Jinbei carefully sets the net full of crates down on the deck in front of Whitebeard, the drops of seawater on them like liquid gold in the sunset light.
"I have what you asked for, sir," he says. He is solemn as always, but there is a questioning tilt to his head as he looks at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard grins, and nods to the men standing buy to haul the goods away - to the kitchens, Jinbei assumes, where he can already smell an evening meal being prepared.
Jinbei proceeds to report the news he's collected since his last visit - shifting currents; approaching pirates; the latest movements of the government's forces. Whitebeard interjects the odd question or comment. It's all business as usual, and Jinbei masters his curiosity. It's not his place to pry.
As dusk closes in and lanterns are lit all around the ship, Whitebeard empties the deck around them with a word and a gesture, and raises his eyebrows at Jinbei, inviting the question at last.
There is no need for preamble. "Hot chocolate?" Jinbei asks, with as little incredulity as possible.
Whitebeard laughs, the planks of the Moby Dick vibrating with the bass rumble of it. "It's no rum, that's for sure!"
Jinbei nods. "That would be a more traditional drink for men of our trade, yes."
"Pirates can't drink hot chocolate?"
Jinbei ponders the question. "I suppose it's not unheard of for pirates to have a sweet tooth," he offers, but he's looking carefully at Whitebeard, at the smile hidden among the shadows cast on that broad face. "Or -- I see. A human tradition of some sort?"
Whitebeard laughs again. "That's one way of putting it!" The eyes over the great white mustache go a little distant, and Jinbei feels that this is what Whitebeard wanted to talk about, as much as he himself wanted to ask about it.
"It is strange how much one learns about being a parent not from one's own parents, but from one's children."
Jinbei nods, because he recognizes the feeling. He himself only understood what leadership meant when he found himself with subordinates. But that does not explain the unusual supply request from this mighty pirate captain.
"And hot chocolate is...?"
Whitebeard looks over at the deck closest to the kitchen, where an unusually large number of men have gathered in the soft lantern light, talking and gesturing excitedly. "Something parents of many oceans and islands prepare for their children," he says.
Jinbei doesn't need to ask to know that this is something Whitebeard learned not from his parents, but from his children. And like the boundless love he gives so freely, this is something else he wants his own children to have. Even if they are grown, and pirates.
"Why don't you stay for supper," Whitebeard suggests, as pirates balancing huge stacks of food on their plates start appearing on deck.
"It would be my honor," Jinbei says, because even if the delicious smells weren't enough to tempt him to stay, this is something he needs to see. And what a sight it is! The first - and definitely the loudest and most joyful - hot chocolate pirate party in the history of the Grand Line.