Into the Lyons' Den

[Burgundy]

"Business as usual," sighed a certain suit-clad man, adrift in a lonely sailboat, approaching a hot desert island amidst the Grand Line's more historically-checkered route. He was called here to meet up with a crew of pirates who recently plundered a merchant ship which was guarded by some marines, who needed their earnings scrubbed and laundered. Which is to say, he was about to make a transaction, keep a cut for himself, and go about his life and leave this crew of criminals to their own. Finances were a complex issue that he knew much about, while the social cues of seafaring criminals was something he needed to learn on the fly every time. If he was being honest, it was the latter part that was the real work.

The pirates had taken refuge on this island, though the how and why of it weren't super clear. While it was certainly a lawless zone in terms of the World Government, he had read somewhere that the tribes on Toekoms were violently territorial. Which basically meant this business took him into enemy territory. That didn't matter much, though; He could take care of himself if he needed to.

The salaryman arrived onto the western shore of the island, his sailboat hitting the sandy shores. He would step off the boat after pulling up the sail, and dragged it as far as he could onto shore with the minimum effort he alotted to any physical task. He was an accountant, not a shipwright or a helmsman. He could follow a log pose or a vivre card, and carry out his duties, but that was all he would do, and all he wanted to do.

Speaking of such, he received a vivre card to follow this time. With nary a wind to blow it, it jostled north east. He reached into his boat and grabbed his suitcase full of what he needed to complete the transaction. He would adjust his tie, and take a deep breath of the hot desert air. While it would be contradictory to say it cooled his nerves, he had steeled his resolve to go through with it. His mind wandered as he walked towards his client, but he kept an ear out for beasts and hunters. He wasn't familiar with the various sorts of creatures that lived here, though he'd heard stories of tiger tamers among the indigenous warriors.

It would be quite a walk before he came upon a ruined desert city. The vivre card was gesturing him inwards... So the suit-clad man would head into town. There was nobody here at all, it was drab and empty, with huts made of stone. At the very least, that was at surface level. The vivre card's angle shifted as he neared a large building. He would turn to face that building and looked at it with a dull expression.

As he took a step towards it, the salaryman would notice several shadows surging out from nearby buildings, getting into hiding spots. "Are you the Lyons' Pride Pirates? I'm Lawrence, the 'accountant' you hired," he would ask. One of the shadows would emerge from their hiding, and approach him carefully. "You got any proof of that?" the man hissed. He was an imaciated-looking, hunched man taller than dressed in shredded finery, with a wild, unkempt mane of ginger hair which resembled a lion's mane.

Lawrence held up the vivre card between his forefingers and let go. The card would float gently towards the man before him. "You must be Adam Lyons. That's your vivre card. You sent it to me so I could find you here, in the middle of a desert on a lawless island in the Grand Line," the suit would say with an unamused expression and tone.

The man before him would huff, blowing the vivre card back towards Lawrence incidentally, pulling out the knife he'd hidden behind his back and returning it to his holster. "Kch. You look like an uptight law-abiding citizen. Maybe even a government employee. Get an eyepatch, why dontcha?" Adam would complain, waving him into the big building. "You three! Keep watch for any scouts or government agents!" he barked to seemingly nobody, though from the shadows emitted a responsive, "Yes Papa!"

Lawrence grabbed the vivre card from the air, and tucked it into his shirt pocket for safe-keeping, before following another dangerous criminal into his lair. Business as usual, of course.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #1

After meeting Gen in the Alabasta kingdom, Yuri decided that he will try his luck as a bounty hunter for a time. After all, if Gen himself grew into such a powerful fighter by doing this, it should help him too. At least that was what he initially thought. However, a few weeks later, he realized that it wasn't as easy as he initially thought. Finding a bounty was hard, especially for someone like him, who lacked any real tracking skill and didn't remember even half of the active bounties in his region. And when he finally found one, that guy wasn't alone, ever. No matter where he went there were always two or three other members of his crew if not more. That was simply too much for Yuri alone to handle. He stalked them for two days or so, waiting patiently for his opportunity to strike. Opportunity, that never came, on the contrary, they noticed him and when surrounded, the only lie that came to his mind was that he wanted to join their crew. And this surprise he believed him and took him in, after he knocked out two...no, actually three of their men.
That was two weeks ago and since then, Yuri patiently waited for an opportunity to kill the captain and ran away with his bounty. Two weeks of playing pirate and now his chance was coming. From the talks of the officers, he understood that some kind of shady accountant was coming to clear the money from their last raid and that there will be a large party to celebrate. A large party, pirates knocked down by loads of alcohol, there probably won't be an opportunity like that ever again.
When the accountant came, suited man that looked more like an CP agent than someone who was dealing with money, Yuri was sitting close to the entrance, playing cards with three other pirates. Younger than his companions he was sticking out not only because of his sharp canine like teeth, but also because of the large pile of beli he already won.

[Burgundy]

Lawrence had already expended a great deal of energy today trying to locate this place. Physical labor was beneath his paygrade, but he dealt with it nonetheless. He tended to keep his griping to himself, but by the time he'd made it to this abandoned town, he wanted nothing more than to find a place to sit down and rest his legs.

So when he made it into the building behind Captain Lyons, he would immediately, but discreetly begin looking for a place to sit. The Lyons' Den seemed to be fairly lively for the time being, likely the result of preparations for a long stay while they awaited their liaison. Now that he was here, they could move their business along. Lawrence noticed a table full of gambling pirates, betting their cuts on poker or somesuch. One person stood out as younger and markedly more fashionable, with sharp teeth not terribly out of line with the theming of the crew.

"Here he is, boys, accountant's in so we can wrap up our business here with a bang!" roared Captain Lyons. The crew looked Lawrence up and down, before looking at the captain, as though confused.

"P-party time?" one crewman asked meekly.

"Party time!" roared Adam yet again.

A loud thud was heard from the corner as a particularly large member of the crew brought out a few kegs presumably containing alcohol, while a feral looking but otherwise stout man in a chef's hat brought forth a stereotypically oversized cauldron from wherever their kitchen was.

One of the crewmen at the poker table would mention, "Captain Lyons never eats anything unless it's at a party, but he's so stingy about celebrating that he gets to look like this." Indeed Lyons was a far cry from his bounty poster which would indicate a portly man with otherwise identical features. One would never guess he starved himself for weeks, if judging by his poster. Of course, that promised a huge amount of food to come, which wasn't unwelcome in this business deal.

If they wanted to party it up and then get down to business, it was Lawrence's policy to respect it. "Very well. We can begin our dealings at the end of this party," he would say in a flat distant voice, not showing any interest or disinterest. He would pull himself up a chair, and sit himself down to wait, secretly relishing the opportunity to rest his legs.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #2

"Oh look at this guys, looks like I won again."
Yuri bared his teeth in a victorious grin as he slammed his cards on the table, beating the remaining hands with his full house.
"And since this was your last money and I don't want to see you charge on the next ship in nothing but your underwear, I think we can call it a day…"
As he talked, the Wolfman reached forward, grabbing the bet money in the center of his table. However, he paused as the sound of a knife being stabbed in hardwood resonated through the room.
"Not so fast Yuri…"
Growled John, your stereotypical pirate. Man in his late forties, short and wiry, with a wild mane of grayish hair and several missing teeth.
"You are young and eager to prove yourself I got it, but cheating on cards isn't the right way to go buddy, so give us back our money, or I'll gut you like a fish."
Yuri smiled, not letting go of his prize.
"This nonsense again John?"
He asked with a confident smile.
"How many times will you try this nonsense before you'll admit that I am simply this good."
John clenched his teeth, raising the knife in a threatening manner.
"No one is that good. No one can be that good, not so many days in a row!"
His yelling voice however disappeared in the voice of a cheering crowd, when the captain announced another party.
Unwilling to get into another fight over money he fairly...almost fairly...won from these pirates, the wannabe bounty hunter quickly grabbed his prize and with pockets full of money disappeared.
"Hey, where...Yuri you ***** get back here, we aren't finished with you yet."
John yelled as he and his companions turned back to their table only to find it empty.
"Hey man, you are a banker right?"
Yuri asked the newly arrived person just as his three not-so-friendly crewmates were getting up from the table weapons in their hands
"Can I deposit with you? Because I have a feeling someone wants to steal my cash."
He laughed pushing him full hands of cash.

[Burgundy]

He'd finally managed to get off his feet, relaxing somewhat while he prepared to watch the celebration unfold. It was nicer than he could have expected anybody to be towards him. Back at his day job, he'd make superhuman efforts for his daily wage, but here he was, simply heralding that the job was about to be done, and these pirates found cause for celebration.

Strange folks.

Of course, with any crew who enjoyed a good party there was bound to be some people who were partying their earnings away. Heck, had he not just spent the better part of his morning hiking to an abandoned city, he might have done the same – being an accountant meant he was good enough with numbers to outplay even rigged poker matches. Taking these guys to the cleaners while himself being here to clean their haul would have been humorous.

This only came to his attention because the youngblood from the poker table he'd noticed a few moments prior, approached with his winnings, eluding his tablemates in an effort to pass the cash to Lawrence, attempting to 'bank' with him as it were. "Ah, I'm more of an 'accountant', than a 'banker'," he would protest for a moment before realizing the intention was probably more to pass the crewmates' aggression over to him.

A handful of angry pirates with dramatically-lightened coinpurses brandished knives as they approached the suited sailor who held their former funds. They were likely drunk, and forgetting the current situation, the general courtesy they needed to be showing. Then again, any businessman sailing the Grand Line by his lonesome should have been treated with due caution regardless of the situation.

"I see," Lawrence would say, beginning to loosen his tie, his gaze settling on the encroaching hooligans with cold disdain. Drunk clients were the worst...

"Oi, ya drunken scrags, leave the suit outta yer scuffle!" roared Captain Lyon in a commanding albeit painfully pirate-y tone, putting the fear of death into his rum-sodden crewmen, causing them to freeze up and topple over like a set of dominos.

It appeared for an instant, that there was at least one head set properly upon the shoulders in this crew, and thankfully it belonged to the captain. Had Lawrence needed to punish belligerent drunks, he'd have applied an additional 5% 'disrespect' tax against them.

"As far as banking your funds, I can't claim to be a bank, however..." the suited sailor would say rather maturely to the youngblood who was trying to stash the money away. He placed his suitcase on the table, and set the money atop it, splaying it like a deck of cards over the top of the case. His eyes slid over the paper beli, counting it instantly, before he slipped a hand over the cash, disappearing it with sleight of hand like a magician, before setting crisp clean bills on top, with different serial numbers on it in the exact same amount, minus his cleaning fee of around 10%.

"There, this beli is clean — unmarked by the marines, nor by your crewmates. Though I wouldn't recommend coming to me for such small amounts in the future," he would say, passing the bills back to the youngblood. "–not that I think their cleanness translates to forgiveness," he'd add, gesturing towards the still money-savage drunken louts who'd fallen over a moment ago.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #3

So he wasn´t a banker? Well that was unfortunate. Yuri originally hoped that the guy is some badass Grand Line version of banker capable of kicking a** of whoever would try to touch his client money´s but...obviously he was mistaken. Fortunately, the captain intervened, pulling on his boys leaches to prevent any unnecessary incident with this stranger.

As the three crewmembers were murdering Yuri with their gaze, while hiding their weapons, the Wolf-Man gifted them a charming smile, that raised their ire even more if it even was possible.

But confident as always, the gangster ignored them and instead focused on the self proclaimed accountant and his trick. When he made his money disappear, Yuri opened his mouth in silent protest but before he could say something new banknotes replaced the old ones.

“Wow, that´s a cool trick man.”

The gangster laughed, hiding the money in one of his many pocket without even counting them.

“Is that some kind of magic...oh wait, I know...you are some sort of Devil Fruit user...you ate the Cleaning fruit or something right?”

As usual, Yuri jumped into conclusion and didn´t even gave the other party time needed to explain themselves. This adventure wasn´t such bad thing after all. Man, he just met his first Devil Fruit user ever!

“Well, you don´t have to care about these three so much. They are drunk enough to forget what happened today and if they try to look for their money I just blame someone else.”
His smile was replaced by a wolfish grin as he grabbed that accountant´s arm and gestured towards the nearby bar.

“Man, we had to drink on that!”
Although he acted like someone who drank his fair share, from this close it was obvious, that Yuri was everything but a drank. Even the stench of alcohol that could be felt around him probably came from his three previous companions and not himself.

[Burgundy]

The wolfish youngblood was quick to assume a party trick was a devil fruit ability. While he wasn't innocent of the act of eating one (on account of a cruel prank by his former employer), he felt a tinge of amusement at the prospect of a devil fruit that could destroy the economy by producing clean bills. Of course, rather than give him time to explain, the conversation blew from one topic to the next in an instant: It appeared that the drunks were going to behave for a little while, at least until the booze cleansed their conscience in a few minutes.

Lawrence would find himself being tugged towards the bar, which felt a bit unprofessional, but when surrounded by a pack of partying pirates, one either parties or parts ways. Besides, he had a taste for scotch all of a sudden. Since they'd just raided marine vessel and looted it dry, he presumed there would be some that a naval officer bought to appear more mature to his peers, but never intended to drink.

"Yeah why, not?" he commented, scooping his briefcase off the table as though it were glued to his hands as he followed the youngblood.

He sat himself down on one of the barstools, and rested his case down atop the bar, pinning it under his elbow and then resting his chin atop his inward-curled wrist. "Just a scotch – neat. With some ice on the side, if it's no trouble," Lawrence would order curtly, trying to keep his interactions with servicemen short and professional.

He turned his attention to his wolfish drinking buddy, and introduced himself offhandedly, "The name's Lawrence, by the way. If you ever need some hot commodities or dirty cleared past the government's surveillance, I'm the guy."

He pulled out a black business card and layed it on the bar next to him. It had a Den Den Mushi frequency number, along with the name '`Black Tie` Lawrence' on it, with a jolly roger bearing a red tie as a logo. "I'm not sure how I feel about the emblem. I'm thinking of rebranding a bit, what do you think?" he asked.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #4

The accountant followed him to their improvised bar, proving to be an incredible snob, at least in the Wolf-man's eyes, as he ordered a scotch instead of beer, sake, rum, or any other traditional drink of sailors and street gangsters like Yuri himself. And he strengthened this opinion even further as he started asking about the logo on his business card.
"Yuri"
The young gangster replied with a smile, offering him a handshake, before adding.
"If you ever need someone who knows how to break a bone or two, I am your guy."
He seemed unbothered, whether Lawrence accepted his gesture or not, and instead looked at his business card with real interest, which quickly changed into laughter when he saw the logo on his card.
"Wolfofofofofofofofo, sorry, sorry, I mean...no disrespect or something, but ehm, when you see a Jolly Roger you expect something epic or frightening. Something that will show all the people around you how badass you are not...fofofofo...tie. Ehm…"
Still amused, Yuri cleared his throat.
"So yes, I think you should rebrand a bit, like…"
The young man rubbed his chin in universal "I am thinking" gesture, before smacking his fist against the desk of the table.
"I got it!
He yelled with a victorious grin on his face.
"Make a wolf wear that tie, that would be epic!"
The deafening silence that followed was hinting that no one else was considering it "epic", but Yuri ignored them and instead nodded on the bartender.
"Hey, give me a beer or something!"
The pirate turned on him with a question.
"You sure buddy? Looks like you already drank your share."
The wolf-man grinned in response.
"Of course I am sure. The captain said we party and the captain's words are sacred so, bring it here!"

[Burgundy]

Introductions paced along fairly smoothly, typical of any social order. A handshake was offered, and accepted – firm and professional, yet unaggressive provided it remained mutually so. There was a sense of propriety in the world when small exchanges like this were carried out. Many times in the past, it was the only thing that kept him grounded in his duties.

Of course, all sense of dignity and all-as-it-should-be was shoved aside when he showed his business card and asked for an opinion, and it got a laugh out of Mr. Yuri. Apparently a skull and crossbones wearing a tie was simply misleading. A Jolly Roger simply implied that there was a badass attribute to his work, which there doubtless were, lest Yuri be mistaken, and yet perhaps it shouldn't be called 'epic' either. Indeed, Lawrence wasn't actually considering this business venture to be a real adventure, nothing so childish.

Yuri suggested a wolf wear the tie instead, and Lawrence's mind immediately shifted to picturing his conversational partner in a proper suit and tie. While he processed thid thought, a moment of silence passed, before he tilted his head down and stifled a snicker with one hand, "Snrk.... I, uh, feel like a wolf doesn't symbolically inspire trust in an accountant, either. Pfpfpfpf..."

Yuri ordered himself some beer, and the bartender asked if he was sure, since he was already good and liquored up, but got them both their drink orders without any further questions. Lawrence sipped the scotch, giving himself a moment to appreciate its full flavor, before dropping a lone ice cube into it and setting it aside.

"So Mr. Yuri, how's life with the crew? Do they treat you alright here? Daggers and death threats aside, I mean?" the suited sailor would ask, idly fiddling with his business card a moment, poring over its design. He paid decent money for these, but they didn't come out as well as he'd hoped even if he wanted to keep the emblem... The longer he looked the less he liked them. He couldn't believe this was how he'd advertised his services. Bribing a News Coo was an interesting endeavor, but it wasn't cheap, and with a design like this, his business wasn't like to increase profitability at all.

Tucking it back into a suit pocket, he also considered his present company. This wolfish kid was surrounded by jackals and predators. Lawrence was willing to respect the crew and their differences to himself, but what stood out to him was Yuri's differences with the rest of the crew. He stood out like a sore thumb, yet seemed to have no respect from his crewmates, which told Lawrence that he was new, an outsider who had yet to earn his place in the crew. It was no different from an office environment, albeit the backstabbing and venom was likely to be more literal in a pirate crew. He couldn't ask too many questions though, not in front of the crew's own bartender.

Said bartender would already intercept the question in an altogether impolite manner, "Why're you asking him? If you're considering a full time position on the crew it'd be better to ask somebody who's been here for more than a few weeks, right?"

Lawrence would give the bartender a cold look, sipping his slightly-cooled scotch. He was too old for such basic redirection. If there was a problem with talking to any young member of a crew about how they're treated, new or not, there was a red flag. And unlike the fees he charged for being disrespectful to himself, red flags warranted a swift end to the business dealings at hand. "Is there a problem?" he asked, his voice stern enough to make the bartender change his tune. "N-no. None at all," the bartender would say, shuffling off to the side to attend to any other business.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #5

The young Wolfman looked dumbfounded for a moment, when the accountant said something about wolf not being appropriate for his line of work.

“What? But wolves are super loyal animals, and cool to boot, so it would be definitely great logo for someone who wants to show people can trust him, but...”

Yuri shrugged his shoulder.

“Your lose.”

He muttered, subtracting few points from the initially high score, he gave to that man. I mean, who wouldn´t like wolves?

As the debate progressed, Lawrence asked about his feeling on this crew. Well, that wasn´t easy question was it? As someone, who got among them during a botched bounty hunting attempt he surely couldn´t tell truth. But what should he say instead? He didn´t prepared any form of cover story or something...well, fortunately, the bartender, who also served as the crew quartermaster stepped in ironically, giving Yuri enough time to think while trying to ridicule him.

“Well and who else he should ask about the newbie´s life than actual newbie, right?”

He grinned, carefree, before turning his attention back to the accountant.

“And as for your question, it´s not that bad. Well if you forget, that everyone is trying to treat you as trash, until you break them few bones, or knock out some teeth.”

This was just as explanation as reminder, that despite being the new guy, Yuri wasn´t someone who could be disrespected. Even through he wasn´t on the level of the crew officers, he already proved several times, that when it came to talking with one´s fist, he was no weakling, actually on the contrary.

The wolf-man took a sip from his beer, watching the bartender disappearing to take care of other customers.

“Well, speaking of which. I doubt someone like you really wanted to join in so...why were you asking?”

There was a hint of curiosity in his voice, perhaps born from a mix of boredom and helplessness of his current situation.

[Burgundy]

Lawrence would sip his scotch and then drop in another ice cube, as though he was attempting to keep the level of liquid in his glass the same. He paid due attention to how the flavor subtly changed as the ice cooled it little by little. The wolfish young man seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and a good set of arms to fight with. Two necessities on the Grand Line, for sure.

He was careful with how he answered, it seemed. The suit-clad sailor would note that he kept things straightforward and didn't include unnecessary information. This indicated that either nothing was wrong, or there was something fishy about the boy himself rather than the crew, but seeing as his business was with the crew, that second possibility didn't bother him.

"I could tell they were a scrappy lot, but as long as you can hold your own, they're fairly harmless, huh? Perhaps I should take a few of them up on those challenges they're sending me with their glares..." he would analyze.

Yuri would take the opportunity to question his motivation for questioning him. With the bartender dismissing himself to attend to the others, the suited sailor had no reason to mask his intentions. "I simply have standards for my clientele. Had you given me any reason to believe they were holding you here against your will, I'd have to cut this contract short, so-to-speak," he would answer plainly but quietly, "So to clarify, they're just rowdy drunks?"

Meanwhile...

A shadowy figure stands in the cellar of the bar. He gazed at the ropes on the ground, which appeared to have been chewed through somehow. "Tch... Captain Adam isn't gonna like this," he complained openly to nobody, in a coarse voice. He pulled out a small radio den den mushi, and spoke into it, "Looks like our dinner reservations fell through. We've gotta go with Dinner Plan B."

From the other side, a familiar voice growled, "What!? How'd that bastard escape the ropes?"

"Fuck if I know! Rats, maybe? Either way, if Captain Adam doesn't get to eat tonight, there'll be hell to pay. Forget about our payday, we'll be lucky to escape with our lives!"

"...Dinner Plan B then, huh? Do you think the so-called 'Accountant' will notice if his drinking buddy vanishes amidst the partying?"

"Not if a certain somebody distracts him."

"He seems pretty uptight. You think it'll work?"

"Guys like him are always pent up about something or another. Let her take her shot. We don't really need a whole lotta time for this anymore, ya know?"

"Alright. I'll pass on the orders. Over and out."

The shadowy figure would sigh, sharpening a large cleaver on a honing rod menacingly, leaving the cellar for the time being. He had some business to attend to, before the party began.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #6

The Wolfman downed the rest of his keg, slamming it on the table, before laughing from the top of his lungs.

"Yeah, smacking a few of their heads could definitely work, but are you up to the task?"

He asked. Despite how it might sound, Yuri wasn't trying to mock the money launderer, but only teasing him in a way that was quite usual among soldiers and other hard-living men.

"After all, I heard that it's pretty hard to clean blood from a suit."

He laughed again, earning angry looks from all pirates around them, including the bartender, who decided to ignore Yuri's attempt to order another drink and instead went to attend to his other customers.

He then listened as the banker talked about his business policy. For someone who was making a living by clearing money from pirates, he sure had a weird opinion on kidnapping and "forceful recruitment". One, that. Yuri could use this to his advantage if he already didn't make his mind about not leaving without the captain's head. Like this, however, he only shook his head.

"Nah, this crew is alright. Bunch of rowdy drunkards and misfits who have nowhere else to go, just as all the other crews in the world."

This earned him additional angry glares.

"The only real weird fellow."

Yuri continued after a while

"Is the captain. I never saw him eating anything since the time I joined the crew and he is constantly losing weight so…"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps he was rejected by a girl and now is trying to slim down for her or something."

The Wolfman laughed, playing dumb once again. He was with the crew long enough to know about the weird eating habits of their captain. At least the part where he was eating only during the celebration parties. What he didn't know was what exactly he was eating during that time.

[Burgundy]

Lawrence would smile wryly at the crack about his suit. It was mocked fairly often by his clientele, which was all in good fun. After all, it was hard not to see the humor in a suited man sailing the salty seas, and attending the finances of even saltier seadogs, so to speak. Of course, it might have been just as wise to fear a man who kept a clean suit among pirates. It asserted an air of not belonging, of standing apart, standing above. An announcement of superiority.

Why would a regular salaryman wear such a fashion statement among pirates, if not to say that nobody here could prove him wrong?

This was of course the thought going through a lot of the crews' minds, and the reactions were quite varied. While certainly some were on the wavelength of Yuri and his jovial thoughts on the subject, the majority were either uncomfortable with the open challenge he was wearing to rub how untouchable he was in their faces, or thinking about how best they might take that challenge without angering the captain. Lawrence was well aware of this as well, of course.

Yet the first law of good business is to never compromise on your uniform!

That aside, it was clear that Yuri was here of his own volition, and whether or not that was the general rule around here, he wouldn't fault the crew for having a younger crew member. "Very well," he'd say as though resigning himself to accept this truth.

However, a little additional information started leaking out. Captain Lyons had not been eating all this time. Somehow this sounded familiar, perhaps he'd heard it passing a little earlier, but it did bring the situation to his attention somewhat. "Not even a snack? How strange. Perhaps he's observing some manner of monastic vow of fasting?" he'd toss out there.

"Mmm, something like that," replied a sultry effeminate voice from behind him. Lawrence would turn his head, seeing a new drink resting upon the bartop, with a red-painted fingertip tracing the lip of the cup. "Captain's got a very particular diet, but the ingredients are... 'difficult to prepare', so they only make food he'll eat on... 'special occasions,'" the voice spoke again.

Lawrence's attention was grabbed for a moment, as he turned the rest of the way around. The lady next to him was smoking hot, with a black bob-cut with a bang that covered her right eye like an eyepatch, and a beauty mark under her left eye. She had red painted lips, a matching dress, and a fuzzy scarf made of some manner of fur. In her other hand was a cigarette holder, hanging loosely between two fingers, a thin trail of smoke wafting off in the ambient breeze.

"Who might you be?" asked Lawrence in a tone which indicated interest, though perhaps not for the reason most would expect. The attractive lady would introduce herself, "Anginette Gravesley~ Probably the only lady who might associate herself with the Lyon's Pride."

"Ah yes. You look quite different in your wanted poster, 'Grave Digger' Gravesley," the suited sailor would reply. "Still, I can't say I dislike the new look." Lawrence had read of her before accepting the job.

She was a smalltime bounty, femme fatale. When she got arrested for tampering with her dead husband's will, as well as suspicion of murder, she broke out of jail, and dug up his grave to steal the jewelry he was buried with. Apparently it was a collector's item worth a small fortune, but nobody in town would buy it from her, so she had to travel away, yet with her new bounty she had to join a crew to have any chance. Adam Lyons was the lucky man who served as the ferryman, and she joined the crew. Her bounty poster, however, looked like the girl from The Grudge fell into a mud pit and had to fight her way out with the shovel she was holding, a stark difference from the buxom black widow sitting next to him.

"Ah yes. They really caught me at a bad time and angle, didn't they? Hufufufu~" she would ask rhetorically with a chortle, "My hair was a disaster that week, and I'd hardly slept a wink. The government can be so cruel."

Lawrence would sigh, dropping another ice cube into his scotch. "Don't I know it..." he'd commiserate, taking a sip.

The Lyon's crew seemed on-edge in this situation, as though not sure how to proceed. Yet even beyond the discomfort of the crew, shadowy figures worked behind the scenes, plotting a very special dinner for Captain Lyon tonight.

[Mr. Moon]

Yuri #7

The wolfman shrugged his shoulders as he really didn't care that much about captain Lyon's mysterius diet. After all, as long as his favorite diet wasn't quarter wolf minks it was none of his business what the captain fancied for his dinner.

"Yeah, maybe something like that."

He muttered, before turning around with a silent growl, that showcased his animosity towards the woman in front of him.

Gravedigger, the only woman among the crew. Tall and beautiful on the outside, yet utterly corrupted inside. No matter how many times he met her, the animal instincts he inherited from his father were compelling him to punch her in the face, repeatedly.

"Well, you would definitely fit with the crew better then."

Yuri smirked, however, his smile suddenly disappeared from his lips. No, it has nothing to do with that woman, the disgust he felt for her had nothing in common in fear. No, but something was wrong. The mood of the people around them shifted from cheerful to tense. He could almost taste the fear and discomfort in the air. What was going on, he never saw them in a state like that? Did something happened or was about to happen?

"Hmmmmm"

The Wolfman growled again

"Guess I need some air, if you excuse me…"

He muttered, walking away from the bar, towards the doors leading outside. Although they were still a bit distrustful towards them, Yuri was already long enough with the crew, without any incidents, that they allowed him to wander back and forth from their den, if he didn´t go too far and he didn´t want to do that. He just needed the walk to get better perspective, they weren´t expecting attack from enemy, no one had their weapons ready so what was going on?

[Burgundy]

With his young conversational partner disengaging from the mature pair's discourse, Lawrence found himself alone with a widow. Not a problem, he mused, he did like his women to be more within his age category. Of course, that alone wasn't reason enough to trust a woman rumored to have killed her own husband for some expensive bauble.

Indeed when Yuri fell out of the conversation, the suited sailor took notice of the undertones this presented. Perhaps there was something more to this story he wasn't seeing... Or maybe it was just a kid not particularly liking to sit and watch adults flirt with one-another. There was really no reason to be too suspicious, so he gave it the benefit of the doubt for now, while keeping it pinned in his mental notes.

"Might it be prying too much to ask further into the man's special diet?" he would ask his lady companion.

She would shake her head, "It's a secret kept between Lyon and the chefs. Apparently it's not hard to find, per sé, but if the crew got a taste for it there would be a shortage."

Lawrence detected a hint of dishonesty from her, though he wasn't sure where. Perhaps the entire statement was false. What sort of ingredient can go into a shortage just because a single crew of pirates gets a hankering for it? "That so...?" he spoke, quietly loosening his tie with one hand while raising another sip of whiskey to his lips with the other.

He set the glass down and then dropped in another ice cube as he would continue his idle discourse, "Well then I'll stash that question for later. Instead I'll ask about you and your business, Gravedigger."

Gravesley adjusted her posture and gestured to herself as if to say 'moi?' "My business, you say? I've only got one prospect, personally."

"That bauble. Have you sold it?"

"Not quite yet, though I have an interested buyer on the next island. Once our business is concluded here, that is."

"They must be patient."

"They're a resident, all the time in the world..."

The two of them engaged in a tango of mutual business intrigue, while the shadows of the crew stirred. A deep rumbling was audible from the captain, a hunger which roared like a lion, if one thought to listen.

It was soon time to celebrate. When Yuri departed from the safety of Lawrence's line of sight, the machinations plotted just beyond the corners would snap to life – A flourish of unexpected motion ending with a chaotic but not altogether noisy subdual. Struck with tranquilizers and then captured via a net, the oldest trick in the book, whereafter he was dragged away quietly to some place secure – The Captain's Special Kitchen, Lyon's Den.