Day 29: 40 Years

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.

7. Hair

Kidd - 16 | Killer - 20

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Friends to Enemies

that weird little period where they were rival gang bosses

the girls boys are fighting

Kidd is an unreliable narrator but it's not his fault

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

"You got taller."

"You grew your hair out." Its hard to tell for sure what Killer really thinks about things these days; a lifetime living in each other's pockets can't be erased in just two years, but besides just hiding his expression behind ragged bangs, Killer's added a cloth tied around his lower face. But he tilts his head the same way, right ear up, left shoulder - his weaker shoulder - hunching up and in and Kidd can feel him judging him through his lashes. Can picture it so clearly in him mind, and he smirks. "It looks good."

And he means that; Growing up they way they did often mean cutting mattes out of Killer's hair, never getting a chance to grow too long no matter what they tried. Hell, Kidd had cried that last time he'd had to take a knife to Killer's hair. A fight with other Heaps' folk had Killer landing in a tar spill and even though they'd walked away the victor, Killer's hair was a complete loss. They'd gotten in a brawl with Victoria only a few days before that, and then Kidd had to cut Killer's hair to the scalp in a few places, and it was too much at once for his 13 year old self.

Killer had the world's worst haircut but Kidd was the one who had to be coddled.

Well, Joke was on them both because Killer would abandon him too the next year anyway.

"I guess ditching me for running water worked out well for you."

"And I'm leaving" Killer growled, and Kidd wanted to let him leave. Wanted Killer to be the one who walked away from the meeting, to reject him again. He was still angry and he -flung- a handful of bolts at the back of Killer's head. Unfortunately for him, Killer ducked in time, grabbed a brick from off the ground, and hurtled it back at him.

Kidd did manage to avoid getting hit but it was nothing as graceful as Killer's maneuver.

"The hell are you thinking!? What if someone saw you!" Killer hissed, marching back, head swiveling nervously like he was looking around to make sure none of his little gaggle of groupies had seen anything.

It was infuriating, and Kidd felt his temper getting the better of him, "What if someone... are you serious! Are you trying to mom me NOW?"

Killer stopped up short like Kidd had smacked him. Good.

"Nono. No. Do you hear yourself? You fucking left me," Kidd -flung- another handful of scraps and trash at Killer who avoided it as easily as the first round, "You left and fucking now you're trying to come in and order me around like you have any say in my life anymore!"

He -threw- another round, this time it felt like it was mostly screws, at Killer. The man's fists were clenched, but instead of letting Kidd goad him into a real fight, he shoved them in the pockets of the almost-not-holey jeans he was wearing as he smoothly twisted out of the way.

"So you can fuck off and I will use my fucking devil fruit however the fuck I want, when ever the fuck I feel like!" He -threw- another handful of screws and scrap. This time Killer didn't dodge it, and Kidd winced when the scattershot slammed into his former friend's side. Kidd dropped his hand down, metal falling quiet around them. "Kil...Killer, I didn't..."

"You're right. You can do whatever you want now. Big bad Boss of your own."

It was Kidd's turn to stick his hands in his pockets.

"Keep the Heaps. It's yours. My people'll clear out by tonight." Kidd had nearly forgotten the whole reason they'd met up - supposedly to hash out turf lines. Killer'd only just been named Boss after all, and had to prove he was up to the task. Instead Killer just ceded the whole dispute to him.

"Just like that? And if they don't?"

"If they got a problem with it, I'm sure they come running to join you."

"Unless they stab you in the back over it first." - Do you have someone now.. watching your back?

Killer just shrugs, turning away.

Kidd will go back to his crew, Killer'll go back to his own new shiny family, and they'd glare at each other over turf lines when they bothered to pretend the other existed at all, and go back to hating each other again.

Killer really did look nice with his hair grown out like that. It was as pretty as Kidd could have ever imagined, and he bet it was a soft as it looked.

...

Ceithir Gormaichean, Kidd still missed the prick.

for those interested in making their own, the pattern is available for free on stitch-fiddle

please note the above was made with sewing thread, not dmc floss so yours may look different. please feel free to use your own gold or red shade if you feel you like something better

Badge from RWBY’s Beacon Academy 3 colours. 32 canvas. used extra sewing thread instead of DMC floss In progress post on DA  or Newgrounds 

reblogged here since i no longer use that account

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Did three pumpkins this year; the Mugiwara from one piece, the blue flag from red vs blue, and then a gassly/gengar one from Pokémon. The Pokémon was the gengar on the back- I was trying for one of the projection pumpkins I've seen, but it didn't quite work, the light went through just fine, but the details were too fuzzy :( 

i have now run out of a third colour for the cross stitch....

think the holiday shopping is over enough to attempt to go to the store once today has rolled around to a more reasonable hour?

Opening the Blue to toast the Blues. Congrats St Louis

Day 2 - "Kid" Pirates

Original Post by @gratefulcheeses

Happy Holidays

Winter is upon us (if you live in the northern hemisphere) and the shortening days demand we spend as many daylight hours as we have in celebration.

I’m going to be sending out snail mail cards for the winter season; if you would like one, please send me a message or ask telling me the address is going to. If you want a specific holiday, let me know too. This is open to anyone who wants one, no need to follow me back or send one in return if you don’t want to