Scam

Characters: Jean Bart, Penguin, Shachi. Rating: K. Warnings: None

They were bickering like children. He crossed his arms and huffed at the pair of young men standing outside his store and arguing over whether or not they should go left or right. The red headed one was strongly advocating for left - the one with the hat was insisting they should go right.

Personally, he didn't care as long as they stopped blocking the entrance to his store - and preferably took their argument out of reach. It wasn't even an interesting one that dropped names, just a simple "Left!" "Right!" "Left!" "Right!" with neither of them looking like they were going to back down any time soon. Just like children.

They weren't local, which meant they were probably pirates. There was no insignia to declare their crew, but this deep in the Grand Line, pirates were the only visitors they got. Well, and Marines, but Marines always wore those blue and white getups, and this pair were in differing shades of grey. Definitely pirates. The same crew, too, if he wasn't mistaken.

There was a distinct lack of blood lust in the air, or any other strong negative intent. Just a pair of pirates who were probably going to be snapped up by bigger fish before much longer if they kept that attitude up. Only the powerful pirates in this sea could get away with drawing that much attention.

"Are they bothering you?" A deep rumble came from behind him - above him - and the only thing that stopped him squeaking as he turned was years of serving pirates in the store. Like sea kings, they were - any sign of weakness and they'd bite. He'd seen it before.

"They're standing right outside my store," he snapped, trying not to wilt at the humongous man standing there. Not a giant - or if he was, he was a small one - but an oversized human much like Big Mom was rumoured to be. That comparison alone would be enough to make all but the bravest vendors quake in their boots.

And if that wasn't enough, he knew the symbol that man was wearing all too well. A crew from the recently-dubbed Worst Generation, captained by the newest Shichibukai - who had earned that place, if the News Coo was to be believed, with a demonstration of why the crew held the name they did.

The Heart Pirates. One hundred still-beating hearts, all belonging to big names, delivered straight to the new Marine HQ. It took a special sort of insanity to pull that off, and the idea that that crew, complete with the Surgeon of Death himself, were on the island was a truly terrifying one.

Still, if he said yes, there was a reasonable chance that the noisy upstarts - who were clearly nothing compared to Trafalgar Law's crew - would be forcibly removed from their location. That was a plus.

"It's just not good for business," he added, with a huff to sell it.

The pirate grinned; each of the huge man's teeth was the size of his own fist, he was sure. "What's in it for me?"

"Fifteen percent off anything you want," he offered. The grin widened.

"Fifty."

"Twenty."

"Forty."

"Twenty-five."

"Thirty-five."

"Thirty."

A hand the size of a briefcase was shoved in his face, and he shook it firmly.

"Thirty," he repeated.

The Heart Pirate moved, approaching the still-squabbling duo. Next to him, they really did look like children. He wasn't a cruel man, but he had a business to run and a fleeting temper. Besides, no-one lived on the Grand Line these days without some day-to-day pirate violence.

Except… there was no violence.

"Penguin, Shachi," the man rumbled. The two younger men stopped instantly. "Straight ahead."

Straight ahead? He couldn't mean-?

In unison, both of them turned and headed straight for his shop. They were grinning - far too comfortably for being confronted by a Heart Pirate…

Who had known their names.

Inside the shop, their grins took on a predatory edge, just like a sea king's. Or a powerful pirate's.

The ginger one's sleeve slipped down, exposing his shoulder for just a moment. It was long enough for the Heart Pirate's jolly roger to grin out at him.

"Good work, Jean Bart," he said, and there was no edge to that grin any more. Just pure predator. "So. Thirty percent off, wasn't it?"

Another challenge from tumblr - "are they bothering you" with Jean Bart.

It's been a while since I last updated, oops, and since the last time, there has been a new member of the wider Tales From The Heart series posted separately: I Promised, so if you haven't seen it yet and want to check that out, you can find it via my profile (or here: [FFN]/s/13827675/1/I-Promised), but please watch the warnings. There's a reason it's been posted as a separate fic.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari