🎵 All my friends are heathens...🎵
TW: brief depiction of violence (near the end)
To think, he might have lived and died and never sailed the sea.
The sky was moonless overhead, the ocean and heavens mirroring the starry darkness to every side. Only the ripple of water behind the ship and the sleepy, faraway wink of another passing marked the difference between up and down. This infinite reflection always made Lu Da feel like he was perched at the center of the universe.
He had come to love quiet nights like these. A moment of contemplative solitude in between the constant flux of his days. Acar was asleep, slung across the bridge of his shoulders like the drape of a hood. He leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on navigation as he reoriented Soraya, working a thin layer of wax into the bowstring with his fingers.
The air stirred behind him and the gecko cat perked up drowsily. Half-turning his head, Lu Da caught the familiar form out of the corner of his eye and went back to his crossbow.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?"
Hiteo shifted. "I can't sleep. It– it's weird, being in there all alone."
Lu Da's fingers paused. He twisted to meet him fully from where he stood, still hovering in the threshold. His caramel gaze skated aside once as he picked at a fingernail, no visible trace of a joke or impishness.
He had genuinely come looking for him…
Lu Da straightened. Acar yawned, stretched, then dropped silently to the floor, slinking over to bump against his scrawny legs.
"Uh, sorry, kid," he said, caught off guard both by the inference—the absurd notion that he might feel an ounce of comfort in his presence—and his own sincerity. "It's my go at the helm tonight. You can nod off in here if you want."
After the first incident, Hiteo had apparently elected to wait for an invitation, because only then did he step through into the control room.
"What are you doing?" he asked, shuffling up to him. Trying, and failing, to suppress that glint as his eyes held his crossbow.
It was easy to forget, sometimes. He was still just a kid.
In spite of everything, Lu Da felt the lopsided tug of a smirk, and he maneuvered it so that he could show him.
"Well, just like a ship, a weapon needs proper care if you hope to keep her in tip top shape. Gotta wax the string now and then to minimize fraying, helps it last longer."
"What happens if the string breaks?" Hiteo asked
"You… say a lot of words, and then pray it never happens when you most depend on it. Which is why you always carry a spare, and an extra weapon."
"Hmm," he nodded. Tilting his head closer, he traced the intricate inlay along the limbs, then tested the pad of a finger against one of the stirrup's sharp prongs. "What are these metal spikes in the front for?"
Lu Da turned it so that the iron stirrup was pointing at the floor.
"Its main purpose is so you can steady the crossbow with your foot while you cock it, or engage the bowstring in the trigger."
Hiteo's brows quirked upward as Lu Da simulated the mechanics.
"That looks kinda hard."
Lu Da gave a shrug in the affirmative.
"It'll put some muscle on you, for sure. But…" He flipped Soraya again so that the double-spired stirrup was in the air. "Let's say your string does break at the worst time, and you forgot to bring that extra weapon. You can grab it," he demonstrated, slow-motion hurtling it toward the boy's head, "bring the spikes down like this, and… Klsshhhurnk."
"Ouch," winced Hiteo, beaming.
"Yeah."
"Think I could try shooting it sometime?"
Before Lu Da could say, "Don't push your luck," Hiteo interrupted.
"What if I convince Rizo to paint a picture of that grumpy admiral on a stack of crates for practice."
Lu Da laughed. "We'll see."
They fell to silence for a short while as Lu Da adjusted the helm and Hiteo wandered around, gazing out the windows, giving a pat to Acar's scaly head, inspecting the chart table and its maps dotted with pins, then the gauges and controls.
"What do these levers do?" he asked, inching closer.
"You mean you didn't figure that out when you accidentally switched a few and then landed on your ass to eat metal?"
He made a face, but leaned forward. "I think this one is for controlling how much fire power you use, how fast you go. And this one…" His lips pulled to the side. "…is for changing forward and reverse."
"Been spying lately, have you?" smirked Lu Da. "Okay, if you're so smart, tell me what this lever does."
"It, umm, opens a hatch somewhere?"
"Close. It lowers the bow to form a ramp when you make port."
A nod, and then Hiteo's attention narrowed to the wheel Lu Da had adjusted. His fingers twitched, like he could scarcely keep from reaching out to touch it.
"Can I help you steer?"
"Not doing so much steering at the moment, but… Eh, why not, go on and take the helm."
Lu Da motioned to the compass, then the charting table to their left.
"We're sailing a course east-northeast to that first pin on the map. Gotta keep one eye on the compass and your better one on the horizon for oncoming ships."
Hiteo was practically vibrating with excitement, small hands clasped with rookie confidence around the wheel.
"Wait'll I tell my aunt and uncle I got to steer the ship on my way."
Lu Da chuckled softly. "If you want, next time we make port, I'll let you lower the bow."
A gasp as he lit up. "Really?"
"Sure," shrugged Lu Da, aiming for indifference, but the delight radiating off the kid was infectious.
An hour later, the bridge was quiet again.
Only the hypnotic drone of the engine and Hiteo's soft snores where he lay curled up with Acar on a floor mat, draped beneath a blanket Lu Da had found stashed in a chest.
The boy was still sleeping when Honzen came to take over. The fledgling dawn was just beginning to rim the sky in pale light.
Lu Da left Hiteo undisturbed and went to catch a few hours' rest himself.
️ ️ ️+️++
He woke to the glare of late morning sun, an ominous juddering, and the makings for some bad news.
They were just over one day's sailing from Sao Tong. But the ship had developed a problem in the engine room.
The wind was growing restless and the waves were no longer calm, a storm promising to head their way. And every so often, the ship shook and shuddered alarmingly. The crew had pinpointed the source of the trouble, but the problem area was proving thorny. The engine revs had to be reduced in order to try to ease the convulsions, to prevent the ship from potentially damaging itself, but this also meant that if the storm were to hit, it could prove difficult to steer accurately against the waves.
They would have to pull in to the next port, see to repairs, and there was no telling how long that might take. How much more time this would tack onto their itinerary.
Lu Da cursed, equal parts frustration and gratitude, as his wiry first mate crossed the deck toward him bearing two plates of food.
"Thanks," Lu Da muttered as he handed him one, saluting him with it.
"Don't thank me yet," said Rizo. "It was Fang's turn to cook."
Lu Da huffed wryly, chewing a large mouthful of lunar bat stew and grimacing.
"How are things holding up in the land of fatherhood?" Rizo asked as they walked.
Wolfing down a portion in a vain attempt to bypass his taste buds, Lu Da shook his head.
"The kid's deceptively smart and a quick study, I'll give him that. Even if he is a ballsy little turd goblin."
"Hm. I'm put in mind of lychee nuts and the distance they fall from their trees."
"Except I'm not this lychee's tree."
"Right, you've said that." Rizo smirked, crooking up one side of his thin goatee. "Didn't the mother say his father was Earth Kingdom?"
"Very funny," mocked Lu Da, electing not to finish his stew, as he scanned the deck. "Where is the urchin now, anyway?"
"Last I saw him, he was laughing half his skull off learning how to play Hazard with Marik and Shu. That was an hour ago, at least."
"Great."
The ship shook again, faintly, then its shudder smoothed out with a groan as Shu trotted up on deck, flagging them down.
"Oy, Captain! Come here. You're gonna want to see this."
Rizo and Lu Da exchanged a look and followed him below deck, where whoops and hollers were echoing from the hull of the stern.
"What's going on?" asked Lu Da.
"It's the kid."
Shu pointed up to a platform, where a pair of small legs jutted from a crawl space beneath one of the engine's large pipes, too narrow for any of them to access without specialized machinery. Ribbons of steam were hissing out around a compromised seam.
"Bugger squeezed under to the place where a tier of bolts popped free and shook the metalwork loose of the vacuum line. Some of the men heaved the pipe back into the fitting while he managed to finagle the scattered bolts back in their sockets."
Lu Da watched as Tonqa and Mongkbat held the cylinder steady while Marik extended a wrench, a small hand reaching out and stealing back inside the crawlspace. Honzen crouched on the other side, summoning a palmful of fire for light.
"They got him working to screw the pipe all back together. He's gotta be putting some mean muscle into it, too, you know how those screws can be."
Over the roar and clank of the engine room, it was hard to make out the instructions being barked back and forth on the platform. But several minutes later, Hiteo finally shimmied out from underneath with the wrench, soot-stained and soggy with sweat.
The men tested the results of his labor, gingerly at first. Letting off their weight, then when it held, doing their damndest to budge it.
When the cylinder stood firm, Marik faced the captive audience and gave a thumbs up, raising the boy's hand in his.
The roar of approval drowned the rumbling of the engine. Hiteo grinned from ear to ear.
"Slap my ass and call me granny," Rizo said, turning to Lu Da. "The juvenile terrorist just fixed our Mistress."
Hiteo was jostled with enthusiastic noogies and elbow nudges as he made his way back down. Lu Da waited, arms crossed. The kid wiped his brow when he stopped in front of him, looking up with that shit-eating grin, and the pirate couldn't help but smile back.
"Nice job, kid." He knocked him lightly with a tattooed fist. "You really saved our asses, you know that?"
"Does that mean you'll let me try out your crossbow now?" Hiteo asked expectantly.
Lu Da breathed a laugh through his nose, steering him up toward the deck.
"Alright," he relented. "But first, I'll need you to tell Rizo about that idea you had."
️ ️ ️+️++
The storm raged by in the night, turbulent and unforgiving.
A cautious nudge and the whisper of a breath, and Lu Da startled awake, lurching back to register a young face in a spark of lightning.
"What're you doing?" he slurred, the words gushing out on a breath.
"I– I had a bad dream," Hiteo croaked.
Lu Da groaned, scrubbed a hand across his face. "Well, it was just a dream, go back to sleep."
"I can't. The storm's so loud, and it feels like the ship's going to tip over." He caught his footing as the ship swayed. "I'm scared."
"There's nothing to be scared of, it's just a—"
A thunderclap swallowed his voice, jolting the boy's lanky frame.
"Can I sleep with you?"
No.
Wind and rain reproached the red glass windows, anger in the form of elements, and Lu Da exhaled a hard breath.
They would be sailing into Sao Tong tomorrow, which meant Drudge, which further meant he would need to be on his game. Running on a few hours of shut-eye from the night before, all he wanted—and needed—was sleep, however he could get it.
"Uhh, fine. Okay."
Lu Da rolled over as Hiteo clambered awkwardly in behind him, rustling around and around to get comfortable.
Blessed sleep was just stealing over him once more when the kid tossed again. Then turned. Then did a series of acrobatic pinwheels, or at least that's what it felt like to Lu Da, who clenched his teeth and eyes shut simultaneously.
"Are you practicing your audition for the circus?" he growled.
Hiteo froze. "Sorry," came the hiss at his back, small and clipped.
One final stir and at last the boy settled in.
️ ️ ️+️++
Morning greeted him with a leg slapped over his head and a foot smashing his face.
Hiteo had pivoted in his sleep to be one with the headboard, his body bisecting the bed, as well as Lu Da. The pirate, for his part, was huddled at the edge, relegated to the last quarter and robbed of blankets.
With a groan, he rolled over, shoving the lanky legs off to the mattress and rousing Hiteo, who mumbled some dissent about going to school.
By early evening, the port city of Sao Tong came into view, its skyline rising off the sea like a mirage of empty promises.
A skeleton crew stayed on board while Lu Da went ashore, backup in the form of his two closest comrades. They flanked Hiteo on either side as they walked, his quartermaster and his first mate.
It had been a subject of some dispute, whether or not to bring the kid. Common sense argued that he hang back on the ship, where there was a better chance of safety—and a lesser one that he get into trouble. But naturally, Hiteo had begged and promised and pleaded, and there was a decent chance it would just be them and Drudge, anyway. Which, if he played his cards right, would make for a smooth enough transaction, there and done.
If a gathering was underway, well, that could complicate things. There were plenty in this domain who would lose no sleep over collateral damage in the name of revenge. But even then, most in attendance were likely to be halfway in the bag upon their arrival.
So, Lu Da had caved.
He hefted the sack of valuables higher up his shoulder, the hanok's tiled roofs and stone courtyard taking shape through the trees. And, as misfortune would have it, a swarm of goons could be seen circling its guarded entrance.
Marik sighed. "So much for a quick and quiet in and out."
"Another of Drudge's benders," said Rizo, who slid a glance at Lu Da. "Too bad the shindig's probably buzzing with people who'd love to maim you. Wonder if they'll have the custard fountain again."
Lu Da laughed, husky and brief. "Don't tempt me."
They arrived before the set of doors. A heavy wall of a man stood guard, half as wide as he was tall, wearing an earth-toned tunic. It was cut in a fashion that might have suited a man half his size, his figure rolling over the sides like a sack of grain. Though from the way he carried himself, one could assume there were muscles under there somewhere.
"Invitation," he gruffed as they strode up.
"Not here for the party," answered Lu Da. "Have some business to settle with Drudge."
"Not tonight, you don't. Not unless you manage to shit out an invitation."
The three pirates traded a glance.
"Shiro and I have history," he expanded. "You mighta heard of me, name's Lu Da—"
"I don't care if your name's King fucking Kuei," he scoffed. "No invitation, no entry. Come back another time."
Lu Da stared. Held himself back from asking whether he was new. There were few on this side of the law who didn't have at least a vague inkling of who he was, but saying as much would help nothing, and he needed to get in there.
"Look," he started again, "I've come a long way to make good on a debt I owe, I can't easily come back another time. If someone could just tell him I'm here, I think he'd make an exception."
The guy flagrantly ignored him, accepting the invitations of two more groups who shouldered past, checking them over.
"Or, have Shiro come out to me," Lu Da offered, tightening the reins on his patience, "and I'll settle the debt and be on my way."
The guard took his sweet time nodding the other guests inside, and Lu Da waited until the distractions filed through and he was forced to face him again.
"Don't believe me, that's fair, but go ask him yourself. Drudge sent for me, I got a letter—"
"Lemme see it," he grunted, a curt gesture of his hand.
"Uh." Shit. "Well, thing is, I don't exactly—"
His face hardened. "Enough, I said beat it. Drudge is busy tonight. And if I have to say it again, I'll kick your graffitied ass outta town."
I'd like to see you catch me first.
Right on cue, as if he'd spoken it aloud, Hiteo chimed in, "Dad, is there a baby in the man's tummy?"
Lu Da's eyes widened in horror and barely leashed fury as the boy tilted his head to look up at him, the image of child-like ignorance.
"I thought you said only girls could have babies."
You absolute nightmare, I will invert your ribcage.
Anger contorted the guard's face. "Think that's funny, you little—?"
"Oh, my deepest apologies, the kid didn't mean it," Lu Da intruded quickly. He made a rueful gesture, grimacing. "He has some… issues. Didn't get enough oxygen at birth, and, well, you can see he's not the brightest."
He caught the boy's scowl in the corner of his eye, and it took everything he had to keep from smiling.
"But I've been trying to work with him. It's been tough, you know, single father and all…"
The guy shifted his weight, raised his chin to glare down his nose at them, robust girth blocking the door.
"Right," he relented. "I'm gonna go. Just, fair warning, Drudge might not be too happy when he finds out who you turned away at the door."
At last, something uneasy flashed behind the hard walls of his eyes, and Lu Da knew he was close.
"I'm just following orders," he maintained, his tone fracturing, "no one gets in without—"
"'Course, you're just doing your job, I get it. Well, tell the old lug I stopped by, anyway, would ya?"
They turned around, started back the way they came. Rizo slid him a glance and Lu Da returned a subtle expression, counting their steps in his head until…
"W– wait."
There it was.
As if on beat, they wheeled back around to face him.
Grain Sack shot a glance back over his shoulder, and sighed. "Lu Da, was it? Hmm, pretty sure I've heard of you…"
His gaze cut from him to Hiteo, then to Marik and Rizo. "Who're they?"
"My emotional support idiots."
His mouth pinched. "Fine, go on, but make it quick. I got eyes on you."
Inside the air was thick with musk and liquor, flavored with the pungent odor of taima. Everyone was either shitfaced or getting there.
"Think any of them'll remember you?" Marik asked.
"Hell, I hope not."
"Slim chance there, Captain," said Rizo. "Guy decorated in so much ink isn't easy to forget, and that's before leaving such a memorable impression, as you did."
"What did you do?" asked Hiteo.
He could hear the whispers rippling outward in his wake, feel eyes starting to turn. Some openly glared, others seemed content to glance at and away in quick slashes. And then the crowd parted up ahead to reveal several pairs of eyes in particular, scorching the path between them.
"Judging from the looks I'm getting," Lu Da muttered, "you're about to find out."
Their razor sharp grins rusted to rancor as the one in the center—Bin, a loud, turgid bully of a man, probably compensating for the peanut in his pants—took a strutting step forward.
"Well, look what the dung beetle coughed up," he crowed, chest puffed out. "You got some balls showin' that ugly face of yours here again. Or should I say tits? Planning to fashion another pair so you can dupe a bro into feeling you up?"
"If I recall," Lu Da replied, "it didn't take much duping on my part."
Indignation burst in Bin's face, hot and bright, and he spluttered, "It was dark! We'd been drinking. Which reminds me—"
"Yeah," the guy beside him, Joon, spouted off, "I remember you! Took some of us a solid week to get it up again after that night."
The eyes of a passing servant widened, his gait quickening.
Lu Da only lifted a brow, a corner of his mouth tugging. "Sounds like you may have suffered an acute drop in blood pressure, which I've heard can cause some unfortunate side effects. Weird that it happened to you all at once though."
"We know you helped one of those sluts slip something in our drinks."
"Hey now," he said, hands raised, "I get the blow it musta been to your egos, but to go blaming—"
"Someone found the shit being boiled in the back." Joon looked like he might combust from sheer loathing.
"Still. Can't prove it was me."
"Oh, really?" Bin barked. "Custard Tits? Even if we didn't know, that little stunt you pulled in that room dropped the coin. Maybe you were just a bit jealous of the ladies, huh? Come back for seconds?"
"Don't flatter yourselves, you should know I'm only here for the custard fountain, where is it?"
Another servant, obviously new, pointed him in the direction. Lu Da thanked her, and Bin flashed a look to kill by as he tossed them a parting nod.
"Enjoy your evening, gentlemen."
Nudging elbows and dodging drinks, they moved through the congested halls. Hiteo's face scrunched up as he looked at him.
"Custard Tits?"
Lu Da scratched at the stubble on his jaw, exhaling a chuckle, while Rizo plucked a spicy mung bean fritter off a platter.
"Well, what happened was," he began, popping it in his mouth, "we were mingling with their circle at just such a party a while back, and they started talking about corralling a few of the serving girls into a room and gang—"
"Rizo," Marik stopped him. "Kid's eight, spare the details."
"Right. Anyway, the guys claimed the girls wanted them, but you'd have to be blind and deaf and then some not to know that what they wanted was nothing to do with them." He shook his head. "Bog-grubbing bastards didn't care."
"So," Marik pitched in, "Lu Da excuses himself, pulls one girl aside and tips her off, suggesting she cut some bark from the Cat's Claw out back and make them a special round of drinks."
"Few hours pass, and Bin's on his way up to meet the same girl, Unmei, in a private room, or so he thought," continued Rizo. "Lu Da made sure it was dark. He'd filled a couple koala sheep-skin bags with custard, secured them inside his tunic, and had the guy copping a hot and heavy feel before his hand found some wayward muscle and he realized."
Marik huffed. "Rotter was wasted."
"Or maybe I'm just that irresistible," offered Lu Da.
Rizo's wolfish grin overtook his face. "Captain came running outta there in stitches of laughter, with a good shiner bloomin' around his eye."
"Later," added Marik, "he also got so trashed himself that he stripped naked and jumped into the fountain so he could have all the custard to himself."
"And that's how we got kicked out."
They were all laughing when there was a tug on Lu Da's sleeve. Hiteo drew to a stop, his voice dropping to the scarce, distinct hush of horror.
"What happened to that man's face?"
Lu Da tracked the kid's line of sight, but it was an easy guess to the one in question before his eyes even made purchase.
Drudge.
The man looked cut in half. A scar ran from the crown of his head all the way down the center of his face, hooking under his chin and stopping—some would say unfortunately—just shy of his jugular. It was no thin pleating either, but rather a puckered, seething keloid that choked what remained of his nose and rived his lips apart to reveal cracked teeth.
Lu Da winced. He doubted he'd ever get used to it.
"Can't tell you for certain."
And it was true. No one really knew how he'd gotten it. Shiro liked to claim it was an occupational scar, but whispers contradicted him, though so many and so varied, it was near impossible to know which, if any, might be true. Even Lu Da, with his way of finding things out, had no idea.
Drudge was weaving through the mob, a set of bodyguards in tow, greeting friends and guests, when he looked over. Did a double take. And then his face lit up as he paraded toward them with open arms.
"Lu Da! Well met," he said, smiling, if it could be called a smile, the way his mouth slewed wide, stretching his mutilated lips white. "This is a pleasant surprise. Wasn't expecting you to make an appearance. Half thought I'd be made to hunt you down, can't decide whether I'm impressed or disappointed."
"Better luck next time."
"Indeed."
One of the heavies behind him cleared his throat absently, a wet, rattling sound, and Drudge's gaze sliced sideward.
"Spirits' sake, Hongbo, get a fucking drink," he spat. Literally. Another unfortunate effect of his disfigurement. Drudge had a habit of dribbling when he spoke, or full-on spewing in a fit of passion.
Hongbo's face flushed. "It's… a condition, boss…"
"It's something, isn't it?" Shiro laughed, raising his drink to them.
Eyes shifted. The party droned around them.
"Is there some place a little quieter we can go to settle this thing?" Lu Da asked, anxious to be done with it.
"What's the rush?" sang Shiro, sweeping an arm out. "Stay a while, have a drink, enjoy yourselves. You're no stranger to it."
"Rather get business outta the way first."
Shiro gave a shrug of his head. "Fair enough, if you insist. This way, then."
They had just started following him when he twisted to say something to Lu Da, and stopped short.
"Ah ah, just Lu Da, I'm afraid," Drudge tutted. "Sure to only take a moment."
Lu Da shared a look with Marik and Rizo, brushed eyes with Hiteo, then back. "These three stay with me."
"Hm," he considered. "Well, I suppose that's fair. I have my guards, you ought to be allowed yours."
With a nod, Lu Da and company followed Drudge and his to a room in the very back, off the hanok's right wing. The door had no visible knob or handle. Instead, it grated open at the swipe of his fist, retracting into a channel in the wall.
They filed in, the knobless door sealing shut behind them. One guard snapped his fingers and flames kindled to life in their scones as the pair of them took their places along the back wall.
Drudge hummed a cheery tune, circling behind his desk. It was a rainbow in brown, tidy and uncluttered, bearing only a quill and inkwell, a row of jars containing various substances, and a rectangular box filled with slim dagger-like bricks.
"You never told me you had a son," he said, leaning over the desk to snort a line of white dust. A wet, contented smacking of his lips as he righted himself, dabbing his nose. "And you even brought him along, showing Dirty Hands junior the ropes. How quaint. And here I thought the tenderest thing about you was that crossbow you fondle."
"Kid's not my son," Lu Da said.
"No? In that case, I could take the stray off your hands, if you like."
Hiteo bristled, glanced up at Lu Da. He felt a crushing pang in his gut at the look he found there, the fear that he'd been tricked, but too quickly Hiteo's gaze tumbled back down as Drudge rounded toward him.
"Come here, lad, let me have a look at you."
The air shivered. Hiteo recoiled from Drudge's reach just as Lu Da stepped in front of him, muscles flexing beneath his tattoos.
"Ooh," Shiro sneered, drawing back in a pantomime of fear, locking eyes with Lu Da. "Not a father, he says."
"The boy's under my protection. And I'd appreciate it if you would keep him out of this."
His disfigured head tilted aside as he stared, blinked, his mouth twitching. "Fancy yourself some sort of bleeding heart now, is that it? Or with dreams of being one?"
Lu Da only held his gaze, features set.
Drudge's lips twisted, trembled. A single laugh spluttered out. And then the dam broke, a torrent of rising cackles gushing out, spittle flying, until he was gasping for breath, dabbing at his eyes.
Hiteo's skinny frame pressed closer behind him.
"A wolf might as well dream of becoming a dove. Oh, Lu, you always were good for a laugh. You know it as sure as your mother screamed when she shat you out…" His skewed smile thinned to a ghost as he clasped a hand on his broad shoulder, leaning closer. "There are no good men in this game."
Lu Da dropped his eyes to the floor.
When they rose again, they were carefully vacant. "Got something else to do after this," he said, "so if you don't mind us cutting to the chase."
"No plans to stay for the revelries? All business and no pleasure for once?"
Those ruined lips blanched taut as the hand on his shoulder squeezed affectionately. It took all of Lu Da's strength not to forcefully remove it.
"It's a good thing I'm of sound mind, or I might have a leaning to be insulted," he chirped, stepping back, and it was honestly hard to tell whether he was joking. "Though after the last time's… excitement, perhaps we can agree."
"Yeah…" Lu Da rubbed the back of his neck. "About that…"
Shiro waved a hand, as if banishing smoke. "Bygones, bygones, think nothing of it."
The first bodyguard, Hongbo, cleared his throat again into a closed fist.
Drudge's expression cracked, like an eggshell, revealing something else inside, almost indistinguishable—almost—but, just as soon, it was gone, and he was exactly as he had been.
Lu Da wasn't the only one who noticed. He could feel a quiet tension, a rope pulling the air tighter.
Shiro, in turn, must have sensed the young boy's discomfort, because his eyes fell to where he half hid behind Lu Da. Several moments, and then the split of a smile, flaunting broken teeth. Hiteo shrunk closer.
"Charming boy," he said, lifting his gaze to the captain again. "Did I ever tell you about the time I saved a baby from a burning building and an armadillo bear?"
The trio of men cocked their heads, quirking a wide array of expressions. Lu Da taxed his mind, trying to piece together how he got there, where they were going.
"A burning building and a…?" Lu Da trailed off, his tongue stayed by caution. "No, I don't think you have."
"It was a three-story building, a bath house," he began, face lit with gusto. "I heard a baby crying, so I ran in through the flames, no regard for my own safety, of course. Found the baby, ran to the window, and jumped out."
He mimed an enthusiastic leaping motion.
Lu Da was still processing what this had to do with anything when Marik spoke up.
"You… jumped out a third-story window, holding a baby?"
"Why, yes."
Rizo chewed his cheek, brow creased. "Where does the armadillo bear come in?"
"Well, let me tell you."
He drew a breath to continue when another wet, rattling hack beat him to it. A look flashed in his face, oozing from that earlier eggshell moment, and this time, he split.
Turning sharply, three earthen stilettos flew up from the box at his will, two burying into Hongbo's throat, a third into his eye socket with a series of soft, squelching thuds.
The whole room flinched. Rivers of red spurted. The man was thrown back, pawing at his throat and his ruined eye, choking wetly, and Hiteo gasped, cleaving himself to Lu Da's side. He shielded him close with an arm as Hongbo gurgled, then slumped to the floor like a puppet cut of its strings.
Lu Da had only an instant to arrange his features, to force panic into composure, before Drudge swiveled back around to face them brightly.
"Apologies for that rude distraction. Where was I? Ah, yes, the armadillo bear."
The boy's breaths came in short stutters at his side, fists balled tight in his tunic.
"I jumped and landed in something soft and sticky. It was a barrel full of honey!" he chortled. "Probably what attracted the beast in the first place. It got angry, I punched it in the face, and gave me just enough time to escape and run the baby to safety."
No one dared to move. Red was pooling in a slick, growing pond around Hongbo's body. Drudge only stood there, beaming expectantly, and it became clear he was waiting for something, a reaction to the tale one had to assume he'd meant to be amusing.
Lu Da dared to brush eyes askance with his friends. He swallowed back bile and forced a lightness he didn't feel, the others following suit.
"That's a good story, Drudge," he ventured, managing a chuckle past the clot of dread in his throat. "Pretty funny."
The smile melted off the man's face like a wax mask.
"Funny?" he echoed.
The room fell still. Lu Da could hear the flames quiver in their fixtures. He felt his own affected smile wither, his mouth working, trying to make sense of his reaction.
"Well, I mean…" he glanced around, trying to keep his voice light. "Yeah. Isn't that kinda…"
"How, precisely, do you find me funny, Dirty Hands?" he inquired, terse. "Funny looking?"
Lu Da blinked nervously. "What? No, that's—"
"Funny sounding, perhaps?"
"No."
"Boss," hazarded the other guy, "I don't think he—"
"I will hear it from Lu Da," he snapped, twisting around, "and you'll shut your mouth, else you end up like dear Hongbo there."
The pool of blood was still spreading, dark and sticky. Drudge's grin bordered on a snarl as he faced forward again, a string of sputum flying.
"Maybe I'm funny walking? Bandy-legged, like I've got a load in my pants, is that it?"
"Drudge," pleaded Lu Da, "come on, I only meant—"
His hand slapped down hard on the desk and split the air, rage flashing in his eyes, brief as lightning.
"Don't ever say I'm funny!" he roared, a vein bulging at his temple.
No one so much as breathed. Hiteo clung to him, face buried and whimpering silently.
Lu Da cursed himself a thousand times over for bringing him as Drudge came forward slowly, felt Marik peel Hiteo away before the man came to stop a nose's breadth in front of his face. Lu Da's fingers twitched over the dagger at his side, saw Rizo's hands flicker in readiness. He held his ground with barely contained composure, fought the urge to draw back, the instinct that whispered run. There was nowhere for them to go.
Drudge's gaze skewered him for what was probably only seconds, but might have been minutes, hours. And then, without warning, his edges all softened with a cloud of acrid breath, and a smile, warm, as if it had never left.
"Ah, you didn't mean it," he crooned, patting Lu Da's cheek like an uncle indulging his most precocious nephew. "I know you. You didn't mean it."
"No," Lu Da exhaled, shook his head faintly. The remnant of a smile he managed again felt like a grimace. "No, of course not."
Nodding, he turned to round his desk again, voice buoyant as ever. "Shall we cut to the chase then, as you wish? You've brought my coin, I presume."
Coin?
He felt turned about in a fog, disoriented, taking pains to ignore the body in the corner of his eye as his heart, still beating a wild drum, tripped in his chest. The question thrummed in time. Their terms had never stipulated the exact form of repayment, but it was too late to be second guessing now.
Wrapping the shreds of his aplomb around him like armor, his voice steady, he unshouldered the bag.
"No…"
The drink Shiro was raising stopped short of his lips. A muscle twitched under his eye.
"No?" he repeated, as if he hadn't quite heard him, a strained air of curiosity that deepened the lines of his face.
"I brought you something better," Lu Da hastened on, the shaky idea of a plan taking flight. "I had thought to pay in coin. I mean, that's what most people would do. Coin is safe. Typical. Ordinary." He uncinched the sack and stepped forward. "But I'm not an ordinary guy, and I happen to think that safe is boring."
He spilled the contents carefully onto the desk, a gleam of polished jade winking among the scatter. Watched Drudge's incisive gaze fall to inspect them. The upper line of the man's mouth soured, his eyes lifting balefully.
"You think to pawn off a bunch of trinkets on me and walk out of here?"
"No, you got it all wrong," answered Lu Da. "I think to make you the man of the hour. Everyone has coin, nothing special about that, really, once you climb a certain rung. But not everyone can boast a collection of unique treasures like these. Valuables from the world over."
His sundered bottom lip plumped out, brow folding, as he considered this in tandem with the riches presented.
Lu Da knew he was treading a narrow tightrope. One slip, one wrong move, and the balance would tip.
"Maybe I took a gamble in bucking the trend. Maybe I've only succeeded in disappointing you," he submitted. Then he shook his head. "But I don't think so. It's the ordinary guys who strut and boast about their mundane gold. But you're no ordinary guy either, Shiro, and you're sure as hell not mundane."
"I'm most certainly not."
"No. You're a man full of surprises, who enjoys a good surprise in return, and I knew that only someone of your distinction would appreciate the originality of such a payment."
"Hm." Tilting his head, the man started a slow, pondering nod. The loot jangled, his sausage fingers sifting through them carefully. Jade glinting as he fished out the pendant. Inspected it. Letting it slide through his fingers back to the strew of treasures. "Naturally…" Then, with more enthusiasm as he looked at him squarely, grinning now. "Naturally! You do have me pegged, don't you. Ha! I'd like to meet the man who could get one over on you."
The breath of relief that rushed out of him might have been taken for a laugh.
"What can I say," said Lu Da. "I'm a people person."
Shiro chuffed, slapping him on the back. "I knew you were good for it all along. I might tease, but I never really doubted it."
"Well, I'm also not a fool. And only a fool would make you hunt him down."
"Indeed. Well, now that we've settled our affairs, why don't we step back out to the party. I should hate to be a rude host and keep my guests unattended any longer."
The door grinded open again. Hiteo sucked in a desperate breath. All Lu Da wanted was to grab hold of him and barrel out to safety. But instead, he settled a reassuring hand on his small shoulder and extended an arm.
"Lead the way."
Drudge obliged, his remaining bodyguard in tow, and Lu Da's eyes met Marik's and Rizo's in a tense exhale as they filed after him.
The boisterous sea of bodies enfolded them again, and Lu Da had never been so glad at the piercing gazes that found him through the crowd.
"You're certain you can't stay?" Shiro asked. "Not even for the custard fountain?"
"Wish I could," he lied. "You know how it is."
"Well, hopefully next time." And then his face brightened as he swept himself away. "Ah, Angir! How delightful you came!"
The four boys all looked at each.
"Let's get the fuck out of here."