Welcome to Gaia! ::

Stroking his chin, he stares at it a minute. He's not really sure what to look for since he'd never really dealt with chartography before. Laughing sheepishly, he shrugs. "I'm just sure anything you lay your hands on is nearly as perfect as you are."

Leaning back on his elbows as she leans over him, he flushes a little himself. "Oh come on, you're the best navigator in the world. Why else would Arlong go through all that trouble to try and hold onto you...?" Reaching up, he gives the end of her hair a playful tug and smiles. "I'm glad he couldn't...you belong here with me....with all of us. There's no crew without you."

"I can't imagine any of them being very loyal to him anyhow...who wants to follow an idiot who keeps you around by force?" Arlong raised a heckle in him from the way he'd treated her. He couldn't really make himself imagine the years she spent chained to the tyrant's side; but it angered him nonetheless. Pushing it aside, he sits up and pulls her to him. "You know for a fact we'd be food for whatever else lives in the grand line by now...but I highly doubt you're just here for me." He grins and looks at her. "I think I recall you wishing for a chart of the world and all the finery and riches that heart of yours could desire, right?"

Laughing, he pats her on the head. "All that glitters isn't gold, my dear. But then, I can't deny you that if that's what you really want. I'm sure we'll find something priceless that we'd have to pry from your cold, dead body if we were inclined to take it." Shifting around on the bed he fingers the bedspread under him absently. "Not that I'd wish for anything like that...that's sort of a thought I'd like to avoid."

"Well of course there are some things! They say money can't buy you happiness...but it sure as hell can't buy you love. Without that I doubt life would even be half as much fun." He sorta wanted a cigarette, if only for something to hold in his hands. He was okay flirting and being ostentatious; but being quiet and sincere brought a little bit of nervousness in him. He wondered just how far he ought to go with the topic before reflexively moving an arm around her shoulders while they sit.


"Not going to work on the charts?" he asks to try and buy him a minute or two to line his thoughts up.

Laughing at himself and his nerves, he exhales loudly and looks at her. "You'd think I'd be some sort of wolf in the sheep's fold now that we're alone like this? Guess I let the gentleman get the best of me..." Leaning so his head rests against hers, he thinks a moment. "What would you like to do next time we come to port? I'll take you anywhere you want. Just name it."

Laughing, he prods her arm. "You'd be willing to risk gambling your treasure away? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."