Chapter Eleven: Brown and Red Wraps
"Well we must be going, if we see either of the criminals we will tell you immediately" Law nodded politely, moving away from Captain HurstSand Mirage and gesturing for Kid to follow.
"Yeah, nice to meet ya" he shrugged, making sure the brown material over his head was secure and hiding his tell-tale bright crimson hair.
"Please, stay awhile" the young woman stepped down, a smirk adorning her thin features.
"Why for?" Kid inquired, voice innocent and surprised but eyes questioning why they would waste time on two villagers. Captain Arabella Mint caught onto this just a little and looked somewhat taken aback but turned to Law with more hope.
"This search is awfully tiring and the company of others is always welcome aboard my ship, are you not interested?" she tried. The doctor blinked twice. All this attention being drawn to him was becoming tedious and quite frankly, disturbing.
"In all honesty I would rather-" he stopped himself when a thought came to him. What if they could take out this ship from the inside and prevent them being a threat. Then he could find Penguin and Killer without disruption or fear.
"Join a lovely host for companionship than get back to work" he laughed lightly, the redhead turned to him incredulously.
"Would it?" he muttered, stepping forward.
"Of course, it'll be easier to find criminal's after a rest, wouldn't you say" he replied with a smile and he was surprised how quick the other caught on.
"I guess"
It was late noon when the town finally started to get busy, there was some talk over the guard's office being broken into and Killer was surprised no one else had come out to pursue them. In fact, he had seen Captain Arabella Mint leave into her ship with the two men she had been talking with. The blonde was perplexed with the sudden relationship between her and a couple of townsmen but it provided a decent opportunity for him and Penguin to run.
"We should go now-"
"Why don't we disguise ourselves?"
Killer blinked down at the heart pirate who had his fingers curled at his chin in thought.
"I doubt we could do much with our appearances"
"We could, we just need to get to a house..." he looked around.
"You are suggesting we steal?" Killer smirked and Penguin started slightly.
"No! Just...look for stuff"
They soon sped over the short expanse of field to the back of a house, with laboured breathing and suspicious eyes they waited a few moments before deciding no one was coming after them.
"Right...err..." Penguin was speaking more to himself out of jittery nerves rather than anything else. Under the shadow of his hat his eyes widened when he saw a general store across the town. Random ship parts and tools, they could work with that.
"Stay here" he told the kid pirate who was going to protest when the younger man darted across the way, alerting a few people but generally not drawing too much attention. Apart from when he bumped into a crowd of young men who scowled at the rough looking lad before going on their way. Killer watched, nerves on edge as he entered the store. What was he doing? After a few minutes he came back out, carrying a small bag of things over his shoulder. He walked with a slower pace now, keeping it casual.
Approaching Killer he exhaled a long breath.
"Okay, I didn't find much so we gotta work with what we got as well" he commented.
"How did you even get it?"
"I...I pick-pocketed those guys I bumped into-" Penguin muttered fast and quiet, blushing a little. The kid pirate raised an eyebrow with mild admiration. Pulling out some scraps and items, Killer went to inspect them vaguely. Wraps of material, bandages, rope, some knives and other short tools. The heart pirate was certainly intriguing with his method. Killer heard said heart pirate gulp involuntarily loudly for a moment and glanced up. Eyes widening beneath his mask and his whole body recoiling.
Penguin finished taking off his hat and blinked at the glaring sun for a few moments, surveying the blurry blue sky under the shade of his hand before looking at the long wind of greyish white bandage in his hand.
Feeling his forehead for the tell-tale tattoo he unwound the material.
"Let me" Killer offered, voice rasped to his own surprise when he spoke. Penguin nodded and passed him the bandage. Shuffling forward – they were kneeling on the ground anyway – he lifted the short tufts of pale hair away to thread the material around his head like he had had a recent injury. Ignoring the slightly matted but undeniably attractive whitish -grey locks under his fingers he finished the knot.
"Your wound is looking better, but you can get your captain to look at that when you get back" Killer commented and Penguin nodded. A few moments of silence occurred until Penguin clapped his hands together softly.
"Well...that's that" Penguin laughed nervously, even more so when Killer's hand didn't remove from his head and trailed down to cup his jaw, through the holes of the mask he was admiring Penguin's exposed eyes, the thick grey outing and the shocking blue just around his pupil*.
"You don't need to remove your mask...well it would help...I was thinking we cover the lower half of your face with this" Penguin managed. Lifting up what looked like a pale grey scarf.
"That's fair, as long as I'm not 'Killer', it doesn't bother my identity...but..." he removed his hand from the younger man's jaw and lifted up a thick strand of his flaxen hair, Penguin paused.
"I was thinking we tie it back but would much difference be made...oh I don't know" he sighed, looking down, eyes showing the defeat he felt and his teeth gritted in frustration.
"This would be so much easier if we didn't have Captain creep and creep after us" he snarled.
"We can make this work, don't think about them, your idea is fine" Killer told him, comfort not one of his strong points, but advice, definitely so.
Penguin smiled at him for a moment and the blonde was thrown off by how handsome he looked for a moment.
"Okay, let's just...finish me first" he mumbled. Looking down at himself expectantly as though a disguise would appear there and then.
"Remove your shirt"
"Eh?! When I said finish me off I didn't-" he stopped when he saw the confused tilt of Killer's helmet. "Sorry" he breathed and Killer explained himself.
"It's different, they won't take you for the bold type...I'll keep mine on, they can recognise my bare torso"
Penguin would have blushed harder if not for the older man's methodical tone as he was amazed at his steady tone. Penguins statement had very much thrown him off.
"I guess" he muttered, but his arms wound around himself protectively. Even so he tentatively started tugging off the ripped-sleeve top, pulling his trousers up higher each time as though it would cover him.
"Hey, you're not that bad-" Killer started light-heartedly in hope to calm the insecure pirate when he noticed the thick deep blue thorn tattoo circling the younger one's waist.
"Exactly" was the unquestioned reply and the blonde gritted his teeth with barely concealed anger. One day, one day he would find out Penguin's past in the Blue Thorn Slavery System.
But for now he took off his own mask and pushed his heavy blonde locks from his eyes, tugging on the scarf so it masked his nose, mouth and jaw. Penguin looked up at his deep forest green eyes and their gazes locked for a second.
"Sorry"
"You shouldn't be, boundaries have more or less been crossed at this point" was the stern answer but Killer didn't seem too bothered by being so exposed, which he should have. He cared even less when he took this slight facial freedom to his advantage.
"I guess I can cover the marking up with this" Penguin lifted up a surprisingly flattering red wrap and tested it by knotting it around him clumsily. Killer leant forward to assist but intentionally lowered the young man to the wall, slipping the newly applied scarf off so he could brush his lips over the centre of the heart pirate's chest. Penguin didn't move and only gasped as fingers trailed down the sides of his body, strong and firm, holding his waist as Killer kissed each thorn on the tattoo.
"S-Stop it, not here"
"Somewhere else?" Killer challenged with a spark in his usually dark eyes and Penguin's blush was enough to answer that.
"Just...quit it" he mumbled off to the side, abdomen undulating under the unbearably wonderful touch the other placed on him. It was too warm and Penguin's eyes were drooping.
"Please, come on Killer we need to-ah" a harder kiss to a sensitive area of his waist caused him to release the soft sound and Killer was to his mouth in an instant, hands keeping his lower half down whilst he tugged Penguin's lower lip gently. Moving away he returned the mask to his face and worked on his own disguise as though nothing had happened whilst the heart pirate regained his breathing and decreased his heart rate. Adjusting the wrap properly this time, covering the tattoo and pale pink lips marks. God knows he would never get used to that.
Captain Arabella Mint decided the lithe bodied man would do well as a slave and may even fetch a decent price. She imagined the money she would gain if she finally caught the blonde bastard and sold them at the same time. A fine amount she believed and she had to restrain herself from laughing manically as she looked on her guests who cautiously sipped freshly poured drinks.
"You are too kind Miss Mint" Law told her, having learnt her name earlier using it with a voice like silk. He knew what he was doing and personally Kid didn't like it, rolling his eyes and keeping the grip around the small glass in his hand from smashing the fragile material.
"So what do you do on the island?"
"Just basic work, my mother and father I never knew and my older sister moved out some time ago, Stu and I live together" he replied, flawless, followed with a fluid swig of his drink. The dark eyed woman blinked twice but smiled.
"I see...if you don't mind me commenting so bluntly, a fairly dull existence wouldn't you say?"
"No offence taken, it is indeed"
"Would you travel with us?"
Kid choked loudly and had to beat his chest with a fist before he could breathe properly.
"Sorry about that, easily shocked Stu is..." Law chuckled nervously all the while wondering why the hell the redhead got so wound up. Then he let what the woman had offered sink in.
"With you?"
"Of course, I did say that" she smiled, leaning forward to pour Stu some more of the drink he had mostly spat back out. Kid nodded grimly with thanks. But even he could tell Law agreed with his silent reaction, it was moving too fast, she was too outward.
"I don't think I could, as much as that offer is amazing, I do have a life here, though dull it may be" Law tried to use polite, long words to get himself out of this one, he didn't want to push this conversation, he wanted to explore the ship.
"I dunno Garth, it might be cool" Kid shrugged.
"But I wanna look round the ship first" he added, turning to the green haired lady who was bewildered at the whole ordeal but nodded quick.
"By all means, I will take you on a tour if it improves your chances of joining us, I have been keen on increasing my crew numbers anyway and you two seem like great candidates"
This woman was so bitter-sweet sickly it made Kid exactly that, sick. The fuck did she think she was? Talking to Law like she had him wrapped round her little finger, he could dissect her in less time it took her to think of a decent line to deliver him with those white painted lips. Kid paused his internal rant when he realised what he was doing. Having an internal rant about a woman because of Law. For Law.
Oh fuck.
"Why do you hide your face?" there, Penguin had asked it and along with the weight that lifted off his chest, he was filled with dread when Killer turned to him slowly.
"...Wondered when you'd ask me that" no smile graced his features but his voice was calm. He had finished patching up his shirt with random scraps of material to disfigure the original design and it looked considerably different. He was working on staining his trousers now, with some oil from the stuff Penguin had bought and dust off the building they stayed hidden behind.
"You don't have any scars or tattoos or anything that would make you...frightening or exposed in any way" Penguin observed and Killer shrugged in agreement. Wondering for a moment if the younger man might even find his face appealing, but that was far too much of an insecure thought for his naturally arrogant nature so dismissed it.
"I know, I guess...it just adds to my reputation"
"Of being...a killer?"
"Yeah, my hair is already a non-intimidating feature and with the aim to frighten others and get an upper hand in a fight through mental weakness from my opponent, I had to make myself...more...threatening, Kid advised it too, thought it was cool...that was a while back though, I would have been much younger when I started wearing it...now I rarely take it off except to wash and sleep" Killer was trailing off without realising but the approachable nature of the heart pirate and his talent of listening let him go into more depth.
"I see...we always thought you were viciously scarred or mutilated in a battle and you wore it to hide said scars" Penguin chuckled.
"We meaning who?" Killer went cold for a second and Penguin stopped smiling. Shrugging.
"Just some of us heart pirates..." he mumbled. Now working on threading up the hems of his trousers with scraps and random pieces of string to make them look even more rugged. Even going as far as to rip holes in the knees. Finishing off feeling rather satisfied with his new disguise he stood up with a grin.
"Not bad, if I do say so myself" he looked to Killer who was still figuring out what to do with himself.
"Go barefoot" Penguin offered, kneeling to the blonde's height as he remained on the ground. "But that hair..." he sighed.
"It's fucking beautiful" Killer commented deadpan and Penguin had to remind himself to keep quiet as hysterical laughter bubbled within him.
"I know, I know...but it's...too noticeable, would covering it make it more suspicious?"
"I'm not sure, I'll tie it up for now and see how it looks".
Grabbing some elastic bands the heart pirate managed to retrieve and winding his ridiculously long and thick hair into a single tail.
"Scrape the fringe back more, show more of the top of your face, the more you are willing to show the less they will think it is you" Penguin decided, moving forth to do so himself with his hands. Secretly envious of the luscious texture of said flaxen locks.
It was late afternoon when they both gathered their tools and Penguin purposefully slung the bag over his shoulder and added some rope wound under his arm. Killer hooked small knives and tools to his misfit-made belt. Heading out into the open had been nerve shattering and they actually stood there for a few moments not knowing what to do with themselves before they were approached by a scraggy looking middle aged woman.
"Eh, eh you two" she addressed them and Killer stepped in front of Penguin ever so slightly.
"Either of you seen some guy in a pretty distinct hat saying 'Puffin' or something, and some big guy in a blue and white mask?" her beady eyes stared at them accusingly as Penguin choked a little on the 'Puffin' comment but turned to Killer with mock confusion.
"Afraid not, just docked off ma'am so wouldn't have" the heart pirate claimed and the woman sighed with over-dramatic volume and went on her way. The streets were only just busy, with the odd elderly member hobbling down or a random dog bounding with wild barks. Shops were open and the sun was beating down on the earth with a strong heat today. The only salvage in the thin shadows cast over the cobbled road.
"I had no idea the whole town was looking for us" he added soon after she was out of earshot. They absently wandered down to the harbour where they looked over at the White Knife and the older male captain's ship every now and again.
"I guess we either need to find a small boat or a communications office, they are usually on the seafront" Killer claimed, stretching back and moving his hair back. Feeling awfully unusual without his mask. It was horrible really.
Penguin felt very much the same, going to pull down the yellow brim of his hat that wasn't there constantly. Unbeknownst to him, his pale hair and soft stony eyes mixed in with a splash of watery blue made him look like porcelain to the older man and Killer would have continued admiring him until something very yellow caught his eye. Stopping dead in the street Penguin looked back with surprise.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Isn't that your ship?" was the reply and Penguin snapped his head round to the sea with shocking speed. He gasped loudly and near broke his ribs as he laughed wildly and felt the pulsing of blood in his ears like a crashing wave. It was here, his captain Trafalgar Law was here.
A/N: *This is known as central heterochromia, look it up if you want but it generally means the inner part of the iris is a different colour to the outer. I thought it would be interesting for Penguin to have this (probably because I couldn't decide whether to give him grey or blue eyes.
Went shopping for some One Piece manga today which was cool, but I hate shopping in the city, it's too crowded.
I always thought it would be more interesting for Killer to wear the mask for the method of threat to enhance his fighting as that is his main skill rather than to hide scars or markings like most make out the reason for his mask to be. In my opinion, Killer is a man who would gladly show ferocious battle scars if it meant his reputation became more infamous.
Hardly any mistakes in this chapter, I always feel uneasy if I don't correct something, ahaha.
-LAW09
AriesDanger24: I hope your work goes well! Aww, thank you so much for any praise! Yeah, I figured he'd be a man to show scars, it wasn't an excuse to keep him beautiful or anything, it has logic and I'm glad you noticed it and agree! Thanks so much for the review!
Thank you to all my favouriters and followers!