***KILLER POV***
"What do you mean sick?"
Kid glared at me in his usual, bratty manner, and if he had been able to see my face he would have soured even more at the roll of my eyes.
"Is there really any other way to simplify it? The girl is sick. You starved her for too long, you didn't let her clean herself, and you yanked her around like a damn ragdoll. She's lucky her neck hasn't snapped yet. She's sick." I explained, not sugar coating anything.
After the fleeting issue with the Navy, I had fed (Y/N), as instructed. She had barely been able to keep more than a mouthful or two down, but at that point in time I had thought it was just because it had been a while since she'd eaten anything significant.
Now, two days had passed, and not only was she still throwing up anything offered to her, but she was running a fever. A high one. Things weren't looking good, and we were to blame.
"Dose her up and she'll be fine." Kid tried to brush it off, but I wasn't having it.
It was my fault too, after all. I had caught her in the first place, and whilst I didn't regret that, I did regret breaking her wrist, and not doing more to ensure she was actually getting nutrition.
"No, she won't be. Kid. She needs proper medical attention, and better conditions. I know you just want to show off and punish her in front of the guys to make yourself look tough, but you'll end up killing her. I know you don't want that. If you had any intentions of actually killing her, she'd be dead already."
Despite having placed myself beneath Kid in the ranks, we were equals. We always had been, and always would be, so I could tell it to him straight, no holds barred. I was the only person who could talk to him like that and not wind up on the ground, or below it.
The crease between Kid's eyes became more prominent as he considered my words, shoulders hunching. He knew I was right, but he was stubborn and didn't want to admit it.
"Well, do whatever you want, then. She wouldn't be a bad addition to the crew, anyway, if she survives, I guess. Got a good eye, and we could use her skills..."
Translation, you've taken an interest in her and feel bad.
Shaking my head, I folded my arms across my chest, taking a single step back from the chair he sat in.
"Nope. This isn't just on me. I'll stick to trying to get her to eat, Boogie and Wire can sort out some medicine for her, but you're stuck with the rest of it. She's your pet, after all, right?"
He wanted to punch me, that much was for sure, but he refrained, simply balling his fists upon the desk and gritting his teeth. He could've thrown a punch if he really wanted to. I wouldn't have minded. This just proved to me that he actually somewhat gave a shit or two.
"You think I'm gonna let her think I'm a pushover after all the ground work I did?" He growled out his question, and my scoff bounced back from the inside of my helmet.
"What, to gain her respect? Do you really think someone who respects you would have pissed in your boots? Man up, Kid. You never know, this might actually make her like you."
Three, two, one...
"I don't want her to like me! I want her to fear me!" Kid barked, jumping to his feet and slamming his hands down flat against the wooden desk.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." I could see it, plain as day. The faint, dusty pink against his cheeks. "I'm going to start preparing some soup, or something else that's light. Think you can handle getting her cleaned up? Or can't you be trusted to do that?"
Muttering curse after curse under his breath, Kid simply stalked his way out of the room, making sure to bump my shoulder as he passed. I had no doubt that he could be trusted. Deep down, he was a good man. It just took a lot to get him to show it. If we could convince her to become a part of the Kid Pirates, she'd soon come to realise that.
Maybe a little more than the rest of us...
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***KID POV***
"Shit...He wasn't exaggerating..."
The sneaky bitch was definitely a lot sicker than I had been expecting. Since the Victoria Punk had been damaged during our run in with the Navy, I'd been busy with temporary repairs, so I hadn't had the time to lead her around on the leash.
Down in the cell, Killer had supplied her with blankets and his own pillow, yet she still shivered as if she was freezing cold. We were in mild waters, so that was enough of a warning sign.
Beside her sat an untouched bowl of noodles, and a full glass of water. Her eyes were closed, and I could see the thick beads of sweat gathering on her brow. She really was sick, and the slight pang of guilt in my chest made me grit my teeth.
I didn't want to push her this far.
Exhaling through my nose, I approached the sickly woman and knelt down on one knee, slipping my arms beneath her body to lift her up. She was light, almost too light, and I turned to start back up the stairs.
She shifted in my arms, trying to push away from my chest, even though she had no chance in her state.
"Hhhhhh...put me back..." She complained, but I forced her head back where it had been.
"Shut the fuck up. I'm gonna hose you down so you don't end up infested with maggots..."
I think I went about this the wrong way.
She continued to try and fight against me to no avail, and all the while I ignored my men as I made my way to the shared bathroom, locking the door so nobody could enter without my permission.
Now came the hard part. It would have been easy enough to strip her down whilst I kept her steady on the counter if she had chosen to keep still, but she was pissed. Weak, but pissed.
"Get...off of me...This is a...is assault..." She pathetically batted at me as I tried to pull her shirt over her head, and I abandoned my task momentarily to seize her jaw between my thumb and index finger.
"No, this is me trying to make sure you don't get any worse and drop dead. You get it?" Even though she was barely conscious, I could see the defiance burning behind her eyes. I could feel it, scalding me worse than any flame could. "Look, I'll even take the damn collar off. See?"
Reaching around to the back of her neck, I unfastened the latch, which had never been locked in the first place, removing the collar and tossing it to the floor a few feet away. Her hand moved up to rub at the skin of her throat, and that fire in her eyes died down to a simmer.
"I don't...want you to see me..."
I've already seen half of it.
Rolling my eyes, I snatched a towel up from the metal rack by the counter, holding it up to show her.
"You can keep this on while you're being washed. I don't care about your tits or your bitchy little cunt, okay? You can clean that shit yourself."
She chose not to fight me, even once I got her undressed, wrapped in the towel, and into the tub. Maybe she just didn't have the energy, but I took it as a win. Her skin was caked with grime and dirt, and more bruises than I could count, all caused by me. Guilt wasn't something I felt often, but there it was, nipping at me.
Dammit, Killer. Probably should've listened in the first place when you told me to take it easy on her...
She was strong, but weak at the same time. It had nothing to do with sex, or biology. She simply hadn't been raised the way we had. She'd dealt with less, and we were stronger than her in experience alone. I never even thought about taking that into account.
Once I pulled her out of the bath, I averted my eyes as I removed the soaked towel and replaced it with another, along with my coat, to give her at least a shred of decency on the way to my room.
She was no longer struggling, or even squirming. The sick little thing had just accepted her situation and allowed me to do whatever I pleased with her. Once the door was shut, I sat her down upon the end of my bed, turning as she fell onto her back.
The only thing I had that would fit her even slightly was the Navy uniform she had stolen when she had retrieved the keys for me, so that was what I brought back for her, messily and clumsily changing her into it with closed eyes, only because she had started to battle me when I attempted with my eyes open.
"No more dog shit. You were a crap pet, anyway..." I muttered, dragging my covers over her shivering body once she was dressed and mostly dried. She looked so small and fragile peeking out from under the blankets, face red from fever.
"Why...are you being good...to me..?" She asked, voice so pathetically weak it almost - almost - made me feel like the worst person alive.
"Thank Killer." I muttered, clicking my tongue in what I assured myself was genuine annoyance. "Your tits put a charm on him or somethin', and he won't stop nagging me to treat you like a person."
And as annoying as you are...you're kind of interesting. A new kind of potential.
Shuddering out a breath, the girl closed her eyes and curled in on herself more, looking like a mouse upon the large expanse of my bed.
"I want my Paulie..." She whimpered, so quietly, and so sincerely desperately, that for the first time in a long, long while, my chest started to ache.
"W..well, if you lay there, shut up and let your dumb ass get better...then maybe you'll be able to give him a call..."
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***Some softish Kid for the soul.
Out of nowhere, after he's been a complete asshole. Maybe I rushed the softness because I'm exhausted and it's like 3am, but meh.
Next Time: Switched Up Real Fast***