Goemon's smile survived the questioning onslaught brought upon it by Galina Demidova, the Japanese spy graciously accepting the food that came their way while weathering the barrage. This was very much his battlefield, the one of words and wordplay, of charm and wit. You could not predict exactly what another would say, but every action brought questions with it.

Their actions in trying to recruit Galina raised a great many questions. Ones Goemon had been tasked with answering some time ago.

"You're correct, my allegiance is to my homeland. I'm afraid I have no intention to defect, to Russia or any other country... though it seems that saves me a trip over the side of this vessel for the moment."

He allowed his lips to quirk upwards just a little more, taking advantage of the moment to sample some of the cherry tomatoes the waiter had brought to his seat. It seemed in some way wrong that he got to enjoy the excellent food and service of the [i]Empress[/i] tonight, while Daisuke and Takahiro had to remain absent. His own boss wouldn't have the opportunity to sample the food Goemon would be served here, by all rights he shouldn't be eating anything at all.

Still, those were some excellent tomatoes. And the rest of the plate only looked more delicious.
"Unconventional is the word of the evening. If I hadn't found myself in a somewhat embarrassing situation, I never would have asked you here to begin with." Blunt, but she did seem to prefer the straightforward approach. Dancing around the issue with coy words would be more entertaining, but might cause the mission to fail in it's entirety. Blunt it would have to be, then.

"I'm trying to salvage what first seemed to be a golden opportunity- an older, experienced engineer who had grown disillusioned with his country. A small prize, but useful... until I discovered he would only deal with those from his mother's homeland."

Taking the opportunity to spear more than just tomatoes to his fork to sample, Goemon met Galina's gaze directly. That was the reason he asked her here, after all, to do the job he found himself unable to accomplish. Embarrassing as that was, it remained better to salvage whatever one could, than accept failure completely.

[i]That[/i] was the other reason he and Galina were on this vessel tonight, courtesy of Takahiro. Something Goemon would not be mentioning out loud.

"So my mission to retrieve a person of interest becomes one of good faith. In short, I wish to offer you this gentleman -even help you get him off the [i]Empress[/i]- in hopes that you might return the favor." He offered both ladies at the table a low, respectful nod. "That is the help I need from you on this voyage. And why I spent the time to find you and invite you here in the first place."