A/N: 686 words; also just quickly looked-over so sorry if something reads a bit off; can read as slightly PenLaw now that I'm looking at it but I don't ship it so if you do get your goggles ready


Day Three: Penguin - Insomnia

It wasn't his shift to be up, and yet Penguin tossed and turned in his bunk, attempting to get comfortable to no avail as everyone else in the bunkroom snored and farted in their sleep. Next month was supposed to be when he switched to nights, making his inability to get rest all the more frustrating.

Eventually, he rolled out of bed and made his way towards the cafeteria. It was quiet in the ship—the thrumming of the engine in low-power mode, the lack of crew chatter, the subtle movement of the water all around the ship… there was so little noise it was deafening. At least if he went into the kitchen he'd hear other noises… could keep himself out of his own head.

Ah, yes; peace at last. Penguin busied himself with making some tea, the motions familiar and relaxing. He made Bepo some tea the first night they were together and, since then, the Mink was very good at providing him and Shachi and the Captain (and eventually, the rest of the crew) with herbal tea whenever they couldn't sleep. It was… comforting, in its own way, and the familiarity of it felt natural in a way he could never describe.

As his tea steeped, Penguin went over to the small shelving unit set into the wall that held some of the crew's shared books and plucked one off without even thinking about it. After tossing it on one of the tables, he grabbed the teapot and a mug and sat down to flip through the book while he continued letting his drink brew. Great—he ended up grabbing one of the beaten old technical manuals for the ship. The drier and more boring the text, the better his chances were at falling asleep mid-page, and any sleep was good sleep at this point. He began to read, eventually pouring himself a steaming mug of tea…

…except, instead of getting tired, he was simply getting bored. He kept trying to read, only to find that his attention span was growing shorter and shorter by the minute. Another cuppa once his first was drained and he kept trying, only to grow increasingly frustrated.

"Can't sleep either?" Penguin glanced towards the doorway and saw the Captain, standing there as though he'd come in for the exact same reason—he looked like hell, as though the crew's suspicions were correct and he really hadn't slept in two whole days. Then again, he sounded awful too. The Captain saw the teapot and stared almost longingly. "Is that chamomile?"

"Lemon ginger—you'll smell it once you come over here and pour yourself some."

"Fair." The Captain acquired a mug and indeed poured out some tea for himself. "You'll never fall asleep reading that."

"I'm trying," Penguin groused. "This is probably one of the most snooze-worthy books on the entire ship."

"Close," his captain agreed, "but I doubt it'll do anything but annoy you since it's all stuff we've altered already."

"Wanna bet?"

"Considering Ikkaku scrapped that component to make the espresso machine the second week she was here, yeah." The Captain tapped his pointer finger on the page closest to him and pointed out a gyro that was indeed sitting on the kitchen counter. He drank some of his tea and gave his old friend an unbothered look—he had him there.

"Plenty in here's still relevant," Penguin frowned as he began to flip through the manual. "This got moved to the secondary engine, but it's still fully operational. This got upgraded but it still is functional, this was tossed but looks very similar in setup to the new boiler dongle that we rigged up last week, and…"

Noticing that the Captain was very quiet, Penguin glanced over and saw that he was slumped against the table, eyes closed as he pillowed his head against folded arms. Penguin leaned in and confirmed the other man's soft snores—at least one of them was out. He poured himself the last of the tea and continued reading.

Maybe, if he was lucky, they'd both get some sleep before breakfast.