An Appointment with Justice

[justicereigns]

Who: Smoker justicereigns, Akokiji Kuzan lazyjustice, Coby chore_boy, Maribelle grizzly_tea, Brady cry_brady + gatecrashers welcome!
When: Saturday evening & Night
Where: Isla Empieza
What: A gathering of those who believe in justice!!!
Warnings: JUUUUUUSSSTIIIIICE, and whatever warnings Smoker counts as which is generally an automatic PG-13, and tsundere, and language, and bitchitude.
Status: Open to gatecrashers and such!



Smoker brought over a dozen candy canes, as promised, but no booze. Aokiji would have to have that waiting or be ready to splurge a little. The candy canes were ridiculously large, indeed, big enough to be used as a real cane at four feet in height, and surprisingly sturdy. He crammed about a dozen into his leather jitte strap, and the usual bullet belts filled with cigars still had cigars, of course, but if you looked closely enough, he had some extra ones completely covered in candy. Like a man going to war with starvation, or the way a mad evil villain might try to take over the world bribing orphanages with candy. It looked absurd, but when did Smoker not?

He didn't take long to hunt down Aokiji. It was even easier now that he'd had two years training in the New World with haki so he could easily lock onto his best friend's trace like an instinct or a scent. And yeah, maybe just a little, Smoker was hoping to show that off. Aokiji didn't remember the fight with Akainu, so Smoker was dying to show him the progress he'd made at G-5, even if he had been tricked by Vergo and Aokiji didn't even remember saving him from Doflamingo.

Speaking of which....

"Just remember," Smoker added to Maribelle, "He doesn't remember saving me that day you patched me up. So..." he trailed off. Smoker was shit with words. He had to hope she just got the point. "Yeah."

Both Maribelle and Aokiji had respectively saved his life after his defeat at Doflamingo's hands. Maribelle had earned a lot of loyalty from Smoker for it, and Aokiji had always had Smoker's loyalty even if Smoker would never say it out loud. Well, it was fine because Aokiji knew it. That was why he'd come to save Smoker in the first place.

Smoker broke into a rare grin just before opening the door to walk in. "He's gonna be surprised at all the scars." All thirty new deep gashes, not to mention the one that nearly took off his face. Most people probably wouldn't have found that as funny as Smoker did, but since he was used to always having to be behind Aokiji, having anything that was a step ahead of his friend was kind of fun actually.

Comments

[grizzly_tea]

Maribelle was wearing a hat and a fancy gown for the occasion. Not exactly the kind of clothes most people would wear for a war council, and more likely something someone might wear for a formal ball, but Maribelle wanted to make the right kind of impression.

"You know, it's not like I'm the sort of person who'd try to speak to him of events that haven't even transpired yet. I've had enough experience with people from the future to know that much." (Except... she probably would have, but shush.) With a heaving sigh, Maribelle followed Smoker in and quirked an eyebrow at him. Well she supposed he was a military man, so scars could be a matter of pride over the number of battles he'd survived, but it seemed almost disturbing how different they wanted to make their first impressions.

"I hate to say this to you Smoker, but sometimes I really do have to question the nature of some of your friendships. Wouldn't anyone be surprised to see that you've become more scarred than the last time you've seen them? Although... I suppose this Aokiji is rather calm most of the time."

[justicereigns]

"Annoyingly calm," Smoker laughed and pushed the door open to go inside. "He's an ice-ice-man like I am with smoke, so it affects him like that. Plus, he's an admiral. Last time he saw me I was only a Commodore. Vice Admiral is just under him so he won't be expecting it." Well, actually, he might. Aokjii probably had more faith in Smoker's capacity to succeed than Smoker gave him credit for, but still, Smoker was trying to see if he could surprise the man even a little.

And damn if it isn't weird for Smoker to be in this good of a mood. Between Candy Mountain and getting to see his best friend again, yeah, he's actually happy enough to be smiling. SO WEIRD YO.

[grizzly_tea]

This... was a rather surprising mood to see Smoker in. It was almost enough to make Maribelle want to reach up and poke him to see if he was actually real, or if some sort of doppelganger illusion had taken control of the grumpy man she was used to. Well, no she did see him this happy once in a while, but smiling was rare, and keeping that smile on his face? Was that even possible?

Still she's looking up at him with almost a sense of awe, and hoping that Smoker won't notice. "He can turn into ice you say?" She could pass it off as awe about Aokiji's abilities, right? "Or is it that he's capable of turning things to ice? Or perhaps freezing things cold? It's still hard for me to completely understand the nature of these supernatural powers people from your world seem to possess."

[justicereigns]

"Yeah yeah," Smoker looked around to find the languid tall man wherever he was sitting or crouched. Most places in this world weren't meant for people the size of anyone from the Grand Line in his world. And Kuzan was twice the height of a lot of the kids here. He probably had to bow anywhere just to get through the door. And then standing up again would be a hassle. Hell, even Smoker found some places around here cramped. And Kuzan was a good three feet taller than Smoker.

"All of that," he waved a hand.

Kuzan was drinking a margarita.

Really?

A freaking margarita?

So Smoker knocked that shit over. No. Get a real man's drink damn it! You're supposed to be cooler than him and you're wasting away in Jimmy Buffet-ville! What the hell man?!

[grizzly_tea]

ABSFGHSRJS!! SMOKER!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!? Maribelle strides over beside Smoker and whacks him over the head with her Parasol, standing on her tippy-toes to pull it off, but trying to whack some sense into him all the same!

"What are you thinking?!?! You don't just slap a man's drink out of his hand! Even if you are friends... Especially if you are friends! By the gods Smoker, if I'd caught my son doing something so disreputable, I'd have him drowning in official letters of apology!" Well Smoker wasn't her son, but after doing something so downright immature, she certainly felt he was less like an uncle and more like a troublesome nephew.

1/2

[lazyjustice]

He sensed Smoker's presence from a fair distance. He didn't exactly hide it well, nor, he supposed, did the man particularly want to. There was a sense of a presence just under him, probably the friends he was talking about. But no bright sakura persistence that was Coby.

He was a little relieved, to be honest. He heard Smoker come in the door and didn't bother to watch his approach which was why the attack on his poor defenseless margarita surprised him. He'd been drinking that.

And then his tiny companion began hitting him over the head with an umbrella.

"Now, now, that's not..."

[lazyjustice]

...oh wait he was one margarita short.

"Haa well. Never mind." And with that he turned back to the bartender and lifted a finger to order another one. There were chairs for them to sit once Smoker finished getting the concussion he so rightly deserved.

[cry_brady]

Hey, need an awkward moment interrupted? Here's your man.

"Gods... Dang... It... Ma..."

Here came her dear son Brady, utterly exhausted after finally finding a shop for parasols. Because Maribelle had gotten her last one dirty, and she needed one ASAP, and oh man did he wish he had the will to defy her. But he did not. So the admirals were treated to the sight of a scarred, exhausted, sweaty boy dragging a parasol behind him. He just numbly waved a hand to the stares. "Go... Ahead... I'm... Just... Gunna Sit..."

((OOC: don't feel any need to wait for my tag, i'll go in and out no doubt))

[justicereigns]

Smoker just grabbed his seat, away from the mad blonde woman with the chocolate umbrella -- chocolate that was now in his hair thanks -- and casually made himself at home like he owned the whole bar and everyone around him was subject to his authority or some shit. Of course, this was pretty much Smoker anywhere he was vaguely comfortable, and bars were the best places for that for him. "Brady, Kuzan," he vaguely introduced the two of them as if saying names was enough. It probably wouldn't satisfy Maribelle, but Maribelle was a noble lady, and none of the soldiers had been raised quite the same way as her.

"Maribelle, Kuzan, Kuzan, Maribelle and Brady." Another vague general sort of wave as he ordered himself a rum and took off the jitte strap.

Hope you like candy canes Kuzan, because just as he said, he brought about a dozen giant ones. And he slides them over on the bench for what little room is available for them. "He's also known as Admiral Aokiji," Smoker added as an after thought. He rarely used the formal nicknames, as much as he liked to be known by his own moniker of White Hunter and occasionally had a tendency to call the pirates by theirs, it was still kind of weird sometimes to introduce people with.

"Maribelle is specialized in justice and law in her own world and initially set up the crew here I told you about," Smoker added more significantly.

She also reminded him exactly of how he pictured Carol Masterson would grow up in another twenty years, but Smoker wasn't sure Kuzan would remember Smoker's goddaughter that well. "If you remember Daddy Masterson," he had been the best sniper in the entire East Blue, but the East Blue was such a weak ocean Kuzan rarely bothered with it, "She's a lot like his daughter." It might ring a bell, and it might not, but either way, it would easily explain why Smoker had taken to the woman as naturally as smoking.

[chore_boy]

The idea of having 'fun' seemed to be a concept that put Coby in a particularly confused and morose mood. He had spent the last two years of his life 'living in a dream' of training and working to become a proper marine. Kuzan's orders had put him off, so he wasn't quite certain what he should have done. At any rate, he found himself following the older man around for the better part of the day, though not directly. He made respectable space, all while keeping tabs on him with his Observation.

When he realized Kuzan had headed into a bar, Coby scrunched his nose up and eventually followed. He had a book in one hand, a leather bookmark set dead in the middle of it. Coby's glasses had been down and his mantle left on his sailboat for later. For the moment, he looked to be dressed much the same as the rest of the people in the bar. Seating himself at the counter, he politely asked for a glass of juice, which earned him a glower. He waited patiently as the bartender left the counter to go find the few fruits he actually had in stock.

He didn't raise his voice to anyone, because he felt he wasn't quite a part of the conversation, but he knew better--Smoker would know he was there, much the same as Kuzan.

[lazyjustice]

Oh well he supposed it was his turn but his margarita arrived so he sat back and watched the introductions, deciding he would learn their names by and by. It would be less of a pain if Smoker didn't keep repeating names back and forth like that. He raises an eyebrow at the candy cane. Noting their size and wondering what Smoker intends him to do with it.

Instead he sips the margarita and licks salt off the rim of the glass, plays with the little umbrella a moment when it occurs to him he should probably say something to the effect of welcoming them to whatever this was.

"Eh... Welcome..." He sits back a little, stretching his leg out into the aisle. Oh and belatedly. "That's Garp's apprentice." And he waved a hand generally in Coby's direction.

"Is there anyone we should look out for?" This to Smoker and Maribelle and...whoever else knew the answer or had an answer really. He wasn't picky.

[justicereigns]

"What?" Smoker started, basically ignoring Coby in the background. He recognized the pink hair because it reminded him then, as now, of Hina's hair. And he knew it was the kid who'd stood up to Akainu at Marineford. That was good, and pretty fucking impressive, actually. Smoker himself hadn't been willing to go that far, he'd been still trying to figure out what was wrong with Justice and what the marines were even trying to achieve, and thus too distracted in his own right to take that kind of giant stance. To plead the case for peace and the lives of marines instead of killing more pirates without gain.

But if the kid was brave enough to do that, he didn't exactly need to be sitting at the bar drinking juice. So he probably had a reason for it. Trying to practice undercover. Or something.

"Like enemies or more friends?" Smoker arched an eyebrow.

He was also half tempted to flip this margarita too just to make his point.

Kuzan.

Kuzan.

Margaritas are not a real drink.

Margaritas are lame.

Get with it.

Jeez.

He is embarrassed to know you damn it.

[lazyjustice]

He's prepared for you, now. If you so much as twitch a finger in the direction of his drink, he will freeze your ass to the bench. Don't think he won't. To the question, though, he raised his eyebrows and made a vague gesture.

"Either, or."

Whatever was important, Smoker. Or...anyone. He'll fiddle with the tiny umbrella as he waits for the answer and faintly imagines tiny mice that could use that sort of thing.

1/2

[justicereigns]

He's so tempted Kuzan. So tempted.

He had a tea party with biscuits yesterday and he's scared that he's turning into Garp.

Wait.

Is...

punching Margaritas out of the hands of your best friend a Garp thing to do?

Oh.

His.
God.

It is.

ISNT'T IT?!

THAT'S WHY COBY WASN'T FAZED!

HE'S TURNING INTO GAAAAAARP AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

2/2

[justicereigns]

One quick mental midlife crisis later and Smoker chomps furiously on his cigars.

You know what? Margaritas are a --

NO. THEY ARE STILL A LAME DRINK AND YOU ARE LAME FOR DRINKING THEM!

But he is not Garp so he's not going to punch it again.

"Kai might come along. She's more interested in justice, and not big on breaking as many laws as the rest of the pirates so I invited her to show up."

See? No Garp urges for tea, or yelling, or punching, or breaking the wall behind him or anything.

Everything is fine.

Just fine.

"I would hope you don't have any enemies tailing you already?" He arched his eyebrows shut up they fucking exist hopefully just in case. One could never tell with Kuzan, and if he left a few guys to thaw, he could have easily forgotten about them in which case they might show up unannounced.

[lazyjustice]

Someone else? Smoker, he is not often given to such expressions but, please. He has just arrived and already there are names being thrown at him. Not that he doesn't trust Smoker's justice, but he doesn't know what justice should be in these waters-- and the more they have that aren't...traditionally trained will have to be herded into a singular course of action.

He takes a sip of the margarita at Smoker's question and stares into the middle distance, which for him, is clear over everyone's heads.

"Mah, well...who knows."

It's revenge. Because you crave an answer, he'll refuse to give it. Which should be an answer because if there was a serious situation, Smoker would be the first to know. However, not being definite one way or the other to someone who needs to know all answers precisely is like poking someone on the back of the neck with a needle. It takes precision, and, with persistence, reward.

[justicereigns]

He hates you. He hates you. Hates you. HAAAAATES you. Hates you so much.

It's like being pricked in the back of the neck with a needle!!!

He can feel it, damn it!

GRRRRRRRRRRR.

He knows it's an answer, but it's NOT an answer JUST ENOUGH not to count and you ALWAYS do this, and hates it hates it hates it forever.

Smoker starts drumming his fingers on the table irritably.

Must.

Not.

Punch.

Things...

So he just starts chewing on an overly large candy cane.

Because fuck you, that's why.

Also because sugar is awesome and calms him down a little. "Maribelle, Brady, and Kai aren't sailors, but they have war experiences of their own." It was a cue for Maribelle to take over so Smoker wouldn't punch his best friend in the margarita glass.