Raiding in the Wrong Neighborhood

[Tokoz]

(cowboyjotaro)


The life of a Cipher Pol grunt was a glamorous one. Mass produced suits, mediocre pay, and getting sent to investigate every random stupid thing that Intelligence felt was worth sending some poor sumbitch with nothing better to do after. Thus we find the current state of one Lassa Iskario, stationed on the cutting edge Marine Transport that had been heading to the start of the Grand Line. By cutting edge, he meant as old as Gold Roger's Corpse and probably just as rotten. 

Seriously, this tub was getting decommissioned after this trip. There really wasn't anything else they could have gotten him on? He might not be worth chartering a ship for, but something less awful would have been nice. 

Sighing, he got up from the tiny bunk in the closet he had been assigned as a cabin. It wasn't so bad, not like he had much with him. Still, getting changed when your head was an inch and a half below the ceiling was irritating. 

Ambling out of the cabin, he decided to head for the common area. Various Marine grunts were wasting time there when they weren't on shift, playing cards or drinking. The typical delinquencies of military life. 

Sitting down at one of the few empty tables in the corner, he pulled out a deck of cards and began to run through a game of solitaire. Not like there was anything better to do right now. Hell, at this point, he'd take a pirate attack if it meant breaking the monotony. 

His appearance had drawn a few whispers, given the suit and hat. He was openly Cipher Pol for this particular trip, given it would be hard to explain what other government agency was sending someone on this mission. He clearly wasn't a Marine, and he wasn't a judge, so that limited a lot of the options. 

Glancing up from his cards, he tried to find someone who seemed interesting to talk to. Hadn't someone been whispering about this ship having a Devil Fruit User...?

[cowboyjotaro]

Flick. Flick, flick.

The familiar sound of a lighter being flicked ablaze echoed through the common room of the dilapidated Marine ship Captain François Ferrault now found himself on. Despite his rank, this wasn’t a ship that belonged to him - rather, it was simply a transport vessel hauling the officer from his previous post in the Blues into the Grand Line.

Flick, flick.

It was conspicuous for the initiated flick of a lighter to not be accompanied by the satisfying wooshing release of a lit cigarette, but François - despite his rather large, ornate golden lighter - was no smoker. The reflection of the flame flickered briefly on the surface of François’ sunglasses, which he insisted on wearing almost always, even indoors.

If some were able to draw attention to their appearance with sharp, professional outfits, then François was able to do so with much the opposite. His wavy hair looked scruffy and unkempt. Short, unshaved, few-days-old stubble lined the contours of his chin and jaw. His tie was laced around his neck without much care or application. In fact, his Captain’s jacket appeared to fit poorly on his broad shoulders - though perhaps that was as much metaphorical as literal.

He walked through the common room to respectful glances from those lower-ranked to him. Upon his boarding the vessel, such men had tried to stand and salute him as he walked past - a habit that he had quickly put to rest. It was perhaps the most uncomfortable reminder of his stature. He preferred to wade the sea of men, not fight the current.

“I wouldn’t put down another beli on that hand, Petty Officer,” François joked to the raucous laughter of all on that table save for the betting Marine, who glared and then folded. Just enough banter to navigate as one of the men, yet enough distance to be left to his own devices. Now, he was able to take a seat at a table neighboring perhaps the most interesting fellow he would see on his trip.

Evidently Cipher Pol, this guest was clearly no stranger to the cards himself. Flipping cards this way and that in an attempt to complete his game of Solitaire, the well-dressed gentleman was also alone. François sat back in his chair and rested one ankle on his opposite knee, continuing to flick his lighter open and closed, watching. For a brief instant the two men made eye contact, and the Captain waved his index and middle fingers away from his head in a friendly salute.

"Nice venue, huh?” he asked, irony lacing his otherwise innocent question.

“Where are you headed on this rustbucket, then, I wonder? Or are you unable to share?” François mused. Flick, flick.

[Tokoz]

 Glancing up as someone sat down, Lassa recognized the Captain from when he boarded the boat. He couldn't quite recall the name, but in fairness, it wasn't like they had been doing many introductions. Flipping another card over, he set the deck down and nodded. 

"Venue's great. As for where I'm going, Cipher Pol sends you to a variety of unique and interesting locations, all across the world. Tropical islands, packed cities, and dangerous fortresses." He grinned, and then rolled his eyes.

"This is not one of the interesting ones. I'm just doing some grunt surveillance work on a rock way back at the head of Paradise, nothing particularly exciting. Week and a half of sitting around and making notes about things, which I'll then have to summarize as 'nothing happened' in a report."

Giving a slightly sarcastic whistle, he nodded to the Captain. 

"Agent Cointoss. And yourself?" 

Actually, given this person was a Captain... wouldn't hurt to ask. He knew there was a Devil Fruit user on the ship from mentions of someone being on watch if a fight broke out, but hadn't gotten a specific name for fear of spooking said Ability User. 

"Odd question, but you wouldn't happen to be a Devil Fruit user, would you? The men were talking about one being on the ship, and I wanted to have a chat with whoever it was. I haven't heard of many, if any Devil Fruit users below Captain rank, so I figured I'd ask."

By way of explanation, he reached into his coat and revealed some of his medical supplies. "I'm a doctor, and on the Grand Line, being a doctor means having to treat people with weird bodies and who have been hurt by all sorts of bizarre things. Kind of hard to use basic medical knowledge on someone whose body is made of pillows, or has gotten liquid mercury poured into their veins or something." 

[cowboyjotaro]

“Agent Cointoss,” the stranger had replied, an oddly apt response in line with François’ expectations. He felt as though he were, in fact, flipping a coin every time he made a new acquaintance. Heads, his new companion was the agreeable sort and got along with the Marine Captain. Tails, their personalities conflicted - and it seemed as though often his interactions landed on Tails.

At the mention of reports, François chuckled. “I suppose that’s the negative of being your own solo act. Myself, I prefer to delegate that sort of boring thing to some grunt. Not you guys, of course,” the Captain turned towards the gambler’s table, receiving a few scattered cheers and exclamations. It was the mention of something else, rather serious, which concerned the white-jacketed man, who lowered his sunglasses so as to make proper eye contact with Agent Cointoss.

“A Devil Fruit user, huh?” he repeated, staring deep into the Cipher Pol Agent’s eyes, as though searching for a hidden meaning behind his inscrutable irises. Becoming the target of a curious doctor’s exploratory machinations would hardly ameliorate what was a boring, but tolerable journey. For now, his body was ordinary - as human as human ever was.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know anything about that, myself. I’m limited to these,” François answered, pulling out a pair of golden knuckle dusters from inside his suit jacket pocket. Weapons hardly proved a person’s non-Devil Fruit user status, but it would at least allude to him using another sort of fighting style. He lowered his voice.

“Fascinating, though. From rumours circulating around here - and I wouldn’t really put much stock in rumours, mind you, but they do come from somewhere, don’t they? - agents are less of the life-giving type, and more of the life-taking type. Although I guess if you’re doing some grunt surveillance work, as you put it, you’re doing more life-watching work than anything, hehe,” François joked, evidently pleased with his own brand of humor.

Were there secrets buried in that head of the agent’s that the Marine Captain was simply not able to pry out of him? He stared at the man, playing his solitaire, solving a card problem of his own making, and deduced that this was someone who needed to keep his mind active.

“I’ll tell you what? How about this? Blackjack, heard of it? We can take turns dealing, we each play and then reveal, and whoever comes closer to twenty-one in the end is the winner - the other person has to reveal a secret. Believe you me, there are some secrets I can tell, and I’m assuming you can too,” François proposed.

It was unbecoming of an officer to be so forthcoming about spreading Marine intel, but that was François: cheeky and unbothered.

[Tokoz]

Damn, not a Devil Fruit user, huh? Oh well, it seemed he had gotten a bum report. That or he had just met someone who wanted to keep their abilities on the down low. Either way, no sense pushing it. 

"Taking or giving sort of depends on the mission. I don't go for murder as my go-to, but it helps to be able to patch people up, myself included." Lassa said, shrugging laconically. He didn't feel it was necessary to mention that a thorough knowledge of the human body helped with the former bit as well. 

He hadn't become a doctor just to kill people, but things could be useful for many reasons, right? The offer in regards to secrets was enticing as well. 

"Reveal a secret, huh? Assuming it's not something we'd get court martialed for saying, I'm game." Lassa said, gathering up his deck and shuffling it. After a few moments, he placed it on the table. He didn't actually know any methods of stacking a deck, or shuffling in a way that would help him, and besides.

Cheating at a game of chance took away the fun. It was only good if you had some surprises coming your way, and Lassa wanted something to liven up this boring trip.

Drawing two cards once the officer had drawn his, Lassa considered the two he had gotten. An Ace and a 2. Either a 13, or a 3. Definitely hit. Drawing another card, he found himself staring at a Queen.

So, 13 it was. Otherwise he'd have busted right now. Same odds as before, then. 5 cards that would bust him outright, 7 that would improve his situation, and 1 that would put him at Blackjack. Drawing another card, he flipped it over, and then raised his eyebrows. Apparently luck was on his side today. 

Once François had finished drawing, he'd flip over his cards to reveal an ace, 2, queen and 8. 21, Blackjack. Assuming his opponent didn't have it as well, he'd ask "Well then, secret number one... if you're not the Devil Fruit User I heard people talking about, who is?"