"Really now? I can't say I believe that. Honestly, I think you're quite beautiful under that mask." Even if Valentine turned out to be horribly scarred underneath that mask, he still would have found her attractive. He found himself leaning in, almost reaching out for her mask.

And then paused when he saw the discomfort in her eyes. What the hell was he doing? Just because he wanted to see her face, didn't mean he had the right to make her do something she didn't want to do. Gerard pulled back, guilt in his eyes. "S-Sorry." he said, an awkward silence descending over them. Gerard glanced over and looked at the fire. "I-I should probably get some more firewood," he said, pulling himself to his feet. It was pretty clear though what was really happening. He felt he had overstepped his bounds and wanted to give her space.

With one last guilty look, he disappeared into the dark.

Deep down she wanted him to continue, but didn't want to say anything, she wanted him to proceed but for right now this might actually be the best, she didn't want to create weak links to her life after all. Her bad sides started screaming to her that she was the one that did something wrong and in the end she couldn't decide what was happening inside her mind. It confused her, it was as if she was a teen again, not because she had ever been a teen but still, she knew what it was though and that was enough in cases like this according to her. As she decided to stay around the fire to contemplate what was happening and what to do with her mixed emotions of what had happened and what is happening at the moment, she felt the awkward sense of what was happening and thus decided that maybe she could at least get some sleep, as she tuckered in a bit next to the fire she realized that she might have been a bit harsh on him.

Maybe she shouldn't have been like that towards him, maybe everything could have gone down differently, or maybe it was for her not to think of this as a break up instead of just an awkward thing that happened, never the less it was time for her to sleep for the night. Just as she did she heard a scream for what seemed to be calling for help, and it seemed to be from where Gerard walked towards! As she ran towards his direction she got worried instantly.

info:

Gerard was mentally kicking himself as he walked through the trees. Why had he done that? He should have respected her wishes and left her alone. Still, it wasn't something disasterous. At least he hadn't attempted to hurt her or anything like.

Just give her a little time. It's not like she hates you or anything of the sort.

A sudden snort drew his attention. A massive boar stepped out from the bushes, its beady eyes focused on Gerard. The Dandyman braced himself, but wasn't too worried. It's not like this beast could harm him, or anything of the sort.

Then the beast charged, and Gerard noticed too late the beast's tusks turning black.

The breast crashed into him head on. Gerard was sure he felt his ribs break from the blow. Everything seemed to slow down. The thing had haki? When the hell did it master haki? There were beasts like that on this island?

Gerard let out a cry of shock and pain as he was sent flying to the ground.

"You... AARGH, you stupid man!" she said as the tears started flowing on her face and her face blushed out of both anger and excitement that she was going to see him again. As she got closer to the scene where she had heard the screams coming from she started seeing something huge, something big and furry... a bear! As he kept screaming and struggling under the giant creature Valentine got closer and closer before holding her right arm up as if she was loading it like a cannon.

As she was only a few meters away at this point, running towards the bear like a bullet she pushed her hand as deep into the bear as she could and before she knew it the bear was repelled across the woods tens of meters in front of her. She hoped that it had finished it but she couldn't know for sure, something she didn't notice was when she pushed the bear away the intense fighting from all day and the several evasive maneuvers her mask flew off by the repelled wind making it drop down on the ground before her, right in front of Gerard. She didn't care to cover it up as that would serve as a weakness to her in this moment, she thought analytically instead of emotionally like she usually did, she would rather have Gerard see her face than him being dead after all, and when the mask dropped it was revealed that her face was actually... stunningly beautiful.

"You're stupid my dear, making me worry so..." she said as she kept staring into the woods to see if the bear would return for their heads in a fighting position as the tears ran down her cheeks with several sniffs in between words.

Knocked to the ground, the boat began to rear itself up, fully intent on crushed Gerard underneath its hooves. However, before the massive beast could deliver the finishing blow, there was a sudden blast and the boar was launched off its feet, crashing into the underbrush. Gerard looked over at the source, seeing none other than Valentine standing there, tears streaming down her face, and devoid of her mask. And holy crap was she beautiful.

"Valentine..." Gerard murmured, painfully pulling himself to his feet. Yep, something had definitely been broken. That's what he get for relying too much on his intangibility. He slowly hobbled towards her before the boar burst out, bleeding, but now furious. With a bellow, it began charging towards them.

"Not this time!" Gerard snarled. He suddenly moved, almost faster than the boar could see. He wrapped and arm around Valentine's waist and took them both up into the air, the boar charging past and slamming into a tree. Gerard's body was screaming in agony, but at least they were safe up here. "That damn bloody thing has haki," he growled through clenched teeth, "Who'd have heard of a pig with Haki?"

She snickered a bit then she chuckled a bit, and that chuckle turned into a laughter, that was a bit more funny of a delivery than she had prepared for coming out of Gerard after such a situation. "You wanna take that pig out, tough guy? I'll show you another cool feature of my fruit... come here" she said as she grabbed his clothes and dragged him towards her where intimate contact was as if it called their names before surprising him with a kiss which the moment she did she pressed her right palm onto his chest with a determined grip upon which a big red bubble appeared out of his back.

As her smooth lips closed the kiss off she wondered to him "Feel any better? First time I've used that technique" as she stood up on a branch of the tree as she grab ahold of the big red bubble that had come out of her man before she repelled it towards the boar to inflict his pain upon it. I guess it's settled, I'm this mans now, I owe my sanity to him and my soul. she thought as the red bubble clashed with the charging boar and within seconds pain could be heard from it as it struggled to stay conscious after the wound it had received from her previous attacks. "Well, don't move a lot, I'll tend to you, at least some what, even if it removes the pain it doesn't mend anything that isn't supposed to be like how its supposed to be, you got a doctor on that ship of yours?" she said as she went back to nurture him.

skills used:

Gerard didn't really expect Valentine to laugh at his words. But then again, he never expected what came next. Valentine pulled him in and KISSED HIM! The man was stunned, only vaguely aware of his pain seemingly melting away. As Valentine gently broke the kiss, Gerard was visibly stunned, watching her as she shooted the red bubble of his pain at the boar, inflicting some serious pain on it, but not killing it quite yet. "That's one hell of a kiss​," he murmured, unable to take his eyes off of Valentine. The boar bellowed in wounded fury.

And was then promptly shot between the eyes by Gerard. The man didn't even look at it. He was too focused on the beautiful woman before him.

With the immediate threat done, Gerard allowed Valentine to tend to him. His injuries didn't hurt, and he actually felt more refreshed, but he listened to her when she said he wasn't healed. "I don't have a proper doctor on my ship, though there is a sick bay there. Though in the mean time," He gave her a tender, yet playful smile, "I wouldn't be opposed to some tender, loving care."

He leaned against her gently for support as they would make their way back to camp. He didn't want to risk aggravating any of his injuries. All the while, he found it almost impossible to take his eyes off of her, or remove the smile from his face.

Now with the gas mask strapped around her left leg they walked towards their newly made, temporary home. It didn't rain anymore, it was as if all that had vanquished when the kiss was shared between the parties, and Gerard really seemed to like it as it was if all the previous awkward moments never happened, which she sure was happy about seeing that she enjoyed being with this person, and because well honestly, she didn't know when she would come to interact with someone else for awhile.

"Hey Gerard, I hope the kiss wasn't me going too far... I felt like.." she said as she took a quick break from speaking, trying to collect her thoughts before going on, "It was a collected feeling, cause I really like you, and that was the only way to really show it, you know?" she said as she looked at him with her kind eyes with shining glitter in them as if she was about to cry a few tears, but instead they stuck to her eyes and never fell to the ground or Gerard. She then broke eye contact and started walking again supporting his body as they came closer and closer to their camp.

"Other than that being said, tender, loving care, coming up!" she said as the enthusiasm captured her mind in a bubble almost, making her ready for this loving man. As they got to the camp she laid him down on a bed of leaves before making her sit behind him letting him rest his head in her lap as she stroke his hair from one side to the other. "Otherwise then, where do you come from? Originally that is" she said as she chuckled a bit before ending it with a tender smile.

Gerard chuckled lightly as Valentine hoped her kiss wasn't going to far. "Oh believe me, I'm not objecting at all. I'm actually a little relieved. I had thought I had gone a bit far back there. I'm glad to see I hadn't driven you away." He smiled as he looked into her eyes, chuckling once again at her enthusiasm. She really did have a beautiful smile.

Once they were back at their shelter, he was gently laid down, his head resting on her lap. He blush involuntarily as she began stroking his hair. It was almost amazing how gentle she could be, despite the great power she wielded. As she did so, he slowly brought up a hand to stroke her cheek.

Then came the question of where he was from. "Me? I came from an island called Spider Miles." he looked up at the night sky, "An island of smog, factories and junk. Not exactly the most glamerous place in the North, but it's my home." He began to think about his parents, still there and working in the factories. "I wonder how my parents are doing? I should go visit them sometime."

"You should, I've traveled across many places in my days, my meazly 5 years of existence, and I've seen many people who couldn't meet with their parents when they needed to before everything took a dark turn, you should always try to see the people you love before its too late..." she said as she praised his touch with small noises of appreciation, sort of like how a cat purrs. He seemed to like her touch as he blushed inevitably, not because she didn't by his but still, it was showing progress, this thing seemed to build into something stable, and when she thought of the deal that had gone down before she realized that she will be staying with this man for a whole lot longer than she realized, making her even happier and almost warm to the touch!

"You said I would fit as a queen, and when you said that I for a second visualized the picture of me running a certain island, Kuruigana Island, it's situated in paradise... I've always liked the scenery on that island from the small time I've been on it to the very ends of that time." she said as she made herself more comfortable in the leaf stack whilst grooming his hair using her smooth fingers. "But what if someone else already has control of it? Do I just come to terms with him or take it by force? Ough I don't know Gerard, but that seems to be my go to island as of now but I just don't know how to go to those lengths... and do you really think I could do it?" she asked him before looking into his beautiful eyes.

Gerard nodded in agreement at her words regarding his parents. He should at the very least write to them. Hell, he could possibly invite them to live with him on Minion. He could make sure they were comfortable. Or maybe he could simply take control of Minion. Build the place up abit. So many possibilities.

Then Valentine spoke of an island in Paradise. Kuraigana Island. "I can't say I've heard of the place, but if it's what you desire, then I'll be glad to help you. And if someone does control the island, well, they'll just have to look for another place to call home." He leaned himself up, bringing his lips to hers in a tender kiss. The kiss lingered for a moment before Gerard eased himself back down onto her lap. "And once you're on the throne, I can help you out with anything you need."

When Gerard had initially come to this island, he had wanted to get off as fast as he could. But looking into Valentine's beautiful eyes, he felt that Alisa could take all the time in the world getting here.

"Thanks, love~!" she said before leaning in on him after his surprise on to her. She got what she wanted with another tender kiss there in the Calm Belt under the starry sky. It wasn't really what she had thought how her life would end up but she wasn't displeased with it by any means. She was actually quite happy about this, actually really happy, she had found someone that she loves, it fulfilled a really special spot in her heart that had been empty for a long time.

"We could always get to it after we're out of here, we've agreed to a partnership still so, I got the log pose, and you got the ship, right... captain?" she said finishing with a childish little laughter before covering her mouth where as she paused before chuckling a bit more.


A week had now passed with them being on the island together, and she had enjoyed her stay by far, it was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to her if she were to be honest. They had engaged in a quite lively relationship and as the sun rose on the 7th day that Gerard had been in her life she thought it would be a good idea to train a bit, they needed to stay in shape after all! During the days they had noticed snow falling and such as winter was coming to them, and the last few days they noticed that winter has struck with heavy dozes of snow and such clouding the island in a snowy white.

"Come on love! Let's spar, It'll be fun!" she said as she ran out before turning to face her strong man whilst playfully jumping in the snow all around to prepare to fight her new favorite person in the world.

Gerard smiled up at the beautiful woman he found himself stranded with. As she referred to him as captain, Gerard couldn't help but chuckle at the word, especially since he was convinced she was stronger than he was. Still, he wasn't going to challenge her on that. "Exactly right my love."

The week past, and though Gerard couldn't help but wonder what was keeping Alisa for so long, he didn't mind since he got to spend some quality time with his lover. Their relationship had strengthened during that time, and while Gerard had been down for a couple of days due to his injury, with Valentine's care, he made a full recovery. A good thing too, as snow was now blanketing the island. Thank goodness they had Gerard's fire, and eachother, for warmth.

"A spar?" Gerard asked at Valentine's suggestion, watching her bouncing in the snow. Ever since they met, they had been busy fighting the wildlife here, and never actually fought eachother. A part of him felt a little uncomfortable fighting the woman he loved, but then again, it would probably insult her if he refused. Besides, it wasn't as if she would hurt him. And if she did accidently, well, Gerard wasn't opposed to some more time with 'Nurse Valentine'.

"You know what, sure, let's do it." he said with a smirk, slipping into a battle stance. He wasn't going to use his gun, he was running low on bullets. But he did activate his Haki, as he was sure she was doing the same.

"Awesome! Lets do this my love!" she said as she started to run towards him as she activated her haki on her right arm making it appear as if an onyx sheen had plastered around it before trying to throw a punch towards him.

If it wouldn't go through then she would retaliate back by repelling the air around her paws and pushing herself towards another direction, and if it hit it would hurt as a bitch towards him if she would say so herself. She didn't want to hurt him all that much seeing as he had just recovered, but a spar is never wrong after all according to her, they needed to keep their prowess up in case anyone came to the island seeking them as the scientists might have done in the past for her. If they were ready they could take down anyone in their path after all, since love is the greatest fighter in times of dire needs.

They hadn't encountered many wild animals since the accidents that occured during their stay, as the animals had probably realized that they weren't to mess with, or at least attempt to whilst not being in a large enough group to take down both a paw woman and a gas man seeing as their abilities was pretty unique and thus needs a unique solution to fight against it. She hadn't thought a lot about the whole "Monsters not attacking them" part of the week that had passed, but she had really enjoyed the wonderful stay with Gerard for a week having him all by herself after all, during this time he talked more about his crew and ship, and how much he loved having Minion under his control. It was quite the time for bonding seeing as they didn't have much else to do.