Late afternoon, 8/17

[strangeandunusual]

[the mirror turns on to show Lydia, sprawled out on a bunk bed, holding her mirror up above her at arm's length, because how do you do selfies?]

Hi, everyone. We've found Dreamfinder, he's tired, but he's safe with us. How is everyone else holding up? Are you okay?

Comments

[ace_of_hearts]

[A shrug, and he thinks carefully. Lydia was either at least Mal's closest friend, or perhaps "only" friend here. So it was definitely important she know. But he wants to protect Mal's ego too. She's already hurting plenty, no need to add to it.]

My little brother Luffy, he never knew when to call it a night. He always wanted to prove himself, that he could keep up with me, surpass me, be the best in the whole world, so he'd keep pushing beyond what was healthy. He's always hardest on himself too. He could be a real crybaby sometimes, and he hated being alone, but he was stubborn and if people didn't want to do what he wanted, he'd take off and do it anyway so everyone was forced to rescue him.

[Lydia's basically the smartest person he knows here, so he's hoping she can puzzle out from all that how it applies to Mal, and the significance, seeing as Ace died to protect Luffy, so he does love him more than his own life, obviously.]

She's putting a lot of pressure on herself. [Roles. Good. Evil. Magic. To be a leader. Princes. Class.] And magic has some weird side effects, right?

Private to Ace

[strangeandunusual]

[given what she knows about the Isle, and Auradon, Ben and Maleficent, and the incident with Crowley.... yeah. it doesn't take much to guess. she's got something in her head that she thinks she Needs To Do and it's too much. and because she can't, for whatever reason, it's hurting her. she's very, very glad that Mal didn't go with Rose, or Aziraphale, or that new girl, the one that swears so much]

It depends on how much she's using it.

[she can play this double speak game too, even as she changes the mirror settings to filter privately]

As for your brother... I know not everyone probably said it, but I bet they were glad you looked after him. He's important, already, just the way he is, even if he doesn't think so. ... Did your crew ever figure out a way to show him that? I think .... something like that could go a long way.

Also. There's a setting [insert simple enough for Ace instructions here]... That way I'm the only one who hears you. It was in the book they gave us.

Private

[ace_of_hearts]

Thanks. I forgot to read it. [Forgot, didn't care to.] And it's kind of habit. You can't say anything on den den mushi you don't expect the marines to pick up and hear and use against you.

Luffy and I weren't in the same crew! I set out three years ahead of him as a pirate captain with the goal of taking Whitebeard's head. It was the one thing the former pirate King never could do. But Pops and his sons are as stubborn as Luffy! They didn't give up on me! They kept asking me to join, even when I was trying to kill their captain! Crazy, huh? Eventually they wore me down, [Gestures to the tattoo on his back.] and even though I joined under crazy circumstances, Pops asked me to be a division commander and everything. He put a lot of trust and faith in me. But they didn't meet Luffy until my execution. Luffy didn't have his crew with him then. But I've met them. They're really strong and reliable. Which is good, because Luffy is a handful. Seriously.

Michael told Mal she's enough for us. And I want us all to have a purple dragon party. Think you can help me get the other people in on it? You can tell them it's for Figment if they really don't like Mal as much as she thinks, but I told her, she's a purple dragon too. It's a party for her too.

Luffy's like that too. The only way to get him to come back from a hunt or take a bath or anything is to make it a party. His crew know that trick. They throw parties over anything and everything.

/to end!

[strangeandunusual]

[that's a lot of really complicated and weird stuff, but thankfully Ace has told her enough about his world that she gets the gist of it. though the thought of having a bath party makes her think of the Romans, and that's both really funny and a little embarrassing]

If they had bath parties, they must not have had any girls in the crew.

[ace_of_hearts]

No, they did! Nami and Robin, and he'll probably find a few more. But I'm sure they just stayed in the women's side. Bath parties were more common when it was just the three of us, me, Lu, and Sabo, and I'd like to think Lu grew out of it, but... [Laughs!] I'm sure he hasn't. Usopp and Chopper would probably go in for the bath parties. Zoro too. Sanji might just be glad they're not being so filthy. Sanji's the chef, and Zoro's the swordsman, so Zoro get dirty quickest and Sanji's got the most reason to stay clean.

[strangeandunusual]

... You guys all have such neat names. Where I come from, a chopper is another name for a motorcycle.

[ace_of_hearts]

His full name is Tony Tony Chopper! I think he was named that because he can chop down trees with his antlers. He's a reindeer.

I know there's a marine with a smoke motorcycle, like how my skiff is powered by fire, but I don't know what he calls it. My skiff is the Striker.

[strangeandunusual]

A reindeer! Huh.

[and she thought Fenton was odd.]

So do we want the purple dragon party to he a surprise? Or no?

[ace_of_hearts]

Nah! I already told her she has to come or we can't have it without her.

[strangeandunusual]

That's one way to tell her it's in her honor. ... Okay. I'll see if Sylvando wants to help, he likes parties. And we can ask the bakery to make a purple dragon cake!

[ace_of_hearts]

Yes!

Ohhhhh gods awesome, make two. I want one all for myself. I'll pretend it's a real dragon and eat it in one gulp.

[strangeandunusual]

[she giggles. ACE. WHY.]

They make practice cakes sometimes, for taste testing. If I have them do that, you can have that one!

[ace_of_hearts]

Yay!!!

Oh and uh, peanutbutter candy. Mal likes candy and her friend Jay was a big fan of them in whatever a limo is.

[strangeandunusual]

Everyone likes candy, that's easy. But thanks for letting me know about the peanut butter! And a limo is a big, fancy car that's usually only for rich people. I've been in one a couple of times. They're not as big a deal as everyone thinks they are. It's just a really long car with room to stretch your legs out.