, without bugs and weird smelling mold spots.

A bookshelf for the text books Killer kept finding somewhere.

School books belonging to some Cailean MacCeannard according to the front end page. Killer had several of the guys books by this point, a few clearly ancient primers, but then some more advanced stuff that was way more interesting, like one on that claimed to be the 7th edition of Heat and Thermodynamics, or the Fundamentals of the Theory of Electricity. Granted, Kidd only probably understood a quarter of what the books were talking about, Killer reading out large passages to him some nights since Kidd's reading skills were pretty lacking. Killer didn't understand most of what he said, but Kidd urged him on regardless, Killer's steady voice bringing the author's ideas to life for Kidd.

Today's book was Nonlinear Magnetohydrodynamics and Kidd had not the foggiest what that was suppose to mean, but he flipped through it, studying the diagrams with little context, but still fascinated as he munched on one of the eggs. This one lacked Cailean's name, but did have a some Marine Base Library Stamp on it and it filled him with glee to read the "Library Copy. Do not Remove from Premises" embossed on the title page.

"Mine now," he cackled to himself.

10 in-progress books. Finished book pictures may be coming in the future but only with the author's permission.

Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Eustass "Captain" Kidd & Victoria Punk Klabautermann, Eustass Kid & Killer Characters: Eustass "Captain" Kidd, Massacre Soldier Killer, Victoria Punk Klabautermann Additional Tags: Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Egghead Island Arc (One Piece), lost at sea, hurt!Kidd, broken ribs, Head Injury, Kidd Pirates don't survive, Schrödinger's cat!Killer, Victoria Punk has been destroyed, but she's not out of the fight yet, Klabautermann (One Piece) - Freeform, non!canon Use of Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit Powers, kidd is his own kind of radar, Kidd eats raw fish, research is conflicted on eating raw fish when lost at sea to help fight drydration, as it is - don't eat raw fish like this, Violence to Killer's Hair, he'll forgive kidd for it.... probably, no beta: we sink like Victoria Punk Summary:

His head was pounding and he felt like he was going to vomit. The sun beat down on his face, the sea salt thick in the air, the waves uneasy under him. They were not violent, however, they were pitching much more than they should, and Eustass Kidd jerked awake in a panic.

Nothing but the ocean met his gaze.

reblogged here since i no longer use that account

The Straw Hat.

Used a game sprite from the One Piece GBA game for a pattern - can see how to tweek the colours a little bit more after having made this one.

Size 16 canvas.