Stuck
Characters: Penguin, Bepo. Rating: K. Warnings: None
"Help!"
The cry was so quiet, Penguin half-thought he'd imagined it. Sound carried in a metal submarine, and last he'd known, the rest of his nakama were all much closer to him than the sound indicated.
Shachi was rustling something up in the kitchen, unanimously voted cook because he burnt things less than the rest of them (okay, that was mean. Shachi was actually a pretty decent cook and things only burnt very rarely for him). Law was on shift in the control room, waiting for Penguin to relieve him so he could go get some sleep - and he got grumpy whenever Penguin was late, so his presence there was somewhat urgently required lest he find himself with a grumpy child-captain. Again.
Bepo, last he'd known, had been in his room pouring over maps and charts and all those things that best made sense to the Mink. Penguin had learnt the hard way not to interrupt him - it took a long time to get ink out of Bepo's mink, and their navigator was intolerable when he needed a bath.
"Help!"
Well, that made it less likely that he'd imagined the first cry. Penguin sighed. Either they had - somehow - picked up a stowaway, or one of his nakama needed help. From the direction and high pitch of the voice, it sounded like Bepo.
Law would forgive him for being late for his shift if it was to help Bepo, right?
He turned back around the way he'd come and jogged through the corridor to the Mink's bedroom.
"Help!"
Definitely Bepo. Well, it was the Mink's own fault if he got ink all over himself this time. Penguin pushed the door open and froze.
"Penguin!" his nakama wailed. "I'm stuck. Help me!"
He was stuck, alright, but…
"How did you even manage that?" he demanded, crossing the room to get to his nakama's side.
White mink was caught liberally around the metal of the bedframe, while the Mink himself was - somehow - half stuck between the wall and the bed.
"I dropped my stylus," Bepo sniffled. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," Penguin sighed. "Just stay still and I'll get you untangled, okay?"
"You-" Bepo faltered. "You can c-cut it if that's easier."
Cut Bepo's mink? Penguin would never forgive himself for that (and nor would Law).
"Let's call that a last resort," he replied, crouching down and carefully threading his fingers through the soft, warm, fur of his nakama. "I'm sure we can get you out without having to do that, although it might take a while."
"Sorry."
"No sorrys allowed," Penguin reminded him. "I'll get you free then we'll get Law to get the stylus, okay?"
Bepo sniffled tearfully. "Okay."
Yet another tumblr prompt: "I'm stuck! Help me!" - I had a lot of fun figuring out which Heart was stuck and why. Poor Bepo.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari