Two Hearts

Mountain River

Law sighed. "You two move forward. I'll meet you near the kitchen entrance. Be careful of the doors, I guess. Aisuru-ya drew bones on them, whatever that means."

Ikkaku snickered. "Yeah, we'll be careful of her SPS doors."

"S... p... s..." Bepo frowned, scratching his ear. "Sea... Prism... Stone?"

"OH!" Ikkaku clapped once, "I bet that's it. Good job, Bepo. How did you figure that out?"

He blushed, doing a shy fidget. "The lady who writes 'Plastic Hearts'-" Law cringed. "-uses it for shorthand. Aisuru must be lazy."

"Or she knew you would get it." Law shook his head. How Bepo could read a series of strange novels about his own captain was beyond him, but a surprising amount of Mink mentality was still foreign to him. The important thing was that Bepo hadn't been treating him any differently. "Go on. I'll meet you there."

The duo stealthed onto the street, dodging to another sheltered area. Law turned down the alley, squinting into the deep shadows by the garbage bins. He could make out the dull shine of a shoe. He readied Kikoku and approached.

The man wore a wrinkled blue suit, nice black shoes, and a bright red tie. His black, tattooed skin was dirty, and his cheeks were rosy with the drink. He raised the half empty bottle of wine in greeting from his sprawled position in the corner of the alley. "Lawwww~" he slurred, bleary eyes unfocused. "Heeeeyyyyy~"

Law crouched, froggy style, at the man's feet. "It's a bit early to be that drunk."

"Can't be sober." He hiccupped. "Not when I c'n hear it all. Ever hear of the Tele-tele fruit? No? I'm a telepathic man!" He giggled. "Good for girls, usually. Bad. Bad bad today."

The captain waited for an explanation. The man was very open, and too drunk to be a threat. Besides, a telepath would be an annoying opponent if he had any fighting abilities.

"River. Name's River." He waved hello again, with his feet as well as his hand. "I'm a trader, not a fighter. Saved myself up twenty billion bery. All wasted." he slumped, setting the bottle down. It clinked against two empty ones. "Three years, I been saving for. Wasted, yeah? All 'cause she couldn't wait a couple more months."

Law watched him through narrowed eyes. He didn't need to be a telepath to know who River was talking about. But what was the twenty billion berry for?

"I was gonna do it last night. Buy out her debt to Mama, yeah? But the screaming!" he clutched his head. Tears fell unchecked onto his suit. "So much screaming. Got into my dreams. I loved her," he sobbed, "Always thought I could make her fall for me. Always nice to her, paid extra for her, always tipped!" He giggled. "Don't like it? Don't like knowing?" River leaned forward, surprisingly flexible. He rested his chin on his hands, elbows between his splayed knees. "Worked here for three years, she had. The funny guy with things always stickin' to his face brought her here. Vergo, you say?"

The captain didn't really like the ease in which this River fellow ate into his thoughts.

"Yeah, sounds right. Told her to get all trained up. She told him straight the first time. 'I'm not killing for you. I won't kill for anyone.' But i've seen it. She kills for you, huh?"

Law nodded. It seemed to be all the encouragement River needed.

"Yeah. She told him she wasn't gonna. Vergo said she would. If she wanted to have something important like a family, she had to trade something the family wanted." He giggled, taking another sloshing drink. "She said she didn't wanna. She wasn't going to punish someone for wanting to be free."