wrong side of heaven

It's entirely fine! :3 lol, he's just asking for trouble I fear. xD

The sudden violent sheen in Njal’s eyes - that Cutthroat got a good look at when the Beta male had forced eye contact with the inky pirate - while was not entirely unexpected reminded Cutthroat of the fickle temperament of the Sea, going from a roaming calm to violent abruptly. For a moment the brazen Pirate did not slink back under the ferocity and heated gaze of the other male when Njal proceeded to tell Cutthroat that he didn’t look like he could fish. Internally, he scoffed. How in the devil could someone look like they could do something or not? It was most ridiculous thing Cutthroat had heard in quite some time, but knew his place and knew better not to let his lashing wit get the better of him, lest he find himself dying slowly in a pool of his own blood in the creek. However, he was crafty enough to understand that if things should take a turn for the worse he could certainly play up the “useful” card, play to Fox’s belief that without him they would never see Crossbones again (though in reality they might actually never see her again, Cutthroat had no idea what Cutlass and Corsair had planned for the run away). He hadn’t asked and even if he would have neither woman wouldn’t have told him because it hadn’t been his job to know.

Survival of the fittest mate, Cutthroat desired to say as Njal continued on to tell Cutthroat what he looked like. A thief. A scavenger. Useless. In a way, he wasn’t really wrong, but there were your occasional honest wolf in the rambunctious mix; and technically, Njal was basically insulting Crossbones too, because while she had been apart of the Creek she was still a native to Tortuga. Despite how badly those words burned and itched to fall off of the Pirate’s lips he held them back, already under the Beta male’s ire and frankly did not deign to lose his life this day.

There wasn’t really time for Cutthroat to get in a word edgewise - not that he planned on saying anything, favoring taking the slicing insults and abuse actions in grave silence. If he was going to speak to anyone he’d much rather it be Bazi or Fox (mostly because he did better when surrounded by females than he did males). There was too much territorial, testosterone instincts that overcame him when he was in the presence of fellow men. The first shove of Njal’s shoulder against Cutthroat’s body caused the Pirate to stumble, having been thoroughly taken off guard, and the second one was met with resistance as Cutthroat, instinctively, tightened his body to better take the blow but then allowed himself to crumble into the creek’s shallows, the cool water lapping around him as he stared harshly up at Njal, breathing forceful as he tried, so very hard, to resist everything in his body that screamed at him to fight back. To not let Njal treat him as if Cutthroat were his bitch. It was a hard thing to allow to happen to him, and harder yet to swallow the crushing blow to his pride the Pirate was left with. There was nothing but shattered pieces that cut him every time he tried to piece them back together.

The weight of Njal’s paw was felt in the junction between his shoulders, pressing him down into the until his breath became strained from the pressure, and the resilient creature with broken pride was left under the Beta male feeling as pathetic as he probably looked. Cutthroat understood bribes very well, and understood that his “corrective measures” would not be as harsh if he gave Njal information. At this point, Cutthroat struggled with the trepidation that wracked him - also made his thinking process a bit sluggish when he was sort of struggling to breathe - assuming that at this point it was his “information” that was keeping him alive. He did not know he was willing to give it up, yet. Not until he felt he could and had something of a fair shot at extending his life past his first year.

“No,” He responded in a gasp of breath. He closed his eyes then, sure it had been an extremely foolhardy thing to say, but he was out to preserve his own life in that moment.