Screw It, I'm Going Out to Find It!

Chapter XIX: Davy Back Ignored

This was precisely why appearances were important. What was the point of having any sort of freedom if you were damned by the public? If nothing else, their father was right about those around them constantly observing them. Especially unconsciously, it was normal to track different qualities of a person: behaviors, habits, posture, vernacular, and decisions to name a few. From there, they blended together to create the image others would view the person as, and any speck of an outlier could greatly skew it all. Thus came the importance of meticulously forming each. It was apparent to Winter that Whitley did not give a damn about any of this.

Her room had been promptly disorganized in an orderly fashion when she first saw his bounty. It was a disrespect to her and her family for him to act this way. She had once been under the impression that he was under the thumb of their father, prepared to be a carbon copy of him. She would have been adequately overjoyed to learn this was not the case, but instead he had thrown it away to be a criminal.

With their lifestyle, her brother had only a few influences available. While she would never call it a good thing, it would be understandable if he had been successfully manipulated by the man known for manipulation. Both herself and Weiss were respectable role models while their mother certainly could not have led to this. The only conclusion Winter was left to face was that he had made the decision entirely on his own without any external influence. That was what disappointed her the most. He was willingly being immature, inconsiderate, and disrespectful to herself, Weiss, and anyone he has encountered and will encounter.

At least Weiss was doing well. There was that incident as of late, but she performed well enough in the trial that Winter believed her reputation was easily recoverable. So, while she would never wish Weiss to be a clone of herself, Winter was pleased to see her sister walking the same path.

Weiss wasn't a worry for her, but she wondered what trouble Whitley was getting into.

***

"Didn't you hear 'im?" A burly man asked. "He said the food tastes like shit! Go get 'im somethin' new." The waitress cowered before the pirate. He was deeply tanned, bald with a goatee, and had a scar running across his left eye leaving it pale unlike the black one opposite it.

"Truly, there is no need," Whitley assured the man. "I merely said that it was a bit bland and that I was disappointed. There's no need to cause such a fuss."

The pirate growled, "You're lucky our captain is humble. Make sure the next dish 'as more flavor."

"Yeah!" Another pirate jeered. "No one serves the captain a lousy meal on our watch!"

***

There was only one man brave enough to enter the room. His shaggy blond hair fell over one eye, the other gray orb sitting under an eyebrow that curled like the smoke coming from his cigarette. He sighed at the cowering soldiers around him and opted to kick open the door. Those around him scurried to hide where they could.

"The food's ready, dumbass!" Sanji strode into the room, dropping the plate on the desk in the center.

Adam was displeased with him. "How dare you refer to me like that, cook!"

"Just shut up and eat your food, you damn edgy-wannabe asshole!" Adam complied. Only a few spoonfuls of the rice Sanji had brought him changed his demeanor and he began to relax. While he ate, Sanji pulled up a chair to lounge in.

He would never say it out loud, but Adam was one of the few people out there he respected. The key was that Adam truly appreciated food, far more than anyone else Sanji had ever seen. That was one of the only reasons he was here — all the pretty girls in the Revolutionary Army was another reason. Just as always, Adam left nothing behind; every grain of rice had been savored.