Chapter 11: Expectations

"So, what seems to be the matter?" Robin asked seriously once I had found my seat.

I composed myself and pointed my finger directly at her face. "'What is the matter,' you ask? It's you. You are the matter".

She looked confused momentarily, then tense, and finally, her face returned to its normal calm exterior. "Please tell me how I may change my conduct in a way to please you. After all, our deal was to-".

"Our deal was for me to keep you safe", I broke her off mid-sentence. "Do you remember exactly why I agreed to that deal?"

She stammered for a second before retorting. "Uhm… because you find me interesting?"

"Precisely. Well, those weren't my exact words; I believe they were more like, 'You're my favorite person', but whatever. My point is that this agreement is not inaugural to an uneven power dynamic between us". My air was harsher than when I normally spoke to her, and while she seemed too occupied with her thoughts to be affected negatively, I still softened my expression so as to not scare her.

While Robin was still in a daze, I continued. "I am gonna teach you an important lesson about how to make human relationships work best. It's a simple three-step program to solve any discourse or misunderstandings between people. The steps, in order, are self-interest, expectations, and communication.

First, you must be conscious that any action taken in a relationship should be done so out of self-interest. Even seemingly selfless acts and gifts between close friends or lovers are ultimately based on an egocentric desire to please the one they care for. It's pretty straightforward; humans do what makes them feel good. It is not a bad thing, and you only need to be aware of this fact, nothing else.

The second step is expectations. You need to look inside yourself and confirm your expectations for the other person in the relationship. Remember that your expectations should be based on self-interest. Imagine a married couple; some of the expectations they may have for each other would be like, no cheating and always valuing their partner's time over other people's. However, some of the expectations they have for each other may contradict.

This brings us to the last step, communication. Once you have confirmed your expectations for the other person, you must compare yours with theirs through conversation. In many cases, people may expect the same of one another, in which case, all is peachy. There will, however, be some points where your expectations differ. In this event, a compromise needs to be made. Remember that any compromise must be made in self-interest – I cannot stress this enough. If, at the end of the day, the bad outweighs the good, the relationship is not healthy. This is what happened between you and Crocodile, you compromised too much, and you were miserable.

Do you understand everything?" I smiled at her warmly.

Robin just nodded with glazed-over eyes, otherwise not moving.

I took this as a confirmation as I spoke again. "Good, then sit down and talk to me. I want to know, what exactly do you expect of me?

She was again silent for a long while, but eventually, she steeled herself, sat on the sofa before me, and looked me straight in the eyes. "I expect you to keep me safe. I also expect you to take advantage of that leverage over me. Finally, I expect you to dismiss me once you lose interest in me as a person."

I sighed and smiled wanly at her. 'She fulfills the self-interest criteria through defensive pessimism. She keeps her hopes so low that she won't be disappointed in the future, ultimately making her more content in the long run".

"Okay, very well," I said. "My expectations for you are: I expect you to let me help you realize your dreams. I expect you to depend on me, not out of necessity, but because you want to. I expect you to show me this beautiful world through your eyes. And finally, I expect you to put your wall down around me, showing me the real you."

Robin gulped and averted her sight from me. Looking down into her lap, she asked in a soft voice. "So, how do we form a compromise in this situation?"

I leaned forward, pulling her chin up, making her look back at my face as I grinned at her solemn expression. "The way I see it, we don't need to make any compromises at all. All of the misguided expectations you have of me are part of the reasons why I find you so interesting. And you don't have to worry about me dipping when you stop being interesting. You know, the only time I've ever found you uninteresting has been in these past few hours when you've treated me like a Crocodile 2.0. I want a friend, not a secretary".

I brought my hands from her chin to her cheeks and started pulling upwards. "Now smile and laugh! Don't you find it funny? Here you were, believing I was another power-hungry and opportunistic warlord ready to sink my teeth into your freedom, while I'm probably the least ambitious person on this planet. How ironic is that?"

Seeing her face all mushed up by my hands on her cheeks, I laughed out loud. I laughed at her appearance, the situation we were in, and I laughed at this cruel world failing to break this little girl's spirit.

At some point, Robin also began laughing. She was crying too, but mostly laughing.

'*Sigh* It seems that problem is resolved now. The only thing we have to do here before we can leave is for me to attend the palace feast and for her to have a peek at the poneglyph'.

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And with that, another five days passed in peace and quiet. Robin was back to her normal self. I taught her how to play Rummy, and boy, was she a bad loser. She had yet to win a single game; however, she still pestered me to play every evening before we went to our different rooms.

It was weird how one person could act as if they were 80 and then 8 at the flip of a switch.

Today, I was back in Nanohana for lunch. I knew the inn's owner, and he owed me a free meal after I had saved his daughter in the pirate incident. I would never say no to free food.

Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed the room was unusually silent. Only a few whispers and murmurs could be heard from around the tables, all directed at the person sitting alone at the bar, his naked, tattooed back facing the entrance. Tens of stacks of empty plates were piled up all around him, seemingly cleared in only minutes.

"Hey, cool tattoo. Mind if I sit here?" I inquired about the seat beside the young man, not waiting for his answer as I sat myself down.

He lazily looked over momentarily before turning his attention to a pouch on his hip. He shuffled around a bit and pulled out a crumpled bounty poster.

His mouth still half-full of food, he pointed at the picture on the bounty and spoke. "Name's Ace. You wouldn't happen to have seen my brother anywhere?"