There was only the faintest of noises, like the flapping of a bird's wings.
It was way past midnight, but in Rainbase's casino it was always lit day for hungry, aimless souls. And these days, so many people were anxious to get away from their daily lives, and so the business kept rolling. Hope lingered in the air. Hope to go home a better man, because this time it would work out. The rattling of the machines filled the entire building. Yet, in Sir Crocodile's private quarters, the sound was reduced to a dull rumbling that only resonated deep down in the chest, like a heartbeat; a sick heartbeat that with each thump took your life away.
Nico Robin was absent, she oftentimes was. He did not know where she went, and neither did he care. She did her job, that was all that mattered to him. She wanted to hide from the government at all costs, and he provided her with that safety, and in return, she would not betray him. They had a deal, and there was no way she would ever come out of a betrayal alive, she knew that. There was nowhere for her to run.
He flicked off the ash on his cigar in an ashtray. "What do you want?" His deep, calm voice showed no particular emotion, other than maybe the faintest idea of annoyance. He had long stopped to express his feelings to the outside world. It was the only way to survive.
"Fufufu." The shadow by the window only slightly moved, and the silken sound of feathers tickled Crocodile's ear and made him tense. "Relax, this is my favourite casino after all. And I hope you don't expect a fellow Shichibukai to come through the main entrance."
"I'll be sure to lock the windows from here on out," Crocodile retorted. But he knew he wouldn't, because on the other hand, he liked not having a barrier between him and the vast desert that lay outside. He really had picked the right country to conquer. "And maybe have someone paint these little bird shapes on them so you don't head-on smack against them next time."
"Fufufufu! That is very considerate of you." Donquixote Doflamingo slid down from the windowseat he had been sitting on and rose to his full height. Crocodile only slightly raised one eyebrow, the man's size was a joke even to him. He looked down to the newspaper he had been reading before the flamboyant bird had invaded his privacy. He made no attempt to kick him out, though, he knew it was futile and for now he didn't mind.
"Make yourself at home, if you must," he said, placing the paper gently against the metal of his book and holding it straight with the right hand. The gold and gemstones on his fingers glinted in the faint light. Doflamingo chuckled and with this strange walk of his slowly paced through the room and over to the bar. Without reading the words he was looking at, Crocodile puffed his cigar while Doflamingo mixed himself a drink of outrageous colors. Crocodile didn't think he was going for any actual cocktail and just poured together whatever he thought looked good. What a classless imbecile, from head to toe. And that coat, ugh. Where did you even get clothes like that? Then again, he had been to Dressrosa and well, the name was a giveaway.
"I know you're no fan of liquids, but really. Croc, consider your daily intake."
Crocodile looked up from the paper to see a heavy crystal tumbler in front of his face, filled with golden liquor. No ice, but the swirls inside the whiskey hinted at a few drops of water. Ah, that fucking bird knew him too well.
Sir Crocodile found himself pleased against his will.
He put down the newspaper to take the glass from Doflamingo's hands. The ridiculous sunglasses the bird wore even at the dead of night concealed his eyes, but Crocodile had an idea of what he looked like at him. He'd learned not to rely on that uncanny smile that was always plastered over Doflamingo's face. He said nothing, though, and Doflamingo just chuckled and waltzed away from him.
"So!" In one giant movement, Doflamingo slumped himself down to the couch on the other side of Crocodile's armchair, his feet over the armrest, legs folded. "Tell me something here, Croc, because I just can't wrap my head around it. What's a big shot like you really doing in this bloody desert? You're attached to sand and I bet you're not mad keen about the open sea with your Suna Suna no Mi, but, Alabasta, really?"
"I told you last time and I'll tell you again, if you wish. The political situation in Alabasta has been unstable for years, I'm simply here to help these people. It's my job. Not all of us take their responsibility so easily." This time, Crocodile didn't even bother looking up from the newspaper, which he, he noticed again, still wasn't reading.
"Fufufu. Yeah, right." Doflamingo's smile grew even wider, eerily. "I'll have you know me and Mihawk were the only ones who showed up for the last meeting. Where were you, Mr Alabastan Hero?"
"I'm a busy man." Crocodile took a sip from his tumbler and, getting up, folded the paper and threw it dismissively onto the tea table next to him. "Speaking of which, you'll have to excuse me. I need to tend to my pets. It's their feeding time and they get very irritated if they go to sleep hungry."
"Ohh! The little bananawanis?" Doflamingo was up on his feet in the blink of an eye, stepping over the table between them as if it was nothing. He put an arm around Crocodile's shoulders. "I'll come, I've been wanting to see them ever since I heard you keep a few. These things are hard to get a hold of in the wild, and I'm so ifond/i of crocodiles these days." He felt Crocodile flinch and laughed heartily, especially since he said nothing but "Suit yourself" and proceeded to leave the room for the basement.
Crocodile wouldn't have admitted it in a thousand years, but he was initially miffed by Doflamingo's lack of fear and respect for the bananawanis. Most people would rather not see them up close, and reasonably so. Despite Crocodile's own tender feelings towards his pets, they were fierce animals that could not be tamed. iHe/i liked them, but ihe/i was Sir Crocodile, and other people were not supposed to be smiling like that maniac next to him when they were about to face a bunch of hungry predators.
"Now, now, Croc, don't look so down! Aren't you happy I try to partake in your daily acivities? Baby 5 told me recently it's what a real gentleman does." Doflamingo tugged at Crocodile's shoulders, making him stumble against him, and laughed when Crocodile angrily brushed his hands off with his hook. He ripped a feather or two off the pink coat when doing so, but neither of them cared or noticed.
"I'm pretty sure this particular charming young lady is the last person you should go to for relationship advice," Crocodile said, a snarl rolling in his throat. Doflamingo just laughed. They lied, they manipulated, they pillaged and they killed, but despite all this, Crocodile still considered himself of good manners, and when he met Baby 5 for the first time, it was no wonder she fell for him harder than a brick from a building. She would only leave his side when Doflamingo made her. Crocodile was actually shocked by her behaviour and, when Doflamingo pointed out that he had personally taken care of all her previous suitors, hardly looked surprised. "I'm a little jealous," Doflamingo had said, smile eery and without humour. "She is my little sister after all. But I guess our good taste just runs in the family."
But all he did now was laugh. "Relationship?" Doflamingo was going for a tight grip on Crocodile's shoulders again, but the man evaded him in one swift, sandy motion. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this kind of commitment."
Crocodile shot him a venomous look and just barely flicked his hands, and the next thing Doflamingo knew, his barely touched drink changed his gruesome gay colors to a muddy brown as the glass overflew with sand. There was also sand in Doflamingo's eyes, despite the sunglasses, tickling down his face and bare chest, and he rubbed his face and tugged at his clothes to get rid of the handful Crocodile had thrown at him. "That little ability of yours is a pest!" he growled after Crocodile, who kept on walking down to the basement as if nothing happened. He twitched a finger, but Crocodile didn't even flinch as he stepped, legs all sand for just the blink of an eye, through the thread.
"Oh? Can't say the same about you," he sneered, taking another sip from his glass.
"I have sand in my mouth!" Doflamingo continued to complain. "You ruined my drink!"
"Sorry, I can't do a thing about mud, you know." There was just the idea of a smug smile creeping across Crocodile's face, and Doflamingo seethed, but only for a second.
Because the next moment, for the first time today, Crocodile laughed. "Come on now, I really don't want to keep my boys waiting."
That laugh made the fine hair in Doflamingo's neck stand up, and all anger was forgotten.
The hunger grew.