The sun smiled upon the Thousand Sunny and the cheery lion ship danced across the tops of the waves. Laughter could be heard, accompanied by the sound of a violin that rose and fell in time to the merriment. The wind whistled through the laden orange trees to then fill the sails, making the grass sway and tickle a sleeping swordsman in the grove's shade. Sunlight bounced off the polished decks, warming a dark haired woman with a secretive smile as she sat reading a tome. The slams of metal meeting metal, regular and even like a heartbeat, echoed from the depths of the Sunny. At the source of this heartbeat, a massive man grinned as his thoughts took shape beneath his hammer. Sharp commands rang out at intervals from a petite woman by the ship's wheel, causing the joyous chaos to obey her and alter the rigging to match her new course. Savory smells wafted in the air, making a bouncing lad's mouth water and smile as he followed an annoyed yet sharply dressed man laden with trays of food.

The Thousand Sunny and it's crew, seemed to embody adventure, happiness and hope.

He hated it.

Caesar Clown, sat hunched in the darkest corner that could be found on deck and glared at the world around him. The seastone cuffs kept his hands bound and filled with a bone deep exhaustion. The sunlight hurt his eyes. The laughter interrupted his genius thoughts and the wind gave him chills. Not a moment went by when he didn't pine for his dark, sterile and silent lab. To be alone again, with nothing but his genius and science.

It also was a lie.

What the Straw Hats had wasn't real. It was only a matter of time before the false smiles fell away. Before desires and jealousies would shatter this crystalin joy. When a danger they couldn't surmount surfaced and the first betrayal happened. Caesar knew, that the tale of the Straw Hats would end in tragedy. It was the mere fact of life. Humanity, at it's core, was a putrid selfish beast. This sham wouldn't last.

The happy rucus rose to a crescendo when Black Leg finished placing his works of art on a table. Wonderful, the Straw Hats were having lunch on deck. No respite for Caesar. Caesar watched as Black Leg kept at bay the male crew members till the females had seated themselves. Then the rest of the crew descended. As always with this crew, lunch was a chaotic affair. Plates being shuffled, grabbed or tossed to various crew. Black Leg serving and fetching the wants of his mates. Caesar glared. If only he would be allowed below deck. Away from the sun, the laughter and those flimsy smiles. He hadn't been allowed below decks, for fear that he would tamper with the crafter's stations and materials below… a valid concern on their part. He always had to be under the watch of one of the crew. Often one of the females to his dismay, they were perceptive. He watched as the mountain of food dwindled and the feeding frenzy slowed, then as expected, he saw Black Leg leave the lunch table with a plate of food in one hand and glass of water in the other. The man showed him a hard expression all the while managing to look down at Caesar as well. Black Leg stopped just outside the shadows of his corner and placed the plate and water just within the shadow. As the irate man turned to leave he practically growled out.

"Caesar… do you have a problem with my food?" Caesar glared and looked down at the food. It was a lovely dish. Slices of beef marinated and cooked to tender perfection. Grilled vegetables that gleamed in a honeyed glaze and wedge cut fries roasted and dusted with herbs. Caesar honestly had only seen fare of this quality only a handful of times in his life and it was often him watching others eat it. He honestly did try to eat it, Caesar wasn't one to squander luxury, but his fruit power made solids difficult to tolerate. He got all he needed from liquids with no ill effect and the various vapors around him. However he wanted this to be a secret, it was handy to have captors think they were torturing him by depriving him of food. Black Leg, was instead torturing him by feeding him three times a day. The cook's stare hardened as Caesar let the question hang in the air. An insult, should make the cook go away and not care about him.

"Shu-lu-lu-lu! What can I say? What you make isn't up to my standards! I can barely stomach it!" The shadows around the man's eyes deepened and the the ember at the end of his cigaret glowed an angry red as he took deep breath. Caesar kept his grin in place as the man continued to stare at him. A shout from the red haired bitch suddenly had the cook running off, sprinting to fill the woman's order for lemonade.

Caesar picked up the plate and began to pick out nibble at the squash vegetables, those being the foods with the highest concentration of water. He had only managed four pieces when his stomach began to revolt. Devil fruits often came with additional drawbacks to the standard one. After he had consumed his fruit, his body's natural state was no longer solid but varying states between liquid and gas. His body had transitioned even farther from solid after he had experimented and altered his fruit to magnify his powers. In the early days, he had troubles maintaining a semi solid shell around his gaseous core. Placing the plate down he grabbed the glass and drank that down in one go. With the water gone, he longed for more. The sea stone was cutting off his ability to feed on the air, water really was his only option now and he couldn't ask for more without arousing suspicion. A secret was knowledge that was known to only one person, and knowledge was power. Caesar would be damned before he gave secrets out for free. The straw Hats were starving him, despite the cook's best efforts.

That was fine though, he could survive on next to nothing for months. Growing up on the street, you learned that skill or died.

He pushed the plate and cup out into the sunlight for the cook to collect later and leaned back to watch his captors. Lunch for the Straw Hats was now winding down. The cyborg was making a ruckus, striking a pose and shouting about how super the meals was, to which the blond waved off. However he promptly melted into a puddle when the eerie woman smiled and complimented the meal and then returned to her chair and tome. The swordsman collected himself and wandered off to the upper decks, where his weights were. With a cry, a game Caesar now recognized as 'Catch the Skeleton' began. It had the deer, long nose and the captain scrambling after the skeleton that had already zoomed off. As much as Caesar hated to admit it, it was fun to watch Straw Hat snap and bounce all about the ship after the speedy singer. The sniper, not even able to contend with the dead man's speed, was resorting to traps and trick shots. The deer was trying to leap into the rigging and cut off the skeleton's path.

While the game was in full swing, the red haired bitch returned to her steering wheel. Keeping a sharp eye on the skies and log pose. Black leg was seen clearing the table. Caesar avoided looking in his general direction but inevitably the cook came over to his dark corner. The man stood and regarded the dish and then Caesar. Stooping down, he took a long drag of his cigaret and looked Caesar in the eye. This time it was Black Leg that stretched out the silence and after some time Caesar began to squirm slightly under the blond's gaze.

"It's been nearly four weeks since you've been with us, and you've been eating next to nothing." The blond man said in a voice so soft that it took Caesar off guard and he flinched away from the man as if struck. Concern? No, it had to be fake. Yes, it was. Logically, they needed him alive as a pawn in the game against Dolflamingo. Nothing more. He was using fake concern to get Caesar to behave the way he wanted to. No Caesar was the manipulator here, not the other way around. Caesar schooled his expression into a smirk and chuckled at the cook.

"As I said, it's just not up to my standards." He let his smirk stretched into a grin. Black Leg sighed and flicked the ash off his cigaret.

"Look, I'm not going to let anyone starve under my watch. Ever. Not even a piece of shit like you. I will never let anyone to feel the pain of starvation within my power." Black Leg stared at him and the harsh retort Caesar had died at the firm yet sad look the blond was giving him. Instead he frowned at the cook.

"Why the hell do you care what condition I'm in when I'm turned over to Dolflamingo? It's only about three weeks more. When I'm turned over, I'll be able to eat properly again then." Caesar spat out and the cook regarded him with a hard look.

"Pride is a foolish reason to starve over." With that Black Leg collected the plate and made his way back to his domain, the kitchen. Caesar fiddled with his chains as he watched the blond leave. As good as they seemed to be, it was a lie. No one cared if he lived or died. People only cared what you could do for them. Dolflamingo wanted him for SIMLE. Big Mom wanted him for her dreams of giants. Straw Hats wanted him as leverage over Dolflamingo. Life was a vicious game, where you took anything or used anyone you could or you died, forever forgotten in an alley. Caesar knew what the truth of humanity was. Starvation, saving every penny for that exam fee, searching dumpsters for food and books… Caesar knew starvation all too well. He watched the the cook carefully wrap his plate and store it away. Caesar growled and looked away, over the edge of the ship, towards the ocean. It was all a lie.