Humble Beginnings on Jreum! Meetings and Farewells!

[Jade]

Bianca Stark, wearing her business best - a black suit that contrasted nicely against her long white hair and white tie - attracted a fair amount of attention as she made her way toward the island's Resort block. Despite the pain she was still in, the whispers and stares she attracted from the island's inhabitants turned the corners of her mouth up slightly, in the faintest hint of a smile, and put a certain spring in her step.

It had only been a week since she had taken down Food Court, and even fewer days since the young Stark woman had been on her feet - but what a busy few days they had been. Her grip on the black leather suitcase's handle in her right hand tightened with a certain pride; everything was finally coming together. Word had spread through Jreum quickly about the young woman who had stopped the attack on the island, and those who had laughed at her attempts to recruit them to her fledgling organization before now leapt at the opportunity to join the promising young woman.

It was a twenty minute walk from the Marine base to the building she had agreed to meet with that man at. Well, a twenty minute walk made... Bianca raised her arm, lifting the suitcase upward as well as she took a look at her elegant wristwatch, and then sighed. Her injuries were still holding her back - a twenty minute walk had been made into a twenty-six minute walk. She looked upward, at the sign of the bar she was about to enter, and then pushed the door in and entered.

Despite her lateness for their meeting, it seemed that the man she had come to meet was still here. Bianca walked toward the table of Marines he was playing cards with, her tiny grin from before widening into a soft smile. "Ah, good morning, Yan. Are you well?"

[Flame]

The calling of his name while he was in the middle of a solid game of poker was a bit strange. But the voice he recognized immediately, but the distraction from the game with some of his former marine mates was not only noticed by him. For his mates, a female voice calling the name of one of their own was one that turned the trio of heads who were at the table with the former-marine and current shipwright up and towards the entrance. The first response was a snigger, the second was the one across from him who was currently down about an eighth of his pay to Yan alone. "Your girlfriend Yan? She's pretty."

The tall man snorted in response to that. "Shut up and play the game Mark. She's way too young for me." He responded as he took a nice early morning swig of sake. Before turning his head around to see his current shipmate of Bianca. He'd nearly forgotten that they'd planned to meet, something that Bianca had wanted to talk to him about. As he turned to see the woman in a black suit looking extra formal he rolled his eyes. "Hello Bianca. I'm fine. How about you? Recovering properly?"

Over time he'd grown used to going through the usual formalities with the white-haired girl. Before him the three marines were peeking glances at her between looks at their cards. "So are you going to introduce us to your friend Stormblessed?" Josh who sat on his right gently ribbed Yan with his former nickname. He sighed a little annoyed with the childishness of these former shipmates of his.

Scratching his head he glanced at Bianca for a moment. "Bianca this troupe of troublemakers, are a few of Jreum's dumbest marines. Meet Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest, otherwise known at Seaman Josh Webs, Seaman Mark Woopz, and Sea- oops I mean Petty Officer Chris Oldman." He said pointing out each one of them as he went around the table. The trio stood up in momentary outrage before breaking into amused laughter alongside Yan who chuckled from deep within his throat.

"It looks like you've got something to talk about. How about you pull up a chair Bianca and once i'm done thrashing these guys for a nice cut of their pay we can go over what you've got." Yan said with a smile, he had nearly got what he wanted out of them. It'd only be another round or two from here.

[Jade]

Bianca's spirits were high enough that she was willing to overlook the comment about her being Yan's "girlfriend" - on reflection, it was most likely what Thomas would have called a "friendly joke", though it did strike a nerve of her's all the same. She instead turned her attention to Yan's response, tilting her head forward in a curt nod. "Indeed. Thanks to Dr. Leblanc's ministrations, I am recovering just fine. Thank you for asking."

As Yan introduced his friends, Bianca gave each of the Marines their own swift nods. "Bianca Stark, bounty huntress and President of the..." she said, introducing herself as Yan finished giving their names, but she trailed off at the end. A moment passed, the three men giving her strange looks as she seemed to drift off into her thoughts. "... Ah, I was getting ahead of myself. My apologies."

At the suggestion that she pull up a seat to wait for Yan to finish up his game, Bianca stifled a chuckle. Of course, she was running late and Yan wasn't even ready - she wasn't sure why she had expected anything different. While perhaps in a different situation this would be mildly irritating, on this particular occasion, Bianca certainly didn't mind it. "Yes, of course. Let me see about getting a drink first, however." She turned her gaze to each of the three Marines before tilting her head forward and ducking out of the conversation, turning on her heels and heading over to the bar.

It didn't take terribly long for Bianca to be disappointed - truly, she should have known better than to expect an establishment such as this to carry her favored beverage, but a glass of clean, warm water would do to at least sate her thirst. Bianca took the glass of water from the bartender with a courteous nod and 'thank you', and then made her way back over to the table where Yan and his friends were playing, watching with an interest that only related to the state of their game and how close it was to ending.

[Flame]

He nodded along, it was good that she was recovering well. As he could attest, Dr. Yvonne was pretty good at her job. What she said after caused him to turn and glance at her slightly as she introduced herself. ... President of? Looks like she's got something interesting planned. He sighed inwardly to himself wondering what exactly he was getting himself into. Turning his attention back to the game at hand Yan glanced between his hand and the flop rolling out before him.

A quick glance towards his three competitors told him all he needed to know as he heard Bianca pulling up her seat behind him. "Alright then boys, I've got some business to attend to, so lemme get my piece of the paycheck." He said with a smile. He'd played poker with these men a lot when he'd still been a marine. Yan read them like a book, "Right then, now for the river." The shipwright smiled as the last card fell into place, with a quick round of final betting he revealed his next victory.

Or so he'd thought, instead the game went to Mark across from him who smiled smugly. "As if it'd actually be that easy Yan." The trio across from Yan laughed as the shipwright begrudgingly slid chips across the table to his former crewmate. "You think we haven't practiced for this moment. Stormblessed who always took our paychecks, we're here to fleece you for what your worth bro!" Josh jumped in with a smile. Yan rolled his eyes at that statement.

"You know actually, Bianca and my meeting was supposed to happen twenty minutes ago. So I'm gonna have to stop the game here." He said as he pulled out his wallet dropping some beri on the table to settle his score. The statement brought forth dismayed voices from his friends but in the end they understood. Business was business, "It's been good seeing you guys again. Good luck on the seas." He said with a smile as he stood up to give them all hugs.

"Next time you're around." The others and Yan nodded at the sentiment. "I'll keep an eye out." He said giving the trio a last salute as they headed off to scrounge up a fourth man for their game.

"So. What is it you wanted to talk about? I assume it has something to do with that suitcase."

[Jade]

As the game came to an end and the other players got up to leave, Bianca waved them off and took one of their seats, sitting across the table from Yan. "Yes, our meeting will get to the contents of this suitcase, in time," she smiled, placing the black leather case on the tabletop.

"I am sure you heard that the situation with those Revolutionaries was taken care of last week," Bianca started, gesticulating vaguely with her left hand. "I was able to take in the remaining members who had bounties, and I obtained the beri I needed in order to finally begin putting that plan into motion."

The day they met - under unusual circumstances, to be certain - flashed through the bounty huntress's mind, and that first offer she made. He hadn't accepted on that day, and she couldn't blame him for turning the offer down at that time. But now that things were in motion... "Do you remember, Yan? That offer I made you, back on Sedna Island."

[Flame]

As Bianca settled down across from him Yan sat up a little bit straighter taking away his usual slouch that he enjoyed when playing cards with friends. He nodded along quietly as Bianca addressed that the contents of the suitcase would become relevant later.

"Yes, I heard about your endeavors against that Revolutionary situation. Good job." He said smiling and nodding politely to Bianca. He'd been off duty spending time on a different island at that time. And while he had heard vaguely of what she'd done mostly from marines who'd played witness in the passing days he only had some details. Though he'd been more distracted by other news that had come to his ears about happenings in the Grand Line, most importantly to him at his former home of Treegap.

"... that plan?" He asked curiously for a moment not connecting to what she was saying. But then as she spoke further he was reminded of what she was talking about. "Oh ... that plan. Ahh ..." lines in his head began to make sense as he connected the different statements she'd made since she'd entered the gaming establishment they were in. So thats why she called herself president earlier ... makes more sense now. He nodded to himself finally grasping the full picture of what was going on.

"The plan I remember vaguely, the offer ... I know accepted one offer you made, but perhaps I'm forgetting something. Perhaps you should reiterate." He said leaning back in his chair his eyes glancing momentarily toward the ceiling as he tried to remember what her offer had been.

It'd been a long while since their meeting in Sedna and he'd had quite a few experiences since then. It was honestly hard to remember what she'd talked about those many weeks ago.

[Jade]

"Oh, then you have forgotten," Bianca stated. It wasn't a statement laced with disappointment - her tone was as level as ever, with perhaps just a hint of relief peeking through her deliberately chosen words. "That is just as well, truly. I wanted to make you a better offer."

She leaned back in her seat, folding her arms carefully over her chest. "Yes - that plan. With the beri I earned for bringing in those three big-name Revolutionaries, as well as those you assisted me in taking down, I have finally been able to put together my organization." Her gaze shifted from Yan to the suitcase on the table. "Which brings me to the contents of the suitcase. You see, Yan," she moved smoothly, leaning forward to draw the suitcase closer to the edge of the table and making a big show of undoing the latches, "before now, I would not have been able to make you the offer I am about to make. I was, perhaps rightfully, laughed at before the Revolutionaries launched their attack on this island by those I attempted to hire. My own name meant nothing, and without some level of respect for my name, how could the name of my company mean anything?"

She threw the suitcase open, the lid keeping Yan from seeing its contents. "The phrase is crass, but there is some truth to it: 'Money makes the world go round.' But it fails to take into consideration that respect for a name is just as important as money. Now, Yan, I have finally earned both, and with them, I can make this offer..." The white-haired woman shut her eyes for a moment, bowing her head over the suitcase's contents, and then spun it around and pushed it over to Yan.

Inside, the suitcase was padded, neatly dividing the contents into their own separate and rather formal-looking spaces. Dominating the middle space were neatly laid out and stacked high-value beri notes, while the only other thing in the suitcase was a pin in the upper right corner. The pin, a small, circular piece, had the letters "TC" in the center in platinum, surrounded by a golden circle on the outside - between the spaces of the letters and where they connected to the outer circle was empty space.

After giving him a moment to look at the contents, Bianca spoke again. "The beri covers your bodyguard fees for the past few weeks. If you wish to count it, you will see that there is an extra amount - you can keep it, regardless of whether or not you accept my offer or not. If you do accept, however, you can consider it a signing bonus," she explained. She stopped there, taking a drink of her warm water... And then it took her another minute before she resumed speaking.

"Yan, I would like to offer you the role of Commander of the Division of Naval Engineering within my Tea Company."

[Flame]

Across from her as she spewed forth all she had likely prepared to say, Yan sat quietly barely making much of a move. A single finger danced across the glass he had next to him for the early morning drink, but the glass was empty save for a sliver of liquid still at the bottom. As she continued to talk he considered carefully what she was saying, he already had an idea of what was in the suitcase. But he figured that she felt she needed this very business-like spiel so he let it happen without interruption.

The suitcase in the end was two things, his pay for the work he'd done so far as well as what looked to be a pin of platinum and gold. The letters TC were the platinum he looked at it for a moment with what seemed to be the hint of a smile. His hand slid over the stack of beri that made up his pay. He felt no need to actually count it, given how business-like she was being it was highly unlikely to him that she would actually drop the ball on something like that.

She paused for a moment to take a drink of water as she explained the contents before finally making her offer. His eyes widened slightly at the offer, not because he didn't expect the offer, but due to the rank and position he was being given. To him the group that she was likely calling the 'Tea Company' was hardly large enough to really warrant such a grandiose name. But he said nothing to that extent as he glanced between Bianca and the briefcase before him.

Reaching forward he grasped the pin in the suitcase pulling it up so that it glinted in the light hanging above them. "I take it I'd have to wear this?" He said his eyes looking at the pin with care. Glancing down at the sweater he was wearing he frowned, it might be a little too silvery to go with his plain dark blue clothing. Looking back at Bianca he realized he'd been staring at the pin a bit too long. Guess I should do this more formally as she has ... As his eyes met hers he gave a soft smile.

"Bianca, I will gladly accept the role you have offered me." He said with a nod placing the pin back into the briefcase and carefully closing it shut. "But, first I'd like to know what the position entails and what are your plans for this ... Tea Company moving forward."

[Jade]

"The pin? Well, when you are on official Tea Company business, I would ask that you wear it somewhere on your person, but I would not ask you to wear it for your every waking hour," she responded, watching as the man across from her observed the shiny pin. "The metals used would denote the rank, in case you were wondering. Any and all other Commanders would have similar platinum and gold pins."

Bianca met his soft smile with one of her own, and then let out a sigh of relief as she heard those words from him. "Oh, of course you would have questions - and those are ones I am prepared to answer. Quite simply, as a Commander, you will be in charge of the operations of your division. In the case of the Division of Naval Engineering, that would be include overseeing the construction of Tea Company vessels, the management of any Tea Company shipyards, and other such things related to the expansion of the eventual Tea Company fleet."

The white-haired young woman sat back in her chair, tenting her fingers before responding to the second half of his question. "Moving forward... I will be traversing the four Blues for a short while in order to recruit additional promising individuals and paving the way for Tea Company bases to be built on islands in the four Blues, but from there, I am planning on making my way into the Grand Line. The Tea Company itself is to be a bounty hunter organization as well, as well as a tea house franchise and a grower and distributor of teas, though it will take some time before we are able to get that aspect of the company running."

She paused, rewinding what she had just said in her own head. "... Ah, on the topic of the Grand Line. There is one other thing I forgot to mention. Since you are going to be accepting my offer, then it seems only fair that I mention the other signing bonus." Bianca smiled, taking her tented fingers and rapping them against one another in a wave. "Yan, I will be sending you to the island known as Treelore in order to begin the Tea Company's expansion into the Grand Line ahead of my arrival."

[Flame]

Yan mulled over the scope of things he would be given control over if he took up this job as the ... Commander of the Division of Naval Engineering. A fancy name for what would likely be quite the small company at the beginning and quite the minute division of one for the time being. He could tell immediately that even if she'd earned some value off of the bounties she'd taken in they could not willy nilly afford to create the fleet she envisioned. Even in-house the cost of materials alone would be enormous, especially alongside the cost of labor to create a fleet as she asked.

Not that he said any of it, instead he boggled himself with the challenge of forming a 'division' of shipwrights as the title seemed to suggest. That she wanted a fleet seemed a large undertaking, needing likely a shipwright much better than himself. To be given the job was almost overwhelming to him. If not for his usual smooth and casual feeling he'd likely feel crushed beneath the pressure.

His eyes raised at her plans. Heading through the blues to grow the organization and set up bases in each of the blues. It seemed a tiresome and optimistic plan, even with her current victory he doubted her name value would be so great to flock those towards her. Especially with the bunch he'd known bounty hunters to be. But then she'd always been like this he supposed. Plans upon plans, Yan smiled at her, in some ways it was quite refreshing for her to be this way.

Her last thing was an eyebrow raiser. Sending him to Treelore in the Grand Line ahead of her. His eyes widened slightly at the mention of that. "Is that so ..." the shipwright responded with a slightly curious tone in his voice. "Sending me to Treelore to begin the Tea Company's expansion ahead of you." A hand raised and scratched its head trying to process all that was meant by the statement.

He'd be going on without the rest of those he'd become acquainted with then. Straight to the Grand Line, straight home to Treelore. The shipwright pursed his lips uncertain of how to feel about it. "Alright then. I accept the position. I'll make arrangements to head for the Grand Line at earliest convenience." Standing up he placed a hand on the briefcase and reached a hand forward placing it in between Bianca and himself. His face was quietly contemplative, giving off little of what he thought underneath. Plans however had already slipped into his head.

Yan was heading home.

[Jade]

Bianca's soft smile widened into a genuine grin - a rare expression for one who typically kept her emotions in check and kept her heart well off her sleeve. But this was going about as well as she could've dared to hope it would have! She stood as Yan did, pushing her chair backward as she got to her feet, and...

She doubled over in pain, spitting up a fair amount of blood onto the table. The white-haired bounty huntress gently held her side with one hand and raised the other in the air, one finger raised, silently asking to be given a moment. Bianca took a few deep breaths as the plants she had grown around her torso tightened - it wasn't the best, and Dr. Leblanc would likely have her head if she found out about it, but the makeshift bandages had been helping her to stay upright this long.

It took about a minute and a half before Bianca righted herself, putting on her warm smile again - though her face was notably paler than before, hard as it may be to believe. "If you need any assistance in finding arrangements to make it into the Grand Line, do not hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to take time out of my busy schedule to assist you personally." She paused, and then flipped her hand outward, showing her palm to Yan as she sighed. "Or, more likely, I can have Thomas do it, as soon as he is finished with his bed rest."

[Flame]

Yan's face fell into a frown as Bianca doubled over spitting blood onto the table. From the corner of his vision he could see the owner of the establishment looking over to see if something was up. With a scratch of his head he watched Bianca quietly as she regained control of herself sitting up once more. The shipwright retracted his hand from between Bianca and himself, he didn't need her trying to do anything more than necessary.

"No worries, I should be able to make my own arrangements to get back to the Grand Line." He said concern woven into his voice as he watched her carefully. "I still have connections within the marines, it should be easy enough to get travel back to the Grand Line. If not Treelore than an island near it with a Marine base." He said nodding along to himself. That much he could do for himself quite easily he thought. Arranging travel back to his own hometown, how often had he thought of doing it before. He had ideas and plans upon plans about how to get back. Taking a marine vessel across the Calm Belt definitely seemed the safest way to be certain.

Having been lost in thought for a moment he turned his attention back to Bianca. "Do you need any help getting back to the ship?" He asked with a tilted head. "You shouldn't overexert yourself, the Doc will not be happy with you otherwise." He had plenty of experience with the Doc's feelings on people not taking good care of themselves. As probably the most often injured person on the ship Yvonne and him had spent a lot of time arguing over his medical care.

[Jade]

"Oh, if you are able to handle it." Bianca nodded her head at his explanation - it would probably be simpler for him to use his connections to get over to Treelore than any arrangements she would be able to make. "Well, I would like you to stay here on Jreum for at least a few more days. There are a few things I still wish to take care of before you head off, including figuring out who I will be sending along with you. I doubt I will send many people with you, but as the first Commander of the Tea Company, it would only be appropriate for you travel with at least a handful of employees."

She nodded her head at her own comments, and then smiled at Yan's concern for her. "Thank you, but no. I will be able to make it back to the ship on my own two feet, I promise you. Dr. Leblanc surely won't be pleased, of course, but there is nothing saying that she needs to know about this little incident. I will just have to take it a little easier the next few days."

Bianca took a few steps away from the table at that, her back to the man she had finally officially recruited. "I will leave you to it - enjoy yourself, Yan. Perhaps you could use some of that beri to prepare yourself for the journey ahead. Some new clothes might do you good; I could point you in the direction of the tailor I am using while I am in Jreum, if you would like."

[Flame]

Yan scratched his head at the thought of bringing other people with him. That'd make arrangement of travel much more complicated. It was easy to ask as a former marine who'd resigned to hitch a ride with the marines into the Grand Line. But if he was to bring passengers, he bit his lip frowning slightly at the thought of explaining that. "We'll see ..." he said skeptical of whether he'd actually take someone else along with him. Or if besides his 'rank' he actually needed to have 'appropriate' companions on his travels. They were still in his mind too small a company to really deserve such things.

The shipwright was equally unconvinced by her estimation of what had just happened concerning the blood spitting. If Bianca thought that word would not get to the doctor she was foolhardy at best and very much mistaken. Given Bianca's condition of late she definitely would not be able to count on Yan keeping silence in this case. Unless the young leader of this 'Tea Company' was lucky enough that Yan didn't run into her before he left. Which if he was staying a few extra days, was unlikely. But to be honest he was thinking of heading out faster than she probably expected. Plans were already forming in his head to make arrangements for one, or two perhaps if he could pull it and Bianca actually chose him a travelling partner in time.

Her last statement was in the end the most laughable of them all. He snorted disinterested at best in her suggestion that he obtain new clothes. "Bianca, I'm about as likely to get new clothes as I am to use those accursed snails you favor so much. So you can give up on that prospect now. I'll wear what I wear." He said with a stubborn crossing of his arms. A thin smile played at the corner of his lips.

"Hmm, I guess I'll deal with my travel arrangements. Good dealin' with you Bianca." He said connecting his thought with a goodbye of sorts. Glancing at the empty glass at his side he picked it up and walked towards the bar to drop it off. Then he had places to be and people to talk with. After his short break in Jreum life seemed as if it were getting hectic again.

[Jade]

Bianca laughed quietly, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she did so. "It was merely a suggestion. Besides, I would not be so brash as to suggest a total overhaul of your wardrobe - I would, however, say that expanding your existing wardrobe with a few new additions to suit your taste may be a wise decision."

As Yan began to walk out of the bar, she thought over his words - and then remembered why she had wanted to send people with him in the first place. "Ah. Yes. Good dealing with you as well, Yan. I will see you tomorrow around noon, then?" She didn't wait for a response - after all, it wasn't really a question.

---

Making her way back to the Porcelain Lady was not so difficult, though Bianca was disappointed in the poor time she was making due to her injuries. She supposed there was something to be said for not having another flare up on the way, but still, she was nearly fifteen minutes later than she had anticipated. The huntress sighed as she strode up onto her ship's deck, walking across the green lawn she had grown with her Devil Fruit ability at a slow stroll to set her mind at ease.

The huntress took a lazy loop around the deck, looking over the various shrubs and plants that decorated her garden for any sign of disease or need for trimming more out of habit than any real desire to tend to them at the moment - fortunately, all was well, and so her walk through the garden ended at the door that led into the kitchens. Bianca took a seat at the table and sighed once again; she preferred to use her own two hands when preparing her tea, but her current condition meant it was going to be far more efficient to use her abilities. With a small sprinkling of seeds upon her bare left arm, vines shot out around the room, performing a variety of tasks while Bianca watched them with seeming disinterest, all the while using each and every vine for a different and specific task.

One vine opened the cabinet she stored the tea in while a second moved the containers around so that Bianca could pick out the tea she was going to drink - on the other side of the room, two vines worked at filling the tea pot at the sink, while a third was turning the stove top on. Once everything was in place, the vines returned to Bianca's body, coiling themselves around her arm so that they were out of the way while she unfolded the day's newspaper to pass the time until the water was boiling.