The Language I Spoke Yesterday

Trouble

"You could have gotten him drunk." Paul walked a slow circle around our cute little birdy. The chair was centered in the old marine shed, and it had been used years prior to hold prisoners who needed to be compelled to talk.

Penguin's hands and feet were bound to the arms and legs by thick, sea prism cuffs, but that didn't stop him from trying to wrench free. His wrists and ankles were raw and bleeding, and he had practically chewed through the leather bit. His big brown eyes were hard and hurt.

I patted him on the cheek. "I did say that I would be gentle. I can't speak for Paulie here. Afterall, you did shoot up his boyfriend."

A betrayed glare was his answer.

Paul scowled. "Alright, Katie. Can we skip the pleasantries and get to the stabbing? I'm getting impatient."

"Aww, Paulie bear~" I fell against his chest and pecked his cheek. "We need three more to make it even. Why not do them all at once?"

He snaked one arm around my waist and rested his hand on my hip. He never took his eyes off the man who shot our Scottie. He worked a muscle in his jaw. "I don't really care about the rest of them. I just want this one."

I pouted, shifting my weight from foot to foot. "Paulie, you can have Penguin, but you know Scottie wants to avenge the kids he adopted. The other one is still at the club, and then we just need to grab another duo. They travel in pairs, anyway."

Paulie Bear's face spread with a wide, angry grin. "Katie, darling, have I told you that you're too ambitious sometimes?"

"Maybe once..." I winced.

He kissed my forehead. "Don't fret. What do we know about the Surgeon? That he's cold and calculating. Four bodies are much more valuable than one, wouldn't you think?"

My eyes slid to Penguin. His face had lost quite a bit of color. "Well, what do you think, Birdy? You and and your buddies for one cute little Andromeda is a pretty good trade, huh?" I slipped away from Paul and pulled the bit from Penguin's mouth. "Well?"

"Captain won't trade his Nakama." He growled. "No one will go for that."

I whimpered playfully. "Aww, did I hurt your feelings? Sad to think that I'm more interested in Andromeda than you? I bet she tastes better." I licked my lips.

I was expecting some sort of reaction, but Penguin's gaze was unwavering. "Don't bruise Captain's tomato."

"What the hell does that mean?"

/-/-/-/

"Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggggggggggggggg...." I lolled against the back of Law's chair, not quite touching him, and groaned as loudly and obnoxiously as I could. "They missed dinner..."

It was true: Penguin and Shachi had been gone all night. I followed the captain down to his office to try and convince him that it was a problem.

"They're adults." Captain Speckle flipped the page and examined the weird anatomical picture on the other side. "You could try acting like one."

"I can't." I gave a dramatic sigh, waiting expectantly for his response. I knew the only reason he would chose to answer me at all was because I would keep pressing until he did. Answering me was the easiest way he could get rid of me.

Captain's sigh was lighter and held a heavy note of annoyance. "Why?"

I kept my expression as neutral as possible as I spun his chair around to face me. "I can't be both an adult and a tomato." My attempt at staying blank was thwarted by his deadpan. I snorted and fought against grinning.