He woke to the gentle sway of the carriage and the familiar rhythmic clack of the train over its tracks. His headache and nausea had lifted enough to clear some of his mind fog, allowing him to spend the rest of the journey watching the waves, deep in his thoughts.
He decided to talk with Lulu and Tilestone. They'd be implicated too if Paulie wasn't able to make good with the money, and there was chance one of them might have an idea how to get it or a miraculous stash of savings tucked away. He was at a loss himself other than applying for a loan, but he owed so many brokers berries here and there that his reputation preceded him. He only hoped they wouldn't have to resort to underhanded means. At least if they didn't dig themselves into a deeper hole he could still claim some moral high ground if things went to trial.
The Puffing Tom ploughed passed the rocky outcrops of the island and they looked worse for wear than he remembered. Iceburg was clearly right to be worried. His eyes were drawn to new posts spread out across the rocks, probably newly erected as shore markers for incoming ships. But when they began to move, he realised they were actually a group of men in tall hats and strange robes. He made an urgent note to find out who they were and what they were doing there.
"The Sea Train will be arriving at Water Seven in approximately five minutes," the intercom announced. "All passengers exiting at this stop please be ready to depart."
He took a deep breath.
He had his own key now for the headquarters, but it still felt rude to let himself in unannounced. He rang the front bell and it was answered by Iceburg's house keeper who let him in and ushered him to the dining room where Iceburg and Tilestone were having breakfast.
Iceburg's eyes met his and without warning his heart skipped a beat. He tried to put it down to nerves that somehow Iceburg might sense he'd spent the night talking about him with Kokoro. But maybe after having talked his feelings through, they had drifted even closer to the surface.
"Good morning Paulie," Iceburg called, and he stood to pull a chair at the table for him. "I didn't know you would be here so early. Care to join us?"
"Morning," he managed, though he almost didn't hear himself over the sound of his pulse in his ears.
"The food's great," Tilestone bellowed, his mouth full of the last of his breakfast.
Paulie wandered over and sat with them in a daze and allowed the pair to fuss over fetching him a plate and pouring coffee for him in a spare mug.
He let them continue with a conversation they'd presumably been having before he came in. His eyes flitted occasionally to Iceburg, over to Tilestone and quickly back again.
"Are you alright Paulie?" Iceburg asked, and at his name Paulie finally tuned in. "You seem quiet this morning."
"Oh," Paulie replied. He cleared his throat. It felt very dry, only getting worse when he realised Iceburg was looking at him with concern.
"Bit of a hangover, but I'll be fine."
He was glad right then to have the excuse. Between everything he had to keep from Iceburg and what he had to tell Tilestone, his thoughts were a tangled mess.
"Ah, I assume you probably were out last night celebrating your promotion," Iceburg said.
"Haha, wild night?" Tilestone asked.
"I was just at the bar for a bit," Paulie replied.
He found a milk jug and added a splash to his coffee along with a few sugar cubes. He took a nervous sip but it was sickly sweet and threatened to raise the nausea that he'd hoped had passed already.
"Drank a bit more than I should have though," he confessed sheepishly.
"Well, we all do sometimes don't we?" Iceburg said.
He passed a knowing look towards Paulie that Paulie almost missed for everything else going on in his head.
"Uh, on that subject," he started hesitantly. "Have you been sleeping any better lately?"
"I feel a lot safer at night now that Tilestone's staying at headquarters," Iceburg replied.
"That's good to know," Tilestone chipped in. "I was starting to worry I was just being a burden on you."
"Not at all. It's comforting to know there's someone else here," Iceburg said, casually stirring a spoon in his teacup. "Just in case."
Iceburg's expression gradually turned.
"And it's nice having company around the place. Since the Straw Hats left, it's been very quiet. I almost wonder whether I should open the headquarters up as a guesthouse to make the place feel a bit less lonely," Iceburg laughed a little, but it seemed quite forced. "A bit sad isn't it?"
"No one likes to feel alone, right?" Tilestone replied.
"If you're ever in need of a place too, Paulie, there's plenty of spare rooms," Iceburg added in. "And you can both let Lulu know too that the door is always open."
"Thanks, I guess," Paulie blushed.
Iceburg might have brushed it off, but it seemed he still hadn't quite relaxed yet, and if he got the chance, Paulie would talk more once Tilestone was out of earshot. Kokoro had seemed to think a chance to talk things over between the two of them would be a good idea too, and she seemed to know Iceburg better than anyone.
He took a slice of bread, and dished some butter onto it.
"I've been thinking about getting some more pets for the place," Iceburg said, moving the conversation lightly forward in a way that Paulie was starting to grow used to. "Perhaps a couple of dogs might do well as guards. What do you think?"
"Tyrannosaurus will get jealous," Paulie said.
Iceburg chuckled, and Paulie was glad to hear that this time it didn't sound forced.
"Well, maybe," he said.
They started off on a conversation that Paulie didn't really keep up with. It seemed Tilestone knew a fair bit about breeds and talked at length about what dogs were best for what tasks and how to train them. Iceburg seemed enthusiastic though, and with his spirits lifted again, he chatted away as Paulie half tuned out again.
He took a bite and sat in watch.
"Lulu knows a breeder. If you're interested you should talk to him," Tilestone recommended.
"Maybe I will," Iceburg replied. "Thanks for your advice."
"Anytime Mr Iceburg," Tilestone said. He got up from his chair, almost knocking it across the room in the process. As ever, Tilestone did nothing in half measures. "Thanks for the breakfast as ever."
"Thanks for your company," Iceburg answered.
Once Tilestone had said his goodbyes and left, Paulie snatched his moment before he could start to overthink it.
"I've been putting this off for some time now," he said apprehensively. "I feel like we need to talk about that night."
Iceburg's expression hardly changed, though he shifted in his chair. The mood changed very quickly in the room.
"That sounded more serious than I meant it to," Paulie said, trying to ease the tension. "What I meant was, maybe it would be helpful to talk about it?"
Iceburg didn't respond. Paulie jumped to fill the awkward silence.
"I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm still kind of shaken by it all."
"Hm, where would you even start?"
It sounded dismissive, and Paulie was convinced he didn't want to discuss it further so he let it go.
He took a sip of his coffee, forgetting its bad taste. He grimaced at the reminder.
To his surprise though, after a pause, Iceburg began to talk.
"I honestly feel I owe my life to you Paulie," he said.
Paulie's breath caught. He sat for a moment, stunned at the candidness.
"Not to me," he dismissed.
He glanced away.
"What did I even manage to do in the end? It's the Straw Hats both of us owe our lives to."
"Maybe," Iceburg began. "But you still did everything I asked of you and more."
"Of course I did," he said stubbornly. "I mean, what else would I do?"
He took a bite of his bread taking a long time to chew it over.
Iceburg reached out over the table to Paulie and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder.
"I keep thinking, if anything had happened to you, I don't know I would have been able to forgive myself," Iceburg said.
Paulie hesitated.
"I've… I've been feeling the same," he said, looking down into his coffee.
He trailed off, in part not sure how to continue, but partly due to something in him that still held him back from admitting to more than he was ready to. Everything still felt very new and very hard to know how to express with the kind of elegance he felt it deserved.
"If we'd have lost you, I honestly don't know where I'd be right now."
It was quiet and clumsy, but it was a start.
"I can't apologise enough that you had to get caught up in everything with me," Iceburg said.
"It's not your fault," Paulie mumbled.
He gave Paulie's shoulder a brief reassuring squeeze then let go.
"Anyway, did you mean it?" Paulie asked. "What you said a couple minutes ago? Are you actually sleeping better now? You're not still drinking at night are you?"
"Hmm well, so-so," Iceburg answered. "It's been a bit easier. It'll take time I guess."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No, you've done enough as it is."
"Look, let me help alright?" Paulie insisted gruffly. "It's not a big imposition if that's what you're worried about. I want to help because I care about you, so let me."
He frowned, and his face reddened some more.
"I won't sleep knowing you're not sleeping right, so if there's anything…"
Iceburg smiled at him across the table. It was a warm and gentle smile, his eyes creased at the ends in a way that showed his age just slightly.
"I did mean what I said, if you wanted to stay over in a guest room I'd certainly appreciate knowing there were a few more people about in case anything else was to happen. I think that would help ease my mind," Iceburg said. "Of course, I wouldn't want it to inconvenience you, but it would be just for a while if you wouldn't mind?"
"I suppose it would also make it a lot easier to get to work, wouldn't have to fight through the press and the public to get here," Paulie scowled. "It'd actually suit me well to stay here and fly under the radar until all the fuss calms down."
"That's perfect then," Iceburg replied. "I feel better knowing it would help you out too."
"There's a couple things I could do with picking up from home," he explained.
He couldn't leave those photographs at his apartment alone for days not knowing who might drop by and why. And he wanted to show them to Lulu and Tilestone too when he explained what was happening. It would probably help explain the urgency of the whole situation better than he could.
"We can stop by later. There's a few things we need to do today, so I might forget. Just remind me," Iceburg said. "Are you finished eating?"
"Yeah, more or less," Paulie said and shoved the last of his bread into his mouth.
"Shall we get going then? My tailor said to call his transponder when we're heading out and he'll make his way over too."
At Paulie's insistence they decided to take a company yagara over to the shopping district. It was much harder to stop or crowd someone on a yagara than it was on foot, and swinging the both of them through the streets on his ropes wasn't exactly an option he was willing to put to Iceburg despite how well it might avoid the rest of the city. Paulie took the reins and urged the yagara on as fast as it dared go, though when he glanced at him over his shoulder, he saw Iceburg cling stiffly to his seat behind him.
"While I still remember to say," Paulie mentioned suddenly. "There's some strange men out on the outskirts of the island. I don't know who they are. I don't think I trust them."
"Strange men?" Iceburg asked.
Paulie veered their yagara round a sharp turn, and wasn't entirely sure whether Iceburg's nerves were directed at the question or his reckless driving. Perhaps both. He slowed the yagara down a little.
"Yeah. Tall guys with tall hats. By the looks of them, they might be from Long Ring Long Land if I was to guess. Know anything about them?"
"Oh, I think you must mean the Weatherians," Iceburg replied, and Paulie saw him relax his grip on the carriage a little.
Tyrannosaurus poked his head out from Iceburg's breast pocket and gave a little squeak. Of course he'd taken him along…
They climbed up to a high canal, and when they reached the top, Paulie could see the battered shoreline at the outskirts from their vantage point. The yagara seemed keen to pick the pace back up, but Paulie calmed her back down with a gentle pat. They rode the straight leisurely, giving Iceburg a better chance to talk.
"They're climate scientists" Iceburg explained. "They arrived a couple of days ago now. They're doing a little bit of research around the island. As it turns out, they must have been tracking the storm. I can't say I fully understand everything they told me to be honest, but from what I gather they seem interested in assessing the scale of the damage from the Aqua Laguna among other things. They came to ask permission to stay and study for a while and agreed to share their findings too."
"That could be helpful then actually," Paulie replied.
"Well, that's what I thought. If there's anything in their research that might be of use to the city or my projects then I see no reason to refuse them. I've offered them rooms at the headquarters too, so things might be a little busy around the place."
"It'd be nice if they had some sort of advice on what to do about it," Paulie wondered. "I'm starting to see why you've been so caught up in thinking about all this. I mean, of course I saw the storm, how bad it was, but something about it didn't quite sink in yet. The way she's escalating like this, it's worrying. It's hard to know how many more years of this the city could take."
He looked around at the high tops of the city around them. On a day this fresh and clear everything looked deceptively rooted and sturdy and permanent.
"Mm yes," Iceburg agreed, sounding grim.
Paulie turned back to look at him, and Iceburg ran his hand along a scuff of damage on the carriage.
"I feel like I was lulled into a false sense of security. These past few years, I've been thinking Water Seven was out in the clear just because business was thriving. We could afford to keep building her up to avoid sinking, but what do you do when the sea turns and starts growing this aggressive?"
Paulie looked back out to the outskirts.
"I wonder whether it'd be good to strengthen defences at the shoreline," he offered.
"I thought that could be a good idea too. It'll do for a temporary solution until I can work out my plans for floating the city."
Iceburg paused. He frowned.
"If I can work it out that is."
"If anyone can, then I'm pretty sure it's you," Paulie said, and he meant it.
"Well, I'm not too sure about that."
"Hey, have a bit more confidence in yourself would you?" he said and turned back to pat Iceburg's shoulder. "You're the best person for the job, and you're going to work it out, alright? I have faith in you. And if there's anything I can do too, I'll help as much as I can."
Iceburg placed his hand lightly over Paulie's.
"Thanks for your faith," Iceburg smiled. "I'll try not to disappoint you."
Paulie let his hand linger a little longer.
Their yagara reached the slope and Paulie had to rein her in from racing down it at full throttle.
"What do you think? Are you happy with it?" Iceburg asked from behind the fitting room.
"Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's the best one I've tried on so far," he managed and pushed open the door.
He felt incredibly self-conscious being shoved into suit upon suit and having to parade them in front of Iceburg and his tailor. He was keen to just get the whole thing over with and get on to the next task on Iceburg's agenda. Although he couldn't remember what Iceburg had mentioned it was, or if he even had.
"The blue is much better on you," the tailor remarked, and Iceburg nodded in agreement.
"No need to do your tie so tightly though," Iceburg said. "Here, let me fix it for you."
Iceburg reached out and gently lifted up his shirt collar, undoing the knot and straightening back out the creases of yellow silk. Paulie glanced at Iceburg, his lids dropped and eyes trained on the necktie as he neatly fixed it for him, a soft and careful expression on his face that made Paulie feel a little weak at the knees.
"There," Iceburg said, raising the knot and letting it rest just below his top button.
"Um, thanks," Paulie blushed.
Iceburg brushed a hand down Paulie's sleeve to smooth out a wrinkle.
"I'll make a couple of adjustments here," the tailor added in, appearing at Paulie's side making him jump. For a moment he'd completely forgotten there was anyone else in the room.
He was handsy in a way Paulie didn't really approve of. He pulled at the suit, sticking it with pins in various places, making notes for himself on his pad.
"I can get this work finished by tomorrow, so if you want to call by it'll be ready for you," he explained.
Paulie could swear the tailor gave him a knowing look and he begged him to keep everything to himself.
Paulie sat in the reception room while Iceburg talked with his lawyer. He eyed the clock and it hadn't moved much at all since he'd last looked at it. He didn't want to admit to getting impatient, but he was starting to feel nicotine cravings and the large no smoking signs hanging all around the room in his peripheral view were a kick in the teeth.
Finally the door opened and Iceburg stuck his head out.
"Sorry you've been waiting so long," he said, and beckoned Paulie over. "It took a bit longer than expected."
Paulie got up and followed him in.
"There's a couple of things that I need you to sign Paulie, if that's alright," he explained. "My witness statement firstly about the fire at headquarters."
Iceburg handed him a pen.
"Hello Mr Paulie," his lawyer called politely from behind the desk.
"If you can give it a quick read and sign to say you attest to my account as a second eye witness," Iceburg said.
"Sure, of course." Paulie leant over the desk, leafing through the papers and reading them through a couple of times just to be sure he was happy enough. He scribbled his signature on the bottom.
The lawyer slid another piece of paper his way.
"And would you be willing to sign these papers here to say you've accepted to be the company beneficiary?" he asked.
"Company beneficiary?"
"That means you'll own the company too of course when you take it over," Iceburg said casually. "We've been going over my will this afternoon as well. Annoying, but I suppose it needs to be done. It's important to have everything in writing."
"Wait? Are you sure about this?" Paulie asked.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Do you really want to leave everything to me of all people? I mean, you know me. You know how I am with money."
"Well, I picked you, didn't I?" Iceburg laughed and it sounded a little nervous. Paulie forgave him. He'd be nervous too about leaving that much to someone with as much debt as he had.
"And it's not quite everything. I'm leaving some money to a few close friends, and to public services and local projects in the city. But the rest, the company itself and the company's main physical assets, the shipyards, headquarters, stock and equipment and so on, are to go to you as the successor."
"This is a pretty big deal," he said, floored.
He was in the mess he was currently because he was struggling to scrape together Deano's cash. The irony now was that he had the company and all it was worth dangling in front of him like a carrot on a stick, just out of reach.
"Don't worry," Iceburg said, laughing again. "I don't plan on dying just yet."
"If you want to take some time to think it over, you don't have to sign it here and now," the lawyer explained.
"What if there was…" Paulie swallowed. "Some reason I couldn't be the successor? Worst case scenario, say I'm, uh, arrested or I die or something?"
He felt Iceburg side-eye him. He was pretty intuitive when it came down to it, and he hoped Iceburg wouldn't read into it too much.
"If there was legal reason, we'd void the document and write up a new one," the lawyer stated.
"Is there something you're not telling me Paulie?" Iceburg asked.
Paulie's face felt hot.
"There's two separate documents," the lawyer explained.
He breathed a sigh of relief that the man was keeping things moving and he let Iceburg go unanswered.
"Mr Iceburg's official will and testament leaves the Galley La Company to the company successor. It doesn't mention the successor by name. This separate document here declares you as the current named successor to the company. If that changes and he has to choose someone else for any reason, a new contract can be sorted out easily enough."
"Maybe I'll sign it now and get it over with," he said and scribbled his name before Iceburg could grow any more suspicious.
"And if you would counter sign to say you are in agreement with and witness to this appointment then Mr Iceburg," the lawyer explained.
Iceburg bent down to Paulie's eye level to sign. He looked at Paulie tensely and Paulie wasn't able to hold his gaze.
As they walked from the building, Iceburg didn't leave long before he brought it back up.
"I don't mean to push," he started. He placed a hand on Paulie's back. "Of course, it's fully up to you if you want to or not, but I'm quite sure there's something you're not telling me."
"Yeah, maybe," Paulie said dismissively. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with though. I've got everything under control."
He stared down at his boots as they walked. He'd never felt in less control of his life, but Iceburg wasn't going to know.
"Did something happen?"
"Can we just let it drop, ok?" he added nervously. "I mean, I appreciate your concern, but I don't really want to talk about it."
"Well, you know I'm here for you," Iceburg assured him.
Paulie reddened. It was really starting to wear on him that he spent so much of his time around Iceburg now with his face the same brick red as the rooftops of the city.
They turned a corner to find a large crowd gathered. They grew noisy and excitable.
"Mr Iceburg, Mr Paulie!"
He quickly broke away from Iceburg's touch, but it felt a little too late. He already heard some comments pass.
"Jesus, here we go," Paulie growled. "Someone must've tipped people off that we were in the area."
"Well, if you don't feel like talking to them, we could run for it?" Iceburg suggested.
Paulie nodded.
Iceburg smiled and waved to the crowd. "Sorry but we're not available today."
He grabbed Paulie's hand pulling him close and they turned on their heels, chased by questions and eager camera flashes.
When the coast seemed clear, Iceburg dragged him into a shaded side street.
Iceburg sat himself down on the cobbles, propping himself against the brick wall, breathing deeply.
"Are you alright?" Paulie asked coming to his side.
"A little out of breath, but fine. Don't worry."
He leaned up against the brick wall beside Iceburg and drew a cigar from his jacket.
He glanced down at his hand. Iceburg's grip had been strong and warm.
"No doubt the people will be talking now," Paulie worried. "Back at that interview too, the press were looking to spin a story about us."
"They would talk anyway," Iceburg frowned.
"Maybe, but there was no need to go pouring fuel on the fire," he said. "Taking my hand like that."
Iceburg looked at up him. It was a complicated look, a mix of emotions blended through it that were hard to piece apart and fully make sense of.
"Do I embarrass you?" he asked.
Paulie wasn't sure how to interpret it.
Paulie sighed deeply and he felt his chest tighten. "You really have no idea how I feel do you?"
Iceburg fished his mouse from his blazer and held him a while before Tyrannosaurus turned to scamper back up to perch on his shoulder.
"Did you know that for the longest time the press were spinning a story about me and Kalifa?" Iceburg started.
Paulie wasn't really surprised to hear it. The press had jumped on the both of them quickly enough, and back then, there was the occasional rumour going round one of the docks or another, but he made no comment.
"It didn't reach the big newspapers, just the local tabloids," he explained. "They followed us to every single event we attended, and after every event there would always be something in those papers, whether that was some blurred photograph or something whispered that had passed round the room exaggerating out of all proportion."
Iceburg fetched Tyrannosaurus a couple of seeds which he ate noisily.
"We hated it, of course. For the longest time, we tried our best to avoid reporters or photographers. When that only made things worse, we tried our best to deny it. That didn't work either. No matter what, rumours appeared and rumours spread and all that worrying about them did was to make both of us feel paranoid. In the end, we just had to decide not to let it bother us. In a way, we made a game of it, trying to see what they'd pick up on. Well, in the end, it was the only way to deal with it and not go mad."
Paulie took a drag of his cigar.
"Iceburg, can we talk seriously for a minute?" he asked.
"Hm." Iceburg noded.
Paulie stopped to try to choose his words.
"I've got no problems with what they want to say about us," he explained. "But if the press do go spreading about that we were lovers or something..."
Paulie blushed fiercely.
"What exactly would that mean for Galley La? I mean, I don't think the World Government would cancel our contract with them over something so trivial, but presumably it'd be a pretty big scandal though, wouldn't it?"
Iceburg was very quiet. He passed Tyrannosaurus another couple of seeds one by one. If it wasn't for the mouse's rapid munching, Paulie might have sworn that time had stopped and stood around him completely still.
"Honestly, I don't really know," Iceburg admitted at last. "I suppose if something's just a rumour, it's just a rumour. If a rumour was true, then maybe that's another story."
Paulie hesitated.
"Maybe it would be better just to squash the rumours for now," he said.
"I think if that's what you would be happiest with then that's perfectly fine," Iceburg answered. "The next time they ask we'll set the records straight."
He scratched Tyrannosaurus under the chin.
"I've been thinking about this for some time though," he said. "I think I'd like to come out publicly. I've had to keep too much secret for too long, and I don't want to have to do that anymore. It's exhausting."
"If that's how you feel, then you have my support," Paulie replied. "It's bold, though."
"I would like to think that if I was to find love I wouldn't have to hide it from the world."
He looked down at Iceburg. He was starting to get a sense of what Kokoro meant when she'd said he was more vulnerable than he seemed.
"I feel like I've been getting to know you a lot better these couple of weeks," he said gently. "It's been hell to have to go through, but at least there's that."
Iceburg glanced up and Paulie held his gaze this time.
"My place isn't far from here," he said. "Feeling up to get going?"
"Yes, I'm alright now," Iceburg answered.
Paulie helped him up and they continued through the back streets on foot.
They reached his apartment building, and outside a scruffy blond man stood waiting, pressing repeatedly at a buzzer at the front doors muttering to himself.
He turned and cheered loudly as they climbed the steps and approached. "Paulie! Hey!"
"Dad?"
Paulie did a double take. As if he didn't have enough to deal with, his dad picked now of all times to show up. Perfect sense of dramatic timing.
"Said on the snail I'd be visiting soon didn't I?" he said casually."Hi Mr Iceburg."
Iceburg reached out for a handshake and Paulie's dad slapped it with his palm and whacked it again with the backhand.
"Hello Mr, uh, Paulie's father," Iceburg answered awkwardly.
"Danny," he grinned.
"Ugh, come on in then I guess," Paulie said with a cringe, and invited him in after them.