Nothing was that easy.
There was a crashing noise, the shatter of glass, and a familiar snorting-grumble. All piggish, nasal. Familiar. Across the way stood a tall, gangly human male. Heels dug in. Mouth set into a hard line, an eyebrow flagged up in annoyance. He stood directly in front of the purple-skinned alien, its ugly head craned in his direction, lips pulled into the closest reminiscence of a scowl. A puff of yellow smoke billowed from the corner of its mouth. The other two flanked his sides and seemed to look to their leader for guidance, fingers twitching.
“Where girl, huh?” Buck’s voice echoed sourly as he drew up a finger and prodded the alien hard in the chest. The way his shoulders were set, it was clear that he’d been listening in on the conversation. Glowing blue liquid pooled at their feet and slid down the alien’s knobbed toes. “Fuck off, understand that?” As knowledgeable as Wolf was about the alien language—about any language, for that matter, Buck had never been that interested in learning any of it. He believed some things were just universal.
A middle finger flagged in the air? How could anyone not know that?
Sometimes, he paid enough attention to Wolf’s lessons to pick up a couple new words. He understood some of the more guttural languages, but only enough to get by so he could make transactions, ask where the bathroom was, or shake someone down. The aliens he bumped elbows with were mostly this type: big, dumb, stupid. He couldn’t carry a conversation. Mostly because he didn’t want to. Not with flea-bags like this one, booming out their chests, looking for trouble where they shouldn’t. Where girl.
It made his skin crawl. Made him want to punch the thing in the face for even insinuating what it wanted to do. He wasn’t sure where Isaac was, or the girls, for that matter. Either way… Buck squared his shoulders, and remained anchored in place when the alien took one of its meaty hands and gripped at him, digging sharp, mishappen nails into his collarbone, pricking through his shirt. Hard to tell if the thing was smiling but it definitely looked like it. A chattering noise sounded and the other two joined it. Laughter? Who fucking knew.
“Where girl?” the alien repeated.
There was a twitch along his jawline, only splitting a fraction next to his ear. A sliver. The vague, white line puckered where pink peeped through. Barely discernible, unless you knew where to look. A strange scar, on a strange human. His eyebrows drew together as Buck leaned closer to the alien, eyes feverishly bright. He’d been drinking like the rest of ‘em. Maybe, a little too much. His hand was lowering to his waist, slightly behind his back. They were all armed. Couldn't afford not to be.
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?”