Is This Fate or Is That a Knife in My Back?

Jack merely laughed softly, he was in no doubt that given time she could most likely beat him, he just hoped that would change, then again few trust their captain blindly from the get go, especially ones that are recruited this way. He smiled though since it would seem this have gone alot better than expected.Right then..." He leaned forward placing an elbow on the table and then resting his head in his hand."People have tried to get me motivated for years, but lets see if you can make me" He smiles softly with his eyes closed.

After alittle he realises while he may have invited her to join he didn't know much about her, nor did he really know anything about this woman. "Anyhow is there anything you'd like to know about me or my crew, it's alot easier answering these kind of things now and not while sailing, besides we have plenty of time" He smiled softly, figuring as the polite man he was he wouldn't start asking questions before allowing her to get some answered first.

“I only have one really important question…” Pink began, her tone grave as she leaned forward over the table seriously. “…Are you a man or a woman?” While she had a strong hunch that she’d just signed on to work under a male, she still wasn’t entirely positive. “That’s all I’m really interested in.” And she leaned back casually again, dismissing any further questioning. “So long as we’re not sacrificing children to demon gods or something in your crew it’s all peaches and cream so far as I’m concerned. I mean… your beliefs are your beliefs even if they’re totally insane, but I’m not really too keen on killing random people for no reason.”

Jack eyes widened quite substantionally, was he really mistaken for a woman at the moment, not that he was upset about it, he just didn't think it possible. He took a few moments to gather himself, to be honnest he was quite speechless at firs he just went to look down of himself wondering is his clothes was worn in a funny was that had made this mistake possible. But he found nothing of the sort, he then finally gathered himself up to actually speak an answer. "Thats your only question, nothing about who I am where I come from what is the goal of the crew, where are we sailing toward, noting? just my gender?" He raised an eyebrow, taking a few additional moments to actually grasp the situation. "Well I am a man, not quite sure how I seem like a woman?" He asked not certain if he even wanted the answer.

He leaned back in his chair and well while she might not have any questions for him, he actually had some for her, nothing to bad though and if she choose not wanting to answer than that would be fine, he has shared the point of wanting to keep certain things secret, there are things in life even he regreted doing, one of those was such a simple thing as accepting the headband he wore right at this moment. "Well even if you don't want anything answered, do you mind answering a few of mine?" He smiled softly, and continued hoping it would be a yes. "Like where you're from, what are you doing out here, or maybe why are you out here is better?" Jack blinked quickly forgetting the most important. "Ohh what kind of position would you like on my crew?" He laughed softly.

“That is my only question,” Pink affirmed without skipping a beat. “I mean… there are subtle differences between men and women, but I’m still sort of learning. I had a feeling that you were a man, but I really wasn’t entirely certain. Thanks for the help! You hear stories about men, but things are so much different in person, ya know? Oh…” She hesitated at the sudden realization. “I guess you probably don’t know….”

“Anyhow!” she started anew. “I’m from Amazon Lily, where men are like some kind of mythical creature and aren’t allowed on the island. I left in an attempt to gain a lot of strength quickly to become a proper empress once I return. That’s why I don’t really care what your crew is doing. You’re a crew of pirates which means you’ll inevitably get into binds that require strength and ingenuity to get out of. I’ll get stronger in no time flat!” And she smiled joyously at the mere thought of it. Maybe this was a better idea than attacking random pirates and hoping for the best.

“As for position on your crew… Uh… I hadn’t really thought about it. I like to cook, so I guess I could do that?” She shrugged, feeling at a loss for any other form of answer.

Jack pondered about it, atleast he had seemed like a man, that was a good thing, wasn't it? He tried to follow up, and well it didn't take long for the pieces to fall together as they where actually given to him, and well then it all made quite alot of sense to him. And that was the entire thing, not only the girl or boy thing, but the fight aswell, why it was called magic and not fruit powers, it made alot of sense now. atleast to him, it might not make as much sense to Pink here, but well he could help with that given time. "I see..." He said remanancing the tought s of the whole amazon island, quite scary in his oppinion, but while it seemed scary it was also quite intriqueing, as forbidden to him, mostly just sounded like an invite, he did enjoy exploring things others had not, and to be the first man to have gone to Amazon Lily and survived would be quite the tale, a tale he regretebly would have to postpone, as this was just one woman from that place, he had no doubt that the amazons of that island would be as if not stronger and so at his current state he's chances of survinving to tell the tale would be quite slim.

He leants back as their food arrived, he got a nice big chunk of meat nicely cooked with a side dish and for Pink the waiter carried a nice hot curry dish, the small of the curry could be felt in even Jack's nose, definetly spicy stuff, then again it was what she asked for. "Help yourself" He smiled puring up some sake, while allowing Pink to atleast have some food before continueing the conversation. "Well now that I know where you're from it sure make sense of alot of things, explains why you called my fire magic for one" He smiled. "Also I'd be happy to give you the position as a cook on my ship" He smiled starting to enjoy his own meal himself.

He thought about it for a moment, and well while she had the logic that made alot of sense then he was't sure it was the exact best way to go about it, but he wouldn't argue on that point. "So you're an upcomming empress? I must say I am honored by your company then" He smiled softly, she was quite the fun sort, when she wasn't trying to capture him, he was pretty sure she'd do just fine out on the sea as a pirate.

Pink raised an extremely curious brow as Jack delved deeply into his own thoughts, remaining silent while she waited for him to puzzle out whatever he was working on, most important of the issues being if her chosen position on the crew was actually a workable thing or if she needed to decide something else.

Her waiting would be soon interrupted by the arrival of their dishes, taking in a big whiff of the curry before covering her nose with a barely audible sneeze. This would be more than palatable! The mere thought of the spicy dish on her tongue brought a smile to her lips before she’d quickly begin to dig in, her manners less than ladylike. It wasn’t that she was shoving it in her mouth like an animal so much as the fact that she didn’t take any breaks in between spoons full of mind-bendingly volcanic curry. She was practically drinking the stuff down as her face became more and more of a heated, angry red hue.

It wasn’t until he finished speaking that she finally took a break, almost panting before grabbing up the bottle of alcohol itself and chugging down a few good swigs before removing her lips with a relieved gasp. Even putting the bottle down she looked prepared to begin panting like a dog cooking under the Alabasta sun at any second.

“I called your fire, magic because it clearly is,” she replied breathlessly. “There’s no other explanation for it. Like how I can replicate my body just by thinking about it a little bit. How do you possibly explain it with any other word but magic? Thanks though. Yeah, you’ll have an empress cooking for you. My dishes are always top notch, gauranteed!” She winked with a cocky smile, actually looking a bit more humorous than confident considering how her tongue and throat were currently suffering from third degree burns and her pain showed on her face.

Speaking of which, the moment her little speech was finished she went straight back to hammering away at the curry dish like it was some sort of sprint to the finish.

Jack raised an eyebrow, quite baffled by the way she ate, as much as he appreciated manners, he figured when it came to food, the best manner you could show was that you liked it, and gulping it down like she did surely seem to like it, so really he just smiled at it, hoping that it wouldn't be a problem in the future, then again, he never really disliked anyone for not having manners, only disliked those who had really really bad manners.

He ofcourse enjoyed his meal, in a slower paced manner, but still it had a very nice taste he truely could never get around the feeling of eating good food, it always felt so surreal, back when he was younger this kind of taste would had him know that in a few moments he'd have to scam his way out of it and make a run for it, since well he couldn't pay for stuff of this quality.

As he recieved the word of the fact that his fruit was magic, he truely wondered how she managed her own powers, was completly unaware of hos she got the powers in the first place. He couldn't help but laugh, he found it as amusing as it was intriqueing. So your powers, also 'magic'?" He asked softly, tilting his head alittle, truely he understood the confussion, while he from child even had heard about the fruits and the way their powers works Pink might not so it would seem strange. "And you're never wondered where these magic powers came from?" He continued to ask, in the end it didn't matter since it might not be more than what you call it in the end, he hoped that she knew she couldn't swim.

He continued to eat, and well felt quite pleased to hear that he had found a very capable cook, in the end he truely like good food alot, so having someone who knew how to make such a thing really would come in handy. "For that I am pleased, ofcourse the resources you need will be obtained within reason, all you have to do is ask, that goes for anything you want or need really... thats what freedom is all about if you ask me... having what you need and want" he smiled truely it might be a rather selfish way of putting it, if not for his ideal that everyone should be able to enjoy freedom within reason.

“What’s so funny?” Pink asked, cocking a brow in total confusion as her new captain began to laugh at her. It was surprising enough to her that she paused in her eating to speak without actually breaking for another drink despite the fact she was beginning to break into a cold sweat… or rather more of a sweat than she’d already been showing from having been baking in the arid desert heat.

“Of course it’s magic. We must just be special to be able to tap into such amazing powers without needing to be… witches or whatever. If you think you have a more logical explanation, then let’s hear it! Don’t just laugh at me like an idiot and then not share your supposedly better theory!”

Jack smilessoftly, taking a sip of his sake, it wasn't like him to tease like this normally but it was a rather rare chance to say the least. "Didn't say I wasn't going to share the truth now did I?" He smiled softly, and well took a small moment to figure out the best way ot putting this so that she couldn't refuse to beleive him. "For I do know that this magic is not something we just obtained, you can call it magic but what it is, is the cause of something we ate" He tilted his head an continued to eat some more. "I imagine at some point in life you stumbled upon some kind of weird looking fruit, and figured why not try and see how it tastes... then found out it tasted abselutely horribly?" He asked though he knew the answer before hand, that was if she could actually remember eating the fruit.

It didn't take too long for him to finnish up eating but he noticed she was sweating, and he figured it was the spicy food. "Remember to drink, I truely do not wish to see you sick over eating something to spicy" Weird as it is he knew that it could happen, then again he hadn't been able to feel the heat from spicy food for some years now, so he was pretty good on that part, he could still enjoy the taste from it luckily.[/color]

Pink’s eyes gazed far off into the distance as she recalled her somewhat recent memories, a bulb eventually lighting over her head as she recalled the interesting looking melon sorta thing that she’d nibbled on and immediately dismissed as rotten from the horridly offensive taste. And then her expression became one of critical doubt.

“Wait, you’re telling me that I have magic powers from a fruit that I took a bite of awhile back?” She pointed the spoon at him lazily, a bit of the bright red curry dripping back from whence it came. “What kind of kooky story is that?”

At his reminder that she should cool herself off with another drink, the Kuja empress scooped down the last of her curry before pushing her dish aside and taking another good couple of swigs of sake to wash it down and give her poor insides a bit of relief.

Jack laughed softly, kooky might sum it up pretty good, but no other word truely did as well as the name of the fruits and such, afterall it was quite a story to understand yet he had an idea that Pink here didn't really care as much for the story as she did for just knowing what he was talking about. "Kooky? nah I'd go with devilish" He smiled softly, knowing full well he had to give a prober explanation.

He took a few seconds to figure out how best to explain this, without going into to much detail that was unnecesary. "The fruit you took a bite of is called a devil fruit, and those fruits do indeed carry powers within them, powers created by a devil many years ago... there are thousands spread across the globe that find they way into the hands of people" He smiles softly hoping to have cleared it a bit up, but he felt like he needed to hit the nail into the subject making sure he had made himself seem truthfull. "I'm sure you've also noticed your inability to swim, or even touch the sea for longer periods of time... how the sea drains your power and energy?" He asked full knowing that she should be aware if she wasn't then he had proberly done a good thing by telling her.

At the word 'devilish' Pink paused, raising a brow high as she made a first attempt to translate just what he'd meant by that. Whatever it was couldn't be good at all for her plans. As he explained to her just what exactly he meant, her features sank further and further into a dark depression. This was positively catastrophic!

"Oh great..." she sulked, burying her face in her hands. "Now I've got some sort of devil's power all because I was just a little curious. "There's no way I can be an empress when I'm being controlled by a devil! Not only would I be entirely untrusted by my people, but I can't even trust myself! What am I supposed to do now? Yeah, I noticed how water wreaks havoc on my energy. Obviously its my body desiring death by drowning..."

Jack eyes widened quite abruptly as it would seem the information had gone sour in his newly aquired crewmember, which was definetly not his intensions. "Hold on..." He bite his lip trying to think of some clever way of putting it making it sound good and not so bad in the end. "Its not that bad... you're not possesed by any devil of any kind... ehh..." He tried to twist it thinking up.

In the end he luckily remembered some saying that might just suit this situation perfectly. "Think of it like this... you're a cook, and food has been made by the gods, while spices has been made by the devil..." He took a small break to make sure he was saying this right, but not so long so she would misunderstand. "So just like you use the devil made spice you use the power the devil has made... its not a bad thing at all, just... don't eat another okay..?" He smiled softly, beleiving that now he had more or less given her all the bad stuff that happens upon comsuming a devil fruit.

Pink stared at her captain quizically, as if he'd just grown a second nose upon his forehead that had broken out into a musical number while he did his utmost best to bring her back down to earth and away from the noose. His explanation wasn't quite hitting the mark, but it was accomplishing at least one thing.

"I have no idea what you just said, but alright I guess!" she relented with an exaggerated shrug. For now she wouldn't worry too much about the whole thing. He was saying some pretty silly stuff and for all she really knew he had no idea what he was talking about. Actually... he almost definitely had no idea what he was talking about other than that the power she'd gained really had likely come from that fruit she'd chosen to eat. It was the only explanation even if it wasn't entirely logical. She might do some more research into this thing known as devil fruit sometime later.

Jack smiled mildly truth be told he proberly wasn't the best to answer these doubts Pink had on the topic, and he couldn't really expect her to simply trust him about it, trustworthy as he might be, they had only recently met, so that was hardly a reasonable thing to expect. As she actually decided to simply go with it, he was surpriced to say the least but happy aswell it made things alot simpler in the end, then again it was no big deal now a days, as you found fruit eaters everywhere on these seas, it wasn't to uncommon that there was atleast one one every ship out there, though it wasn't always certain that was a good thing, as simply eating a fruit doesn't always mean you'll obtain a raw benefit from the get go, sometimes you had to train with it.

He snapped out of it, as he kinda figured he'd actually need to get a move on at some point, also make sure Pink was all set to go aswell, he couldn't really know if she had any unfinnished buisness here. "Well if you're full and such I can show you the ship, unless you'd rather have some more..?" He asked softly, he didn't exactly know how starved she had been if she had, traveling wasn't always easy, though to be fair if you know how to use your own advatages then it can become quite easy pretty quickly.