By the time Gern left Sakazuki's home, it was late at night.
A sea breeze swept through Marineford's streets, carrying the salty tang of the ocean. In the distant harbor, waves lapped softly against the shore.
With his hands in his pockets, Gern strolled toward his usual tavern.
He pushed open the wooden door, and warm light and a clamor of voices greeted him.
He spotted Kuzan sitting in a corner at once.
His tall frame slouched against the back of his chair, a glass of ice-cold liquor giving off a chilly mist before him. He seemed to have been waiting for a while.
"Well, if it isn't our young and promising Vice Admiral Kuzan!" Gern walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down with a teasing smile.
"Drowning your sorrows alone this late at night? Don't tell me some girl dumped you?"
Kuzan lifted his eyelids and gave him a lazy glance. "You're late, Gern."
"Late?" Gern raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember making plans with you."
"Give me a break." Kuzan snorted and raised a hand to signal the bartender for another drink.
"Did Sakazuki drag you into another whole evening of cursing the World Government?"
Gern shrugged, took the glass the bartender handed him, and gently swirled it.
"More or less. He's pretty unhappy with the Shichibukai system."
"Heh, no surprise there." Kuzan took a drink, the ice clinking crisply in his glass.
"But I didn't expect you to be so calm about it."
"Oh?" Gern looked at him with a faint, ambiguous smile. "What did you expect me to do? Slam the table like Sakazuki?"
Kuzan stared at him for a couple of seconds, then shook his head. "No. You're a lot more cunning than he is."
"Hey, hey, is that supposed to be a