Wanted

Kitiara raised her eyes from the Wanted Poster Lori was holding up for her.
“She… she’s a pirate?” She turned around to the cell behind her, frowning at the drunk woman in it who kept singing shanties in disbelief.
“Not just any pirate, either. Part of the Triad, or ‘Tempting Triad’ as they are called in the marine!” Lori lowered her voice a little, grinning widely. “The only reason their crime records aren’t as long as their bounty numbers is that they consist of like 50% adultery and 40% adultery no one wants to admit committing - they kidnap people every now and then when they feel like it, but word has it that most people end up giving them their worldly possessions out of their own volition, that’s how good they are.” She snickered. “Doesn’t keep people from regretting their decision later occasionally though. But that means you hit jackpot, Kiti! Here!” She shoved the poster into Kitiaras hands. “So when you got the watch now, you can look at the nice reward you get for this sweet catch later.”

Kitiara still didn’t look very convinced, she kept looking back and forth between the drawing on the poster and the woman in the cell. But when Lori patted her back, she snapped out of her stupor.

“Huh… all right, have a nice evening then, Lori.”, she mumbled, getting a laugh from her colleague as a reply.
“For you too, Kiti. And don’t let her wrap you around her finger, that’s how they get to you!”
“I’ll be on my toes.” Kiti shook her head with a smile. As if she’d be into drunkards, that was why she had arrested the woman in the first place after all.

The moment Lori had left, the woman in the cell - “Coffee” according to the poster? - shouted out to her.
“Hey! Hey marine! Didcha get yer reward yet?” When Kitiara came a bit closer, she suddenly realised that Coffees eyes did not look as glazed over as they usually did on people with her behaviour. Maybe it was a good thing that Lori had warned her.
“No… my higher ups aren’t here yet. But I don’t really care about the reward, I just wanted to break up that fight you started in the tavern.” She genuinely had thought that the drunk woman needed protection to sober up…
Her reply seemed to irritate Coffee.
“What do you mean, you don’t care about the reward?! What did I let myself get caught for if you don’t get it?” What? “Lass, ya ought to be more assertive to your bosses. Insist on yer rights, kick them outta bed if ya got to! We’re talking about a pretty big amount of money here! By the way, can I see that?” Starting to have a suspicion about what Coffee was up to, Kitiara crumpled up the poster and threw it so the smaller woman could catch it.
“You won’t make me fall for your trap… Coffee. I don’t care about the money, it’s the law I’m doing my job for.” She pulled up a stool and sat down on it, nervously playing with her keys. If those pirates were a “triad” - then what about the other two?
“I’m not trying to deceive ya, lass. If ya want a list of things I’m trying to do, here it is:
1. Getting a nicer picture on my posters I mean have ya seen this piece a shit?
2. Giving ya a nicer and more truthful impression of myself. Didcha know I didn’t even do half the stuff they want me to dance with Jack Ketch for?”
“Well that’s a thing I definitely heard before.”, Kiti replied, still jingling with her keys, but actually focusing on the little woman now. It was ridiculous that she was called lass by the smaller pirate and not the other way around.
“I swear it’s true though. I mean didcha see the people lining up to get me hanged for adultery with them? Talking bilge, most a them. I wouldn’t touch them with a stick and the truth is that they want me dead because they can’t take no for an answer.” It made Kiti smile slightly, and try to not start feeling protective of the other woman again. Pirate.
“Even if that’s true, that still leaves the other half of true cases and the fact that you are a pirate - and you probably didn’t get called such without good reasons.”
“I prefer the term 'corsair’!”
“I don’t care about your preferences.”
“Which is a shame, cuz yer one a them.” Kiti managed to choke on nothing but air at this unexpected remark and the cheeky wink from her prisoner, and quickly turned her head away.
“Sorry, but smooth talk won’t get you out of here either.”, she mumbled, perking up when she heard a noise behind herself. For a moment, a scarred man with a grin that warranted arresting him on it’s own sauntered into her line of sight, but as she wanted to stand up to defend herself, someone else knocked something against her head from behind.
“Didn’t expect it to.”, she heard Coffee say, and the mischievous smile of the pirate was the last thing she saw before she passed out.

She reawakened in a cabin on the sea, and the first thing she felt was gratitude for the fact that someone had placed a bucket right next to the spot she’d rested on, because the up- and down of the ship and an unconscious body didn’t seem to be the best of friends.
After emptying her stomach, she became aware of the rest of her surroundings. The cabin was pretty empty, safe for the makeshift “bed” (pile of clothing more like) and instead of a door, or fourth wall for that matter, it had sturdy bars on one side. Coffee was sitting on the other side, leaning against them.
“Morning, beauty.”, she cooed. Kitiara sat up quickly, immediately regretting that decision when her head began to buzz.
“Ah, don’t overexert yourself. Yet.”, Coffee commented on the muffled whimper her prisoner gave. “Roamer hit you pretty hard. Don’t worry, I already gave him a piece of my mind about that.” The reaction she got was an angry glare from the marine.
“Let me off this ship right. Now.”, Kitiara hissed, and Coffees lips curled into another one of these awful, dangerous smiles that made her head swim even more than the hit had.
“If you want to swim a few kilometres back to the mainland, sure. But I’d recommend you to just be patient. We’ll drop you off at the next haven when we restock our supplies. How about you regard this as a nice little vacation, mh?”
“I don’t tend to be held prisoner on vacations.”, Kiti snarled, but Coffee just leaned in even more closely, pretty much devouring her with her eyes already.
“Well, let me extend an offer to you then. If you play nice, you won’t have to be my prisoner - but instead, you could be my guest.” She winked again, and Kitiara turned her head away, trying to keep her anger on the forefront of her mind.
“Think about it, beauty.”, Coffee added with a smirk and briefly, Kiti wondered when she’d grown from a lass into a beauty in the pirates eyes. The faint memory of Coffee giving her a glance across the room before starting the ruckus in the tavern crossed her mind, and she could feel her cheeks getting warmer as the pirate exited.