The man who enters is chipper to the degree that it is unnerving. His eyes are ever closed and his smile gives him the impression of a fox, untrustworthy at every angle. Mathis is a hardened man, a pirate of the Grand Line for five years before his retirement to South Blue, and he can smell the danger on the man who just walked into his establishment.
"Hello, sir. Could I trouble you for just a moment?" the man says, and it is only now that Mathis notices the slouched woman trailing behind him. It is a wonder he missed her at first, to be honest, and put Mathis even more on edge. The woman has to be six feet tall at a minimum, he'd wager she's even taller than that just by judging how tall she stands while slouched. Her hair is shoulder length black locks that fall in a curtain around her pretty face. She's glaring at the world with scarlet eyes, framed by the darks circles of sleep-deprivation. She sits at the bar and promptly lays her head down, looking up at her male companion and Mathis himself.
Mathis gives the two his most intimidating face, though he is sure it has no effect on them, before he says, "Depends on what you're troubling me for."
"Well, nothing much. We're looking for any strong pirates. Have you heard of any in the area?" the man asks, his tone sounding odd and strained, like it was difficult for him to keep up a pleasant tone. Mathis scowls at the two. This island was well known for its discretion, in particular when it came to pirates. It was a veritable safe haven and Mathis was not one to snitch out the younger generation.
"Are you two bounty hunters?" Mathis asks, not even bothering to keep the disdain out of his voice. The woman's red eyes are on him now and it is a battle to keep himself from cringing under the gaze. The man with closed eyes laughs, a hollow sound and after another moment of scrutiny under her red eyes, she breaks away from the impromptu staring contest to sigh like a petulant teenager. She drags her head off of the table like it is the most strenuous task ever put upon her body, glaring at him with her red eyes.
"This is a waste of time, Jones. Get what you want and let's get back to the ship. I want to head out by sunset," the woman growls in a voice that conveys nothing but exhaustion. The man makes a face that Mathis assumes is meant to be sheepish, though like most of the man's actions, it feels mechanical.
"Of course, captain. What a shame. I really thought this would be a good place to recruit, too," the man said, his smile dropping into a soft pout. The woman, a captain apparently, is already walking for the exit and the only indication she heard her subordinate's response is the slight wave of her hand. The man turns back to Mathis and bows, another fake smile on his face as he says, "We're very sorry for taking up your time, sir."
Mathis eyes the pair until they leave his bar and when the door closes behind them, he lets out a breath he hadn't know he'd been holding. It is a relief when they are gone.
-:-
Outside of the bar, the pair walk down the street to the docks. No one notices the brief shimmer in the air around the man before he says, "I apologize, captain. I wasn't expecting the man to be quite so observant."
The captain shrugs, her red eyes still on the path as she asks Jones, "Did you at least get the damn thing? If we have to buy another one, you're paying for it." In response, Jones pulls out the Log Pose, a triumphant smile on his face. His captain flicks her eyes to it and nods before becoming dead to the world again. The two walk to the docks together in silence before Jones is shifting his attention to her subtly. Not subtle enough for his captain not to notice however, as she groans longsufferingly and turns tired eyes to him.
"What is is, Jones? You've been looking at me like that all day. It's starting to bug me, so spit it out before I get it to make you tell me."
Jones shivers a bit at the empty threat, as he is one of the few on the crew to have suffered their captain's powers. He can still remember when he had first met captain Nea and he had been foolish enough to think that he could defeat her. The utter weakness he'd had because of her strange black flames still lingers whenever her looks at her, the fear he had felt when she had engulfed him in those flames and looked down upon him with nothing more than cold annoyance. It reminds him that while the threat may be empty now, it hadn't always been, and such threats still have a way of turning his blood icy.
"Captain, you have been acting odd since our encounter with Eustass-san. I… wished to know why," Jones said, swallowing a lump in his throat at the sour look she gains at the mention of the other pirate captain. Quickly, he adds, "If it isn't prying too much, of course."
She waves her hand in dismissal, her eyes glazing over in that way Jones rarely sees anymore and he knows he has struck a nerve he shouldn't have. Still, his captain answers him.
"He reminds me of an idiot I knew. An idiot that couldn't keep his mouth shut and was always looking for a fight," she says. There is a soft smile on her face for the briefest of moments, but it is soon replaced by the sour expression from before. "He got himself killed, eventually."
Jones doesn't know what to say, so he just nods and stays silent. He is met with a breathy chuckle from his captain as her hand leaves her coat pockets to smack him upside the head. She smirks at him a bit, and he can't help but see how every part of her expression tells the story of exhaustion. Her eyes are sad and bitter, but her smile is genuine.
"You know it isn't a crime to ask me questions, right? I won't bite you and if I don't want to answer, I won't."
Jones smiles at his captain and nods, his breath coming to him a bit easier than it had before. Softly he says, "Of course captain Nea."
She nods and the silence that falls between them is comfortable all the way back to their ship.
Hey, people. This is pretty much me dumping my character from my original story into One Piece. This is going to be a way of figuring out how other people would view her, as my original story is written from her perspective. As a result, I will take requests if anyone actually likes this and wants me to write what a certain canon character thinks of her or if anyone would like to know what her impact on the One Piece world would be. Before I get any hate mail for later chapters I write, she is overpowered. Very, very overpowered. If you see fit, fav, follow or review. I love all reviews, even flames as long as they stay constructive.
~Lizard-senpai
