I had honestly believed that I would be thoroughly amused seeing Kid intoxicated for the first time, but when I had visualised that scenario I hadn't pictured two scantily dressed women sitting by his sides.

My body kind of deflated when I first walked into the dimly lit room, having already climbed down from Killer's back. I wasn't sure why the sight bothered me as much as it did. Sure, I was aware that I had a bit of a crush on the guy, but I had no right to be upset.

But...he asked me to be on his arm tonight...

Trying to shift my focus, I realised that sitting directly across from Kid was a familiar face. With a body like a barrel, long hair slicked back until it twisted into a russet braid, was Reinier Cognac himself. He looked oddly out of proportion in person. His limbs were much slimmer than his torso, but I assumed that was due to his Devil Fruit ability.

"Ah, this must be the stragglers of your crew, huh, Eustass?" The second Congac's eyes landed on us he lit up with a large grin, raising his glass in greeting. "I'm glad you could all stick around for the festivities! Please, drink and be merry! It's all on me!"

And all from you. I don't like the look of your face, chump...

Now that attention had been drawn to us, Kid was looking in our direction, and I internally sneered at the way one of the girls held tightly to his arm.
"Took y'as long enough!" He barked with a slight slur, his nose a little pink from how much he had already had to drink. "Oi, brat, get over here!"

When he snapped his fingers and pointed towards his lap I just stared at him, absolutely dumbfounded by the way he thought he could order me to come anywhere near him when he was sandwiched between two women who he was quite obviously getting handsy with.

"No thanks." I replied flatly, folding my arms across my chest as I moved further into the room, sticking close to the wall. "You don't need any extra attention." Despite Kid's burning glare, Cognac burst out into a fit of laughter, resting his chin in his hand when he looked in my direction.

"Wow, she's a bit of a spitfire, isn't she, Eustass? I like the cut of her jib." I didn't like his eyes, or how they were currently looking at me, but I stood firm, watching him as closely as he watched me. "Why don't you take the edge off of that mood of yours and have a drink? Hey, Barley! Get the lady some of the good stuff, on the rocks!"

Another name I knew. Barley-Bree. A tall, slender man from the Longleg tribe. I recalled the profile I had memorised for him as he approached, smiling as he handed me a glass of deep brown liquor. An experienced fighter, never been heard to utter a word, with a bounty of eighteen million berries.

Swishing the suspicious beverage around in the glass, I watched the ice cubes bump into each other before I set it down on the nearest table, scanning the room to see where each of our crew members were standing or sitting.
"No offence, Mr. Congac, Sir, but I don't drink. Upsets my stomach."

Lies, but he doesn't know that, now does he?

Kid was glowering at me, but before he could open his mouth and snap at me for refusing the drink Cognac laughed again, patting the empty cushion beside him on the couch.
"Well, that's a shame! Either way, come take a load off! We've got plenty of food and conversation, now that we're allies!"

I didn't want to humour him, but for the sake of the crew I didn't really have a choice. With how Kid was glaring at me, and how I was glaring right back, there was no way for me to relay the titbit of information I had, so I had to leave that task up to my companions as I walked over and sat down next to the captain of the Tankard Pirates.

He positively reeked of booze, and I forced myself to breathe through my mouth. It wasn't that I disliked the scent of alcohol, but it was far too strong for my nose to take at such a close proximity, and it seemed off. 

"The festival is lovely. Everyone seems to be having a great time." I commented, crossing one leg over the other and refusing to look across at Kid and his female company. It was bugging me far more than I would have ever expected.

"Well, we're usually travelling, so we like to throw a big party for the citizens at least once a year, when we're home." The barrel of a man stretched his arm across the back of the couch, right behind me, and I flickered a glance to Kid. He had noticed, and he was trying to hide his agitation.

As petty as it would have seemed to anybody else, to piss him off further, I placed a hand on Cognac's knee, offering him my first actual smile since entering the room.
"That's so kind of you. I'm sure they all appreciate it very much."

Kid's reaction wasn't the only thing I was after, though. I wanted to seem less hostile towards the sketchy captain, so I could case the joint without worrying about being caught.

"Pardon me..." Before I could lay on any more flirty physical moves, Killer wandered over and nudged me aside, slotting himself between me and Cognac. He had a drink in his hand, complete with straw, but it looked as though he had only taken a sip or two, if any at all.

Slamming his glass down on the table in front of him, Kid motioned to Barley for more, his lacking brow deeply furrowed.
"Ya really wan' test my patience, girl?" He growled, addressing me directly, complete with a pointed finger. "I told ya to get over 'ere. Now."

Begrudgingly, I stood up, stiffly rounding the low table between the seats to stand in front of the red head.
"Fine. I'm here. What do you wa-"

Kid showed no manners at all when he grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me down into his lap, one arm immediately curling to trap me by the waist, the other being used to shoo the women away.
"Come back later." He didn't even glance to them when he spoke, and they skulked away, over to other men in the room.

He really thinks he can just grab me and pose me how he wants, doesn't he? Asshole...

Much to my dismay, I felt my chest flutter, but I still avoided his intense eyes, even though they were now so close to my face.
"You ain't allowed t' move for th' rest of th' night. Teach ya t' not do what you're told..." He muttered near my ear, losing hold of his grammar the more his spoke.

"What if I need to take a piss? You just want me to go right here? Don't test me. I'll do it." I ignored Cognac's amused laughter as I stared at the far wall instead of Kid's face, though I was hyper aware of how he was holding onto me. His grip was protective. No, it was possessive.

"Then I'll rub ya smug nose in'it." He hissed back, snatching his newly filled glass from Barley before throwing it back, dripping some onto my shoulder as he did so. It smelled weird, but there was no way I could tell Kid not to drink any more. He was too far gone at this point.

"This your girlfriend, Eustass? She's a good match for you. Lots of...spunk." The way Cognac spoke made me unsure whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult, but I was a little too distracted to care when Kid forced me right up against his chest.

I could tell he was having trouble focusing, and his neck just wasn't able to support his head well enough, so it was bobbing about like a bottle in the ocean.
"Tch...She ain't..." Kid shook himself a little, rubbing his hand down his face with a drowsy kind of irritation. "M' girl...friend...Fuckin' hell..."

I need to tell him about Livewire, but I don't think he'd even register what I'm saying...Surely he can't be that drunk already..?

I stole a glance towards Killer, and I could see he was just as concerned as I was about Kid. He knew him far better than I did, so if he was on edge, I was too.
"Hey, Kid...Are you okay? Maybe you should lay off the drink..." I reached to try and steady Kid's head, but he shook himself away from my hand, attempting to lean and make eye contact with Cognac, who was just sitting there smiling.

"You...What'd ya..." His arm became so tight around my middle that it was getting difficult to breathe. It wasn't possessive anymore. It was urgent, so I allowed it. "...in the drink..?"

In the drink..? Wait...

"What did I put in the drink? Eustass, my friend, you really should have asked that before partaking." Cognac's answer was more than enough for me to piece together exactly why Kid was so out of it. It was obvious. He'd dosed the alcohol.

Spinning back to face Kid, I just barely managed to catch his head in my hand as it lolled forward. He had lost consciousness, and I began slapping at his cheeks, trying to rouse him.
"H..hey, Kid! Hey! Come on, now is not the time..!" I pleaded, knowing full well that it was useless to even try. As strong as he was, he wasn't immune to whatever he'd ingested.

"You piece of shit..!" Killer's snarl startled even me, and I clung to the captain's comatose body as the blond leapt to his feet, reaching to clip his scythes into his hand-pieces. Meanwhile, with one hand gripping into Kid's coat, I blindly sought out one of my pistols.

*Cli-Click*

Both Killer and I froze solid when we heard that sound, and when I felt the chill of metal tap against my temple I swallowed dry. I wasn't sure who was behind me, but there was definitely the barrel of a gun at my head.

"Now now, don't go getting violent. I don't want to ask Barley here to blow this woman's pretty little brains all over the floor. That would be a waste." Cognac remained seated, tenting his fingers together as he smiled up at Killer. "You may want to sit down though, friend. You had a drink, right? No matter how little you had, you're still about to black out, and I'd feel awful if you ended up hurting yourself on the way down."

Instead of relenting, Killer remained on his feet, one scythe held towards Cognac, the other towards Barley-Bree. If a gun hadn't been involved, he likely would have gone wild, taking down whoever he could before falling.

If he's hesitating because of me...

"K..Killer, don't stop on my account. It's fine." I stammered slightly, scanning what I could of the room to find that our other crew members were down for the count. We hadn't even heard them drop. What was wrong with us? Did we really walk into a trap that was so obvious? "Give 'em hell."

The massacre soldier's legs buckled under his own weight as he stood there, shaking his head slowly, as though it was taking a lot of effort.
"Can't..." He grunted, words slow and almost dripping from his mouth.

I was scared. Of course I was. I'd had plenty of guns in my face before, even been scraped by a bullet or two, but that had been when I was out on my own. Now I had other people to worry about.

Without taking my eyes off of Killer, I took a deep breath and tried to make a fast grab for my pistol. Just as I felt the handle with the pads of my fingers a strong arm hooked around my neck, and the gun was prodded hard against my skin.

Killer disarmed himself without a moment of hesitation, staggering once his scythes dropped to the ground with a loud clang. Despite struggling to breathe, I tried to convey my apologies through my expression.

"What a gentleman you are, Killer. And here I was thinking you'd be the one to give us the most trouble tonight." Cognac tittered, crossing one leg over the other. "There's nothing you can do, so just stop fighting sleep, okay? I promise we won't hurt anyone as long as you all cooperate."

This is why I tried to warn Kid about these bastards...I've got a pretty good idea about what they want us for, too...

Killer grunted loudly when he almost dropped to his knees, but he was far too stubborn to give in, somehow managing to stay upright. It was a matter of pride, now, I was sure of it.

During this, Kid's arm was still wound around my middle, nowhere near as tightly as it was before, but still somewhat firm. Could he hear what was going on? Was he trying to fight it?

It seemed like an age before Killer finally succumbed, falling forwards and down onto the table, splintered wood flying out upon impact. As badly as I wanted to help him, and try to wake Kid up, I stayed completely still, not exactly prepared to risk having my skull shattered by lead.

"Aw, poor guy. That's going to hurt when he wakes up." Cognac sighed with mock pity, returning his sinister gaze to me. "This isn't personal, Miss. I hope you won't be holding a grudge. It's simply business, nothing more. Bounties make up a decent chunk of our profits, see? Gotta put food on the table somehow."

I was about to bite back at him with something. Anything. I would have ripped him a new one if Barley-Bree hadn't swung that damned pistol grip and bashed me in the back of the head.

As I felt my consciousness slipping away from me, I reached to cling onto Kid's arm, my head falling back and onto his shoulder. Eyes rolling before they closed, I begged and pleaded that somehow we could get out of this.

Kid, for the love of all that's good...please wake up..!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
***Have this junk.

Also, I made a horrifically ugly doodle sheet of the Tankard Pirates. OP style is difficult and I hate how they turned out but meh. This is a vague idea of what the main members look like in my brain. Feel free to picture them as you like.

Livewire is the only one without at least a name relating to alcohol. Not sure why I made him different, but meh. I hate all of it.

Time to go to sleep and get up in a few hours to get ready for work :')

Next Time: Pocket***