#franky wants her some peace and quiet not 8 kids

[belladonnaprice]

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[sniperofmyheart]

STORY STARTERS MEME

Rules: List the first lines of your last 15 stories. See if there are any patterns. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!  Do it if you are interested? @maychorian​ @danosphere91​ Tagged by @justira​

I don’t even know if I have 15 stories. I am going with the first paragraph or first indent not including dialogue if that makes sense. Starting from most recent. I am including different chapters as otherwise I won’t have 15. I feel like I am missing a WIP but I can’t find it found it!

1. Sad Fic (WIP no real title yet)

“Hey guys!! Look who we’ve got!’

They hadn’t even arrived at Wano, and Luffy was already screaming. He stood on the railing and pointed proudly at Sanji, who tried his best to hide behind Brook.  So much for a silent approach.  Having just escaped from one Emperor, Sanji couldn’t shake the feeling that any second Kaido would come barrelling down on them. Best not to tempt fate. The Sunny pulled  into the hidden harbour with very little fanfare, besides the fanfare that Luffy self generated. There was a crowd to greet them but first glance he couldn’t spot any familiar faces. There wasn’t a smile among them.  Luffy was smiling enough for them all as he danced along the railing and dove into the crowd, his arms swinging back and shit, Sanji  and the rest was dragged down as well. One of these days he was going to figure out how far that his damn captain could stretch and stay a good foot beyond that near any high places.

2. Chopper’s Dream (WIP. Title to change)

The lights were off in the infirmary. Sanji had seen Chopper run in not too long ago, so just in case, he knocked as he entered. Chopper did take reindeernaps in here after all.

“Chopper? I brought some tea and cookies, the ladies didn’t want it all”

The small reindeer had his head on the desk, turned, eyes staring into the wall

Sanji carefully set the platter between Chopper and the wall, and waited.

Chopper continued to stare through the ever so delicious tea and cookies at the wall.

3. Raftel (WIP)

They had finally made it, Raftel. The imposing cliff face loomed over them. All those years of fighting, crying and laughing, suddenly felt very small before it. Even Usopp, brave warrior of the sea that he was, felt his knees shake a little. This was the end. The last island, X that marks the spot.  What could possibly be up there that was worth all this? Even with everything  they had seen, if he was really honest with himself, Usopp had no idea what the One Piece was. A mountain of gold? “Made you look” ponoglyphed into a wall? A doodle of sea gull with God D roger’s autograph at the bottom? Nothing could surprise him anymore. He looked over at Robin, she probably had a better idea. Even with the wind splashing the stinging seawater into the crew’s eyes, she kept looking forward, unblinkingly.

4. Reindeernapping Chapter 4 (WIP)

The Sunny was docked slightly away from the main harbour, tucked away half hidden. Apparently the locals (thanks Franky for the intel) were okay with pirates as long as they were seen and not heard. Zoro was on the deck trying to sleep as  Luffy continued the Chopper hunt. Cause of course Chopper might of just fallen asleep in a barrel or climbed up into the crow’s nest. Zoro couldn’t wait to see the shit cook’s face when he saw his kitchen, Luffy had opened every single drawer and cabinet, on the off chance that Chopper had somehow managed to shrink down to 6 inches and decided to hid with the spoons. Once he had satisfied himself that Chopper hadn’t buried himself into any of the bags of flour Luffy stumbled from the kitchen, caked in white powder and launched himself to the figure head. He lay out and stared at the sea

“This is sooooo booooringg! I want to look for Chopper too!”

5. Emergency Food Supply (WIP)

It has been 19 days, three hours, fifteen minutes and 30 seconds since they had last eaten. Not that Chopper was keeping count. Counting required energy. Luffy’s stomach didn’t so much as growl anymore, it was just a dull constant roar against the ocean.  Despite Thriller Bark being behind them, they still couldn’t find their way out of the fog that was the Florian Triangle. 

6. Shut Up Kiss Chapter 3 Lusopp 

They were sailing away. The cannonballs crashing into the ocean were so loud that Usopp could barely think straight, but the silence from the ship was deafening. They were going to leave him.

“If that’s what you want… let me say one last thing. You guys…” he tries to yell but it only comes out as a kind of whisper. What was the point, his throat was already sore from screaming and they were sailing away.

7. Physician Inquisition

“I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON THAT APPLE AND DIE YOU BASTARD!”

BZZZZZZ

“GOD DAMN CHARLEY HORSE!”

BZZZZZZ

“HEY I AM NOT A HORSE! I AM A REINDEER”

BZZZZZZ

Nami poked her head into the sick bay,

“Is everything all right in there?”

8. Don't Play With Your Food

Sanji stared at the freezer door and took a deep breath. He must have misread it, or it was mislabeled, or this was all some kind of fevered dream. If this was a fever dream, he expected some beautiful dancing ladies. He opened the freezer door and pulled out the parcel. Venison. So not dancing ladies then. In little black letters clear as day and beside it almost as an afterthought, reindeer. It sounded like a devil fruit, the venison venison fruit mode reindeer. A small slightly hysterical laugh escaped his mouth and he bit his lip but it still echoed through the kitchen. This wasn’t a devil fruit or some kind of joke, it was a slab of meat. Reindeer meat. In his freezer. Outside he could hear the tap-tap of hooves and a gentle high-pitched laugh. Their emergency food supply new crewmate, he really should stop those jokes, was fitting in well. He stared harder at the letters willing them to rearrange themselves. Fantastic.

9. Wedding Feast

“Welcome to my humble kitchen Lord Sanji” the head chef was groveling so hard his white chef hat scrapped on the ground. His hat seemed wrong, too small.

“Get up. I just wanted to have a look around, it is my wedding feast after all.”

The chef straightened himself.

“Why yes Lord Sanji, of course. I had heard rumours that our great Lord spent some time at a restaurant, so any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.”

The bustle of white smocks around him, the sizzling of pans and the smell of garlic filled the room. Throw in some swearing and a few half dozen tattooed men and you would almost have the Baratie. For the first time since he had arrived at Germa Kingdom, he almost felt at home. He had missed the bustle and the noise. The kitchen was never quiet even back on the Sunny. Someone was always whining for more meat, trying to sneak sake or sweets, and trying to drink all of his milk or cola in one go. Or just dropping by to talk and getting bullied into cutting veggies and washing dishes. He really should ask Franky to put a lock on the door, give him some peace and quiet for a change. But then the ladies wouldn't be able to drop by. Choices choices.

10. Man Overboard

“MAN OVER BOARD MAN OVER BOARD”

Sanji was already in the water looking around frantically so Usopp though it was safe to check who had fallen in. As Chopper and Luffy were the ones yelling their heads off a bit further down the ship with fishing rod in hand, or well hoof, it wasn’t them. Brook had come running over with his violin (how that would help a drowning person is anyone’s guess), and he could see one of Robin’s hand with an eye in the centre sprouted on the side of the ship scanning the water as well. So it wasn’t any of the devil fruit users, that was a relief. Nami had poked her head out of the girl’s room to see what the fuss was about her mapping pen still in hand and Franky had poked his head out of the bathroom. Which left Zoro. Had he somehow managed to wander off the ship into the sea, was that even possible? There weren’t any marine ships around so it wasn’t a surprise attack that had knocked him in. Maybe he fell asleep on the railing and tipped over? But just as Usopp had settled on this, he heard a loud voice behind him “What is taking that damn curly brow so long?”

11. The Question

There is a rare moment of silence, the Merry has burned and the Straw Hats are wiping their eyes and trying to catch their breath. The mighty Sogeking takes a deep breath and grabs Luffy’s hand, half dragging him away from everyone else. Or at least he tries to, but dragging a rubber man by the hand is surprisingly difficult and kind of awkward. You end up standing a few feet away with his stretched arm between the two of you as he picks his nose with the other. After some anxious head tilting and whispering what could be misunderstood to be the word meat, Luffy shuffles over. It is quiet and Luffy has to lean in a little to hear it properly but Sogeking manages to squeak it out

“Can I join the crew?”

no bravado no tall tales and Luffy just smiles.

“No way!”.

12. Reindeernapping Chapter 3

He had built the Shark Submerge III to carry up to three people so with only himself inside there was plenty of room, but the metallic echo of his own breathing and the itching sense that time was passing too fast was making Franky feel queasy. Being a dozen or so feet underwater and forced to wear unnatural pants wasn’t helping matters either. He would give anything for that squeaky little voice to start chirping away, dancing around the cabin asking silly questions about what each button did. Instead there was silence. Franky stared out the reinforced glass viewing window scanning the ocean view. If Little Bro was here, he wouldn’t miss him. One of the handy things about being a cyborg was that blinking was purely optional. With a few drops in his eyes every morning, he might blink once or twice a day, if at all. He had won a lot of money off Long Nose Bro that way, the poor kid couldn't say no to a staring contest. Franky usually wore his shades to avoid giving anyone the creeps but with an empty submarine, that wasn’t an issue.

13. Reindeernapping Chapter 2

The pink and purple smoke was still hanging in the air. Franky couldn’t help asking

“How do you guys usually go about finding lost people? This can’t be the first time this has happened, right?”

“ Chopper just tracks Zoro-I mean Chopper tends to sniff people out” Long Nose answered.

”Fantastic ”

He had seen a bit of their finding people attempts back at Water Seven, and been less than impressed. Franky sat down with a thud on the grass.

14. Reindeernapping Chapter 1

Grocery shopping was distinctly not super. Franky and Reindeer Gorilla had gotten stuck with last minute supplies duty as Cook Bro was too busy protecting the fresh meat and booze from Straw Hat and Sword Bro. Cook Bro had given them an extensive list and Reindeer Gorrilla had his own list of herbs and textbooks he wanted to get. It all added up to quite a haul so someone needed to order and pay while Reindeer Gorilla lugged everything around. Merchants didn’t take kindly to animals placing orders. So Franky volunteered to be Reindeer Gorilla’s designated human. He wanted to get to know his new crew mates outside the yelling and screaming that was Enies Lobby. The market place was jam packed, a lot of elbows to the stomach and competing smells that didn’t quite go together. Fresh flowers, half rotten cabbages and the body odour of the crowd (he was going to have to force Lil Bro to take a bath eventually, the smell was ridiculous) were enough to make his nose rust. It kind of reminded Franky of back home, he has barely left it 72 hours ago and he was definitely not crying. Rubbing his super dry eyes, he stared down at Cook Bro’s list. It seemed like he had everything. A note was scribbled on the bottom ‘Absolutely no cotton candy, that means you Chopper' Franky snorted.

“Reindeer Gorilla, look at this-”

But he was speaking to thin air. The parcel packed Reindeer Gorilla was gone.

15. Shut Up Kiss Chapter 2 Lusopp

“Thinking back, when I was about to sail out, you guys asked me to join you. That's all that's tying us together. We don't have to-”

Something slams into Usopp’s face and everything goes dark. Luffy had been across the room sulking in the wrecked table, right? Had Luffy punched him? Or Gum Gum belled him in the face? Usopp peeks his eyes open, he didn’t remember closing them, and finds himself staring into black circles. Luffy was close, too close. Close enough for Usopp to pluck out his stupid eyelashes one by one. The words won’t come out, he can’t breath. Something was blocking his mouth or rather someone was. Luffy. This wasn’t a surprise punch to the face or a head butt. This was something else.

[pisati]

had a cat euthanasia this evening at work and euthanasias are always difficult appointments but.. the owners had called and were talking to my coworker before the appointment and they were asking if it was something their 8-year-old should see. so my coworker reassured them that it’s just a few injections and it’s peaceful, they do look like they’re sleeping

we were expecting an 8yo child, not three children. it was probably the 8yo that was the most distressed but by the time it finally happened we could hear all the kids crying all the way down the hall.

something about that just changed the tone of the entire rest of the night. I think it’s good they decided to bring all the kids. it’s a hard thing to experience, but at the end of the day, if they do it right, it’ll be good for their emotional development. you have to learn how to deal with something as complex and painful as loss, and as much as you want to shield your children from pain, you just can’t avoid death. but man. that was hard. even the tech and the doctor looked pretty wiped after that appointment.

we had a euthanasia on saturday too, and I had to keep myself from tearing up sitting at the front desk just thinking back on my own losses. of the 10 rats I’ve had, I lost 7, only 3 of which were euthanasias, and of the 4 left only one was old age. it’s hard enough when it’s their time and you have to gather the courage to say goodbye. it’s another thing when you hear the heart failure cough, rush over, try CPR, beg them to come back to you... and their life slips right through your fingers. I should’ve been there for frankie. I should’ve paid the extra $40 to be with jay. too many ‘should have’s.  I can hardly remember all the guinea pigs, and all of those were natural causes. mom never wanted to take them to the vet. I don’t remember rosie dying, but I remember burying her. I remember annabelle, curled up and quiet. I don’t remember apricot. wasn’t there for fuzzy. I knew it was coming with thunder and lightning. I laid thunder back in her cage when I felt it coming, after holding her and crying all day. she convulsed a few times, looked like she yawned really big, and then laid still. lightning died in my lap, she may have convulsed a few times too. I wish I’d had the money as a child to get them to the vet. they all deserved better. but I guess that’s why my mom just shouldn’t have pets. there were a lot of animals we had in her house as children that were neglected, because she never taught us how to properly care for them. got mad at us when we didn’t care for them well enough but didn’t want to own up to the fact that children just are not good pet owners and most of the work should fall on the parents.

I don’t know how all that affected me. it sure as hell prepared me for losing humans in my life. I don’t know if I was ever shielded from the reality of death; I knew exactly what happened when I was 8-9 and came home from chicago with my dad to learn that fuzzy had died while I was gone. mom never told me that pets ran away or anything like that. I never had any self-comforting ideas that they weren’t really gone and could come back somehow. kind of funny, I don’t ever remember having my world turned upside down by learning some harsh truth about life; like, you know how some kids are devastated to find out santa isn’t real. I did grow up jewish, but I always knew. same with the tooth fairy and the concepts of angels, demons, the devil, etc. that could also have been a being-raised-jewish thing. I feel like I always knew death was permanent. I was never fooled by people in costumes. never seemed to live in some colorful shielded world that a lot of children grow up in, where cartoons are as good as real and things are sunshine and rainbows for the most part. people don’t believe me when I say I struggle with creativity, but even as a child I could only ever conceive of reality. maybe it’s devastating to learn the world isn’t as nice or fantastical as you thought it was, but I have to wonder how much of my depression is owed to the fact that I never thought it was to begin with.

I’m learning to tell myself I did all I could, when it comes to my own pets. it takes a lot of loss to be able to come to terms with that. I wouldn’t wish so much grief on another person, but it seems like a lot of people avoid it. a lot of people own pets that live for 12-20 years, and they only experience so many losses in their life. I’ve held hamsters and guinea pigs while they died. I’ve watched my rats put to sleep. I’ve tried to revive a few. people ask me a lot, when I tell them rats only live 2-3 years tops: how can you do it? I could never. it’s so hard to get attached to a pet and then lose them so soon. it is hard. I make it look easy because I’ve had almost a full lifetime of loss. I’ve learned through plenty of experience how to grieve. how to walk myself through regret and remorse. how to learn and do better. I’ve learned that, even though it didn’t feel like it at first, my heart can hold a lot of love for all my pets, and it doesn’t ever diminish. loving one doesn’t ever take away from loving another. sometimes you do need some time to process once you lose one, and getting another won’t fill the void that’s left. but it’s not meant to. I’ve learned that no pet can ever be replaced, and no pet is ever a replacement for another. it’s another life you’re taking into your care, and you love them for them, and do the best you can for them until it’s their time. and that’s all you can do. people don’t seem to understand that the losses never get easier; or maybe they do, but they can’t put themselves through it so many times. the losses hurt. always, always, always. after losing frankie so horrifically, that was the first time I really thought about if I should continue adopting rats. the losses are never easy. but you do get better at dealing with them. that’s how I do it. that’s how I continue to do it. I’ve lived with a lot of pain in my life, but the pain of losing a pet also means that I had a lot of love in my life too. I had something I loved so much that losing it really hurt. sometimes the loss will come back to me and it’ll hurt again. but I try to keep all the pictures I can. remember the good things. celebrate their life rather than continually mourn their death. grief is complex and pretending that it isn’t just makes it harder to deal with. 

blah blah. anyway.

weird, tiring day today. two long days and two early days coming up. I haven’t had two consecutive days off in weeks and I’m exhausted. 

A is coming down for his spring break in a few weeks. I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m still going to have to work, but whatever. I requested mornings, and I’m sure he’ll be glad for the opportunity to sleep in for a few days and relax. I used to really look forward to his visits, and I can’t say I’m not looking forward to the company. I like that we’re comfortable with each other. I just. I don’t know. something’s been off for years and I’ve given up on figuring out what it is. 

soon it’ll be warm again. not so dry. I’m tired of shocking myself on the doors and shelves and pets and printers at work. 

some things I’m nervous about but looking forward to. unrelated. I have a feeling it won’t be like I hope it will. but it’s nice to dream a little. would be nice.

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