Rage

Characters: Law, Penguin, Shachi, Bepo. Rating: K+. Warnings: None

Shachi was the hot headed one of the crew. As far as Law was concerned, that was fact. His vibrant ginger hair aside, if one of the four of them was going to blow up at something, it was going to be Shachi. Bepo was mellow, extraordinarily so considering he had grown into an incredibly intimidating size. Then again, it was fortunate that the mink didn't fly into rampages, as he would be far harder to stop than Shachi was. Complimenting Shachi perfectly, as per usual (Law still wasn't quite certain he believed they weren't blood brothers), Penguin was the voice of reason.

That didn't mean he was as mellow as Bepo, however. Law would not be forgetting his first meeting with them in a hurry, when neither Penguin nor Shachi had been inclined to listen to anything except fists. They'd come a long way since then, he thought fondly, watching them bickering playfully over who had caught the larger fish. Bepo solved the argument by placing his own catch in front of them, which was far larger than both fish.

Law supressed a chuckle as they turned on him simultaneously, competition forgotten in the face of the interruption. Bepo slunk away with his head hanging low, mumbling apologies, and Law beckoned him over to act as his backrest as Penguin and Shachi changed their complaints to how weak willed Bepo was instead. Law was honestly glad he wasn't as stubborn as the rest of them, otherwise the dynamic of the crew would never work. Three stubborn streaks was enough.

Settling back against his soft backrest and feeling Bepo shift into a more comfortable position, he returned to observing the other humans. While he had no issues with labelling Shachi as the hot head, he had seen Penguin flare up on occasion.

Well, flaring up was probably the wrong word to use. Shachi flared up, explosive and chaotic when something didn't go as it should. Penguin's rage was slower to build, and harder to douse. If he had to compare the two of them to something, he would say Shachi was like a firecracker, bright and sharp, but quickly burnt out. Penguin was more like an avalanche, difficult to trigger, but once it began nothing was stopping its momentum until it ran its course.

Nothing except Shachi, as Law later discovered the first time Penguin's rage reached the tipping point for a reason other than the ginger getting into trouble. As always, the aim had been to remain undercover and unnoticed. Sometimes Law wondered why he bothered anymore, then he remembered strings and a pink coat and renewed his determination once again.

"I suggest you take that back." Penguin's voice was eerily calm, instantly catching Law's attention. He wasn't the only one; half the square had fallen silent at the words. The merchant, however, had merely laughed, oblivious to the impending avalanche heading his way.

"Careful, kiddo. Someone might think you're serious there." Law saw Penguin's jaw tighten and wondered what had been said. More importantly, could he get Penguin out of there before he was pushed too far? The answer was no, as the older teen knocked over the stall with a well-aimed kick.

"I am serious," he growled as the laughter abruptly stopped. He took a step forwards, crunching over the spilled wares with no regard for their value, and gripped hold of the man's collar.

"Hey, hey, now," the man gulped. Law could see the sudden perspiration from where he was, striding across the square towards his nakama. "It was… just a joke! Just a harmless little joke… it didn't mean anything!" Law found the defence unconvincing, and Penguin clearly felt the same way as the first blow caught the man's blabbering mouth, cutting him off sharply and forcing a handful of teeth out.

"Penguin!" Law said sharply as the teen drew back his arm for another punch. He was ignored, and Law reached out to grab his arm. Muscles flexed and bulged beneath his grip before Penguin broke free to continue his assault. "Penguin, stop."

"Hey!" Shachi interrupted, appearing from nowhere. He must have been drawn by the commotion, Law initially assumed. "He's not worth it, Penguin." The older teen glanced at him – more of a reaction than Law had got and he tried and failed not to feel resentful about that – before returning his attention to the sobbing man in his grip.

"He said-"

"I know," Shachi interrupted, and Law revised his initial assessment. Shachi must have already been in the area, likely behind the row of stalls somewhere, if he'd heard the conversation. "I heard, Penguin. This bastard's not worth it." Penguin remained tense, and Law feared for a moment that even the ginger hadn't got through, before he threw the man away from him, into the neighbouring stall, and turned around. He stalked away, past Law and heading straight for the Tang – Law didn't miss the way that he carefully and deliberately crushed more wares beneath his feet on his way.

Glancing back, he saw Shachi offer a hand to the fallen merchant, who accepted it and hauled himself to his feet. Before Law could blink, the man had been slammed back against a wall, Shachi's hand clenched around his throat.

"Never say that again," he growled, before hurling him back to the ground and following Penguin. Knowing that their time on the island was officially over, Law trailed behind them, watching Shachi sling an arm over Penguin's shoulders and lean closer to talk to him. He stayed back, respecting that Shachi didn't want him to overhear even if his curiosity was burning.

Penguin remained sullen for much of the rest of the day, his fists periodically clenching and unclenching. Law didn't dare ask what had triggered it while he was still wound up, and neither Penguin nor Shachi volunteered the information.

Eventually the tension drained away, and Law voiced the question. Penguin's jaw tensed again briefly, before he spoke.

"They insulted you." Law didn't believe him. There was something in the way he kept his hat pulled low over his eyes that implied there was more to it than that, but he respected that it wasn't something Penguin wanted to talk about (nor was he overly keen on Penguin lashing out again, especially without a clear target). Arms suddenly wrapped around him as he turned to leave and found himself pulled back against the taller boy's chest.

"I'm sorry," Penguin mumbled into his hair, but didn't elaborate.

For what, Law wanted to ask, but Shachi and Bepo joined the hug, silencing him before he could.

I commented a while ago that while Shachi is usually the one to flare up and Penguin calms him down, sometimes it does happen the other way around, and some people wanted to see it in action, so here it is.

For the curious, the merchant had made a comment related to Flevance. This is set after History, so Penguin and Shachi know at least a little about Law's past.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari