voice/action for the Penguin

[lazyjustice]

Maa, well... the wind seems to be dying down a bit.

[though it's still howling outside. He's been in the hold for the better part of three days because, among other things, his sleep mask kept blowing off. An ice shield on the deck was always an option, of course, but when it melted, Coby gave him long dramatic inward sighs and went to get the mop bucket.

So here he is, cross legged in the hold, playing cards, contemplating life and generally trying not to get a crick in his neck]

I hereby petition for a bigger ship. Though I'm not entirely sure which island would be the best choice for that.

[Flips over another card. Diamond. He can't help but think of Diamond Jozu -- Though he is not here. Twelfth Division Haruta, then. Haruta diamond, Portgas spade, Phoenix Marco the club and the hearts were for an entirely group of pirates all together so a high and low joker, then for the two relative uknowns. Fishman Namur. Fourth Divison nee Headhunter Thatch, rumored to have been assassinated by a former nakama but very much alive here. Though perhaps he was in the same boat with Portgas.]

Otherwise, who else would want to make peace with the Navy? [Club. Spade. Heart... he thought he'd shuffled all those out. To the side it goes. There was not a card for Marines of course. They were generally supposed to be the players]

Comments

[seakingbait]

Is it even possible to make peace with the Navy? They really want us gone.

[lazyjustice]

I can't say if it's possible or not. I'm wondering if any overtures have been made and how they've been received.

[not well, he imagines. Especially not after the Masquerade fiasco. Not that he suspects any form of understanding will be reached. After all, being from other worlds, no one here is bound to anything]

[seakingbait]

Not that I've heard of, but if someone could do something to get them off our backs, even for a little while, it would be great.

[lazyjustice]

That implies that you've done something that warrants checking up on.

[he doesn't doubt such a thing has occurred, really. Most of the people pulled here seem reckless in one form or another]

[voice]

[youshouldberunning]

You'd be more comfortable with a bigger ship, but would we have enough people to man it?

[voice]

[lazyjustice]

We can kidnap them.

[he's joking. Deadpan but joking. He doesn't know if he wants to get used to a life like this.]

[voice]

[youshouldberunning]

MMhmm. [she hums flatly, assuming he's joking.] Right. I'll get right on that when we make port. While we're there we can just sail off with a new boat too, I suppose. ,small>[He's talked to her enough by now to know she's being sarcastic too]

[voice]

[lazyjustice]

Full of cute women. [Smoker and Coby can row or something. As for Brady...well... he's Brady]

Voice;

[thetruehistorian]

I think you'd be surprised at how many people would like to make peace with the Navy. Unfortunately, they've done an excellent job giving people the impression that such an endeavor would be pointless.

Voice;

[lazyjustice]

I am aware.

[talking to the Straw Hats in this matter is not entirely what he wanted as it's pointless for what he's trying to do anyway]

I'm surprised someone hasn't declared war on it already. [he picks up the discarded hearts pile and absently flips one of the cards through his fingers]

But I suppose you've been behaving yourself, Nico Robin.

Voice;

[thetruehistorian]

I always have.

[Not that anyone ever noticed. They had a sacrificial lamb to leave for the wolves, after all. Even though the ones that left her were wolves themselves.]

I doubt you'll have to wait long, though. I won't deny, there are a few crews that seem to enjoy bathing themselves in crimson. Would you stand in their way, I wonder? Act as a buffer to show your good will to the Navy?

Voice;

[lazyjustice]

[he grunts at that.

If could read minds, he would have disagreed. There is very little these days about the woman that is sacrificial. Though, mostly this happened after she became tangled with Straw Hat, not that he knows many of them. She's a difficult woman to track at the best of times]

A thousand acts couldn't create good will. [the more he acted, the more they would see him as an eventual threat.

But he did intend to protect what and who he could. Justice may be beyond their reach, since it was somewhat of a travesty to mow people down, regardless of crimes, and call it justice. It was a much more subtle expression than most gave it credit for and True Justice was perhaps completely unattainable. Even so, if they were-- if he was strong enough to protect and risk his own life to do so, then he would without a doubt.

He is unsure how secure these journals are, however, or who may be listening so he doesn't say as much.]

And what of yourselves? Whose way will you stand in? Or do you prefer to sail carelessly?

Action;

[chore_boy]

Sir, perhaps you should try doing something else other than playing cards.

[He stood over him with said mop... Anticipating.]

Action;

[lazyjustice]

When is playing cards not playing cards.

[he's so used to seeing you with a mop at this point he doesn't even register that you have one]

Action;

[chore_boy]

I'm... [The question confused the ever-loving shit out of Coby.]

What?

Action;

[lazyjustice]

When is playing cards not playing cards?

[obviously his distress was due to having misheard the question]

[Voice]

[thewatchdogswife]

I think that when my fiancée acquired our ship someone commented that Isla Empieza was the best place to ensure a safe deal when buying a ship! Of course that doesn't mean there can't be other ports willing to get into those business with us, but given the circumstances and our positions I think Isla Empiza is the safest bet after all.

[Elizabeth's voice is cheerful and optimistic as always.]

[Voice]

[lazyjustice]

That island, unfortunately, seems to have a ceiling requirement. [it's a bit annoying] I sincerely doubt this is the only place in the world that sells them but mah, well, we'll find it or not...

[he may just have to make do]

Are you pirate, merchant or other?

[Voice]

[thewatchdogswife]

There's always the possibility of finding a shipwright that would expand your current ship, isn't there? It may take awhile, but the cost may be preferable as it would skip the ceiling requirement and you would be able to decide just how much bigger the ship should be. I think that Miss Margie from Blackwater Brig offers such services, though in her case it may be pretty expensive.

[It's the only other suggestion she can offer though it's something she herself has been considering. While they are still enough for their ship, if that manage to get more and more members a bigger ship would be required. The question makes her giggle a bit, or rather she forces one out, but she has enough practice for it to not be noticeable.]

The Queen's Gambit doesn't engage in piracy acts such as pillaging or pursuing conflict with the Navy or the locals. Instead, we sustain ourselves via commerce and trade, though obviously, that's within the black market... Would that make us still full pirates or just merchant-pirates?

[Voice]

[letthestormrageon]

Just for the sake of discussion and if it's not too much to ask about... What would be your idea of making peace with the Navy exactly?

[Voice]

[lazyjustice]

You first.

[Voice]

[letthestormrageon]

[Elsa raises an eyebrow at that, are they still children? Either that or he doesn't want to answer to her, which would be understandable for several reasons. However, that may not be the case, and even if it was, Elsa's not going to be the "childish" one here. He's after all free to close his journal at any moment he wants.]

While I've the feeling that given your answer you have no intention of engaging in an actual talk with me about this... Allow me to say that, while it would be preferable to be at peace with the Navy and the locals of this world, just as it would be preferable for us to have a minimal amount of impact here... I don't think that peace is an option in any possible scenario. Not the way things stand right now.

Leaving aside any piracy acts and fights that there may have happened, which already set a heavy weight against any possible good will, the very fact that we're currently in this world breaks the law. We're strangers, we lack identifications or birthplace, we lack the permissions to sail or even to live around. On top of that, many possess mysterious powers and no matter how used the locals of this world may be to magic and those things, chances are that our powers are strange enough to instill fear and uncertainty just by being there. They don't know us, no one but us can confirm if we're dangerous or not, there's no amount of words we could say that would make that threat disappear from their minds.

If all that wasn't enough, the person who has brought us here is Davy Jones, a feared pirate who may now be waltzing the line of godhood if his power is as great as it seems. Just by that the Navy already would see us as enemies since technically we sail for that man. And, of course, there's the fact that we're searching for a gem that may grant any wish and once more there would have no reason to trust our word about how we wouldn't use its power to destroy this world.

The only way I can see some sort of "peace" happening between Navy and some of us, would be if we offer ourselves as their weapons to fight the rest of us and that would be assuming they are willing to run the risks that said scenario would bring to them. Which, sincerely, I doubt they would be willing to. And even if they were, I can hardly call "peace" a situation in which we would be slaves with a weapon against our necks, ready to cut our throats the moment they feel threatened or that we aren't necessary.

[She speaks with a calm and collected voice, her tone is very objective and neutral even at the end.]

[voice]

[grizzly_tea]

If I might suggest an idea that may be rather unpopular? What if we were to merge with the friendship crew? They recently lost their captain and many of their officers, and I did at one point captain the crew as 'the shepherds'. If they agree to it, they already have a bigger ship from when there were more members, and likely have barely enough people left to sail it properly. They may even accept the idea since their ideals were not too far away from our own.

[voice]

[chore_boy]

Does anyone else know them, Miss Maribelle? I'm not familiar with many of the other crews.

[voice]

[grizzly_tea]

You may recall how I told you I used to captain a ship that you had said you would have joined if they still held by my ideals, correct? Well Mana and her friends had taken over my crew in my absence and since it was officially no longer affiliate with my ideals renamed their crew the friendship crew rather than the Shepherds. Mana and her friends however no longer captain the crew and their current captain is a man by the name of Jade if I recall correctly. My friend Henry is also one of their members, and as to their other members? I am unsure, but I shall be paying a visit shortly... perhaps in that time I can work out the arrangements for a merger if our crew finds the idea acceptable.