𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓪𝔃𝓸𝓷

The cupcake is small to begin with, even more tiny in Corazon's own large hands. It doesn't change his tiny smile as he cradles the baked good with care and hunches over it.

The fire he's careful with (oh so careful of not catching alight) from the lone candle set in it.

"...happy birthday to me."

than what are sure to end up as a few bruises.

He (sadly) was always of a more fair constitution given his lineage.

Cora sighs, winces, ears taking in laughs and (instead of looking up) favors trying to find his hat instead.

all attention going ass over teakettle.

Hands brace enough to roll with his fall (falling enough to learn to handle it better over the years) so he tumbles and lands at least upright and doesn't break his nose.

Palms smart. Cora's hat fallen off and coat a mess of feathers, but unharmed other >>

wanted to sneak passed, pay his tab, and leave. That he ended up crashing.

Literally.

Shoe catching on the door frame, doing his best as a hulking 9ft something male could do to sneak, and taking a wonderfully loud and dramatic nose dive down the stairs head first.

Just his luck. Sure to draw >>

through territories or making U-turns to avoid others.

Some (however) were harder to keep track of that others. Erratic. Unpredictable. And (of course while sleeping in a bed too small for him in this inn) he'd woken up to find a proverbial party happening in the lower floors.

A party that he >>

@sanguineyonko.bsky.social

Impossible not to know who this was (unless you lived under a rock and Cora kind of had but with his line of previous work he'd kept some tabs on the world) and he had made point to avoid as many Yonko and Shichibukai as possible.

Paths crossed, sure. Skirting >>

her.

Cora holds out his free hand (palm up and fingers fanned out in welcome) without judgement to her.

Cora tilts his head. Still in that hat and coat (the coat has seen far better days really) and face still painted.

Less a bit how it had been before. Lips just red for now, not pulling higher into an overarching facsimile of a smile. He understand a little as he stands there smoking and watching >>

smile. Beaming just because Law is there.

The nostalgia warms him.

"What happened?"

He's not laughing. Not really. He's hiding it well enough.

his secret savior. How a tiny child managed to save him from himself with bitter spite and a knife.

A boy who gave Rosinante his humanity back.

Hands pluck up the tiny thing without thinking (why would he ever hesitate to scoop up his boy?) and cradle Law into a cocoon of feathers with a huge >>

@deathsleopard.bsky.social [event]

Corazon can feel his heart in his throat.

Not in fear but it joy. Oh! The memories that flood in at that tiny form. Fragile. Sick. Dying. In pain. Precious as the riches of gems and gold that makes his heart sing with love.

Law! Law! Law! Small and cute and >>

sand and dirt on sandstone bricks. He doesn't hear steps coming his way. Not until they are too close and he flinches hard enough to topple over.

Startled and confused.

it.

All he can do is slump against a wall. Sinking and sinking and sweating to the point he thinks this was a mistake.

Papers had mentioned something. Mugiwara? There had been a connection to Law there somewhere. He knew. (Poorly trying to keep tabs) And it led him here.

Helpless. Sat in the >>

@thydesertprincess.bsky.social

Cora is not dressed for the desert.

Melting away in some alley near the palace? (he thinks it's the palace he really can't remember)Fingers pick at the feathery coat to shed it but still hide under it's mass.

The sun would surely cook his fair skin worse without >>

though. (Even as the tall male with blood colored eyes had paid the vendor too for it.)

Enough commotion he's sure to draw in someone in charge. Maybe. Possibly.

Cora doesn't know how this little hive works yet.

are enough that most are avoiding him as they go about their day.

It draws more attention, sure. But no one's brave enough to step in front of him to question who he is, where he came from, why he's here.

Cora does feel bad for the trembling man fumbling to make him a stick of cotton candy >>

rainbow of bustling folk doing work or setting up shows.

Word had spread about the bounties put on marines by this infamous Cross Guild.

So maybe Cora had gotten nosy about it. A sigh of smoke and the perks of being as large as he is and scary as he could look (thank you for one thing Doffy) >>

@buggythestarclown.bsky.social

The colors are too tempting to ignore.

Cora fit more into the role of mime than a clown (though he'd argue he wasn't either despite his tastes in make up) but the bright tents and bustling activity are hard to ignore.

They litter the island in a vomit inducing >>

can look sat at a café table that brings his knees up far too high in a chair too short.

Hiding behind a newspaper and peeking out in his spying.

@nitoryuwadoyaiba.bsky.social

Impossible to be a spy without having observation haki.

Cora is well aware how dangerous this man is (a chill raising his hackles as his haki blares DANGER at him) just by looking at the man.

So he opts to look as normal as possible. As normal as someone 9ft tall >>

against the fall foliage backdrop.

He's there. Standing next to the Polar Tang in awe and terror (because holy fuck he didn't mean to just walk up to it!!!) as he spots a figure from a decade ago (only seen in pictures now) right before him.

"...Law..."

Of all the times to not be silent. Damn it.

Hazard. A mess. Dressrosa. A horror show.

And Cora trailing behind (barely able to keep up).

It was with surprise does this tiny town allow him to recuperate the distance. Some small island (Maple Island? He can't remember) set in Autumn backdrop that Cora misses the color of the submarine >>

@deathssurgeon.bsky.social

He's not really stalking. Keeping tabs is kinder. But he had to know if Law had been okay.

Time gave him snippets. Fractions of what he would have liked and always too far away to do anything. A bounty here. A jump up there. 100 hearts here. A warlord there.

Punk >>

"If you want me to not be real I can leave now and we can forget this?" Because it's hurting her and he sees that and he really doesn't want to cause more pain.

He's done enough of that for a lifetime.

"...but I am here. Do I need to prove it to you?"

"Pretending to be a ghost?" He speaks with sincerity. "...to be honest I wasn't sure you'd even want to see me. The last things I ever said to you were a loaded handful of lies and a nugget of truth."

Cora turns his head to smoosh his cheek to the top of Law's hat.

"I expected you to hate me."

Eyes definitely catch that movement and Cora's quick to raise (mostly) empty hands up in surrender, cigarette held between two fingers.

He doesn't want to fight and would be more likely to flee if attacked than fight back.

"...I can go. If you'd prefer. We don't need to resort to violence now."

trying to protect you."

consciousness. I woke up... I don't know how long later in some shelter. Alone. Injured. But alive. I don't know if I pulled myself out of the snow to there or if someone found me, but I fled as soon as I was able."

"...I was in no state to try and find you. I couldn't protect myself, never mind >>