As they walked towards the kitchen, Buggy mentally braced himself for whatever the newly freed Fishman might throw his way. The point of this talk was to get everyone, specifically the Fishman, to understand that they had the freedom to stay with him as his crew or to be left on an island of their choosing.
And if he did choose to leave rather than stay, as disappointed as Buggy would be, then he would leave with nothing but good thoughts of Buggy and the girls.
There was nothing he wanted less than to have some loudmouth with a grudge against him telling anyone who'll listen who Buggy is and where he might find him. It was likely that such an outcome would ruin all the plans Buggy had yet to put into motion. Plans that were all relying on the fact that no one knew who he was yet.
Making their way to a table Buggy had set up some time ago, he'd figured this conversation was going to be an issue the moment he placed himself in charge of the man's health, they waited for someone to make the first move to sit down.
That was Buggy, who seemed comfortable enough to take charge when no one else would. Each of them sat down quickly after he did, taking the opportunity to get as comfortable as they could before engaging in what might possibly be an extremely touchy and uncomfortable conversation.
Before anyone said anything, however, Buggy could see that the Fishman's guard went up the moment his eyes rested on Buggy's chest. The wooden handle of his gun sticking out, something that seemed to warrant a hostile glare from the ex-slave.
From the way he shifted in his chair, and the position his arms found themselves being positioned, Buggy could tell Soloman had every intention of getting up and leaving before Buggy had a chance to try something underhanded.
But being how Buggy was, he wouldn't let this opportunity for a new crewmate slip through his fingers. Especially if there was a chance the man knew something about Fishman Karate. Knowing how to work around it would be helpful when they eventually visited Fishman Island. Those were thoughts for a later date, though.
Pulling out the gun and cocking it, Buggy aimed it directly at the other man's head. Soloman did not take too kindly to having a gun pointed at his head.
Before he could try to fight back, Buggy had placed the gun on the table. Caught off guard, Soloman hesitated. And if he wasn't expecting the large-nosed Human to put the pistol down, then he sure as hell didn't expect said gun to be slid across the wooden table and bump into his hand.
A pointed look in Devlin's direction was all it took for her to do the same with hers. Had it been any other moment, Buggy might have made a joke somewhere along the lines of the gun she held being as big as she was, which wasn't too far from the truth. However, it was neither the time nor the place.
Lilith was blind and still weakened from her year of enslavement, so needless to say she wasn't allowed to have a gun. After all, Buggy was immune to being cut, not shot. And Devlin was susceptible to being hurt and dying from both ways.
Back to the conversation, Buggy attempted to deflate some of the tension that had been almost ready to burst. "We just want to talk." He made sure to have his hand visibly on the table. Being a slave for God knows how long might have stripped him of more than just his freedom.
The mind was a difficult thing to find again, once it was lost. And after who knows how long being a slave, Buggy wanted to be as careful as he could possibly be around Soloman.
Thankfully, the gun he'd given Soloman was a gun that he'd left soaking in a bucket not twenty minutes ago. Luckily, he had long since prepared for just this occasion. Gunpowder was all but useless if it couldn't be ignited.
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Meanwhile, Soloman's brain was working overtime to think of what they were hoping to achieve by giving him a pistol. Make that two pistols, as the girl beside Buggy slid her over as well. At the very least, he knew that the other girl had nothing more than what she was wearing.
Anything that could possibly be a weapon, regardless of whether it was a knife or a gun, would never be small enough to fit under her dress without showing a shapely bulge that would reveal what it was she was hiding.
In no way did their actions make him any less suspicious of their true intentions. But he did feel safer with a gun in his hands. Especially in his weakened state.
Following Buggy's decision to make Soloman feel more comfortable, the four began to discuss the question that needed to be answered. What was Soloman going to do now that he was awake?
Buggy was sure he'd want to go home, most likely to Fishman Island, but Devlin felt that there was a chance he'd planned on staying. A very small chance, but a chance nonetheless.
And just as Buggy predicted, Soloman had expressed his desire to return to Fishman Island as soon as possible. Though it was unfortunate for him that Buggy had no intention of heading there or anywhere else outside of the Calm Belt anytime soon.
"What do you mean you won't take me!?" he yelled, slamming his fist down on the table. Lilith jumped at the sound of his fist breaking the table and sought refuge behind Buggy's sitting figure.
"It's not that we can't...we just won't." He clarified; nodding his head as if that explained everything. Though elaborated when he could practically see the vein in Soloman's head bulging out.
"When we escaped Loguetown we left quite a bad impression on the locals. The Marines are going to be looking for us. If we go into the Grand Line with our ship understaffed and still looking like it belongs to a Noble, we'd be asking for nothing but trouble." He spoke calmly and with little to no agitation in his voice.
But Soloman wasn't appeased in the slightest. He wanted to go back to the one place in the world it was ok to be Fishman.
"There's an island I know about that can handle something like this. If you'd just wait until we get there, I'm sure we could find someone who'd be willing to give you a ride or something." Buggy was trying his best to settle this without incident.
Soloman simply nodded his head and stared off into space, thinking of what he should do.
If he wanted to go back to Fishman Island, then that was his prerogative. But if he wanted Buggy to take him there, he'd need to either wait until they were ready to brave the road to get there, take his suggestion and find his own ride, or just swim back on his own.
And it wasn't like Buggy didn't feel bad for him, it was just that the needs of his crew came before the needs of others. And right now that was the need to stay hidden and alive. It was a huge risk that Buggy just wasn't willing to take. Especially not for a man who showed no interest in being part of the crew.
But, of course, being the shrewd person he would always be, he'd try his best to warm Soloman up to the idea of at least being friends for the time being. It never hurt to have a vicious looking Fishman Karate wielding Fishman as someone to have your back when you needed it.
Soloman gave him a long stare that turned into a slow nod. "Alright then." Buggy turned to the other two. "The same goes for you. If you want to leave, it'll have to be when we're done with the alterations to the ship. Unless you'd rather stay?"
Devlin nodded in confirmation while Lilith remained where she was, acting as if the option to leave wasn't even applicable to her. What Soloman didn't know was that the two of them had already established their desire to stay. Devlin because she began to feel comfortable with Buggy and Lilith…
Buggy didn't actually know why Lilith decided to stay, but from the fact that she's never too far away from him, usually in the same room, he had a few working theories. And while most of which were male teenage fantasies, the rest chalked it up to feeling the need to stay close to someone she recognizes as 'safe'.
He recalled that he'd had that very same issue when he first came aboard the Oro Jackson. After experiencing his first real fight against some Marines, he'd stuck to Rayleigh's side for days. Buggy could only hope he wouldn't turn into her Rayleigh.
Because as much as he owed the man, turning into another Rayleigh, as well as exposing the world to two of that man, would be a personal nightmare come true.
Before long, Soloman claimed he was tired from the day's events and promptly got up and retreated to the room he'd woken up in.
The next few weeks were spent racing towards the Calm Belt and just enjoying each other's company. Well, as much of their company as four semi-strangers could enjoy. And oddly enough, more than you'd think.