Content warnings can be found here

Edward tried to hide the quick glance he gave the door, but Dandy had quietly closed it, and was blocking the exit with a look that made it clear nothing would give him more pleasure than to dissuade Edward from shoving past him.

So, instead, he was cuffed around the head by Bruiser’s heavy fists, and his arms were twisted up his back until he couldn’t stop the little gasp of pain as all the joints wrenched. He let himself go limp and be marched across to where Sharp Rick sat, looking determined but sorrowful, as though this whole business hurt him more than it could possibly hurt you. 

Edward fought the wild urge to laugh.

“Well, now. As we’re so cosy...” As if to emphasise the cosiness, Bruiser gave his arms a jerk upwards, and Edward’s feet left the floor, the room dissolving into a blaze of pain. “We can talk reasonably. Just like you say.” Sharp Rick clicked his fingers, and Dandy Pete was at his side, as thin and sharp as the knife that appeared in his hand. “Does this feel reasonable to you, Mr Valance?”

His arms were given another yank upwards. Schoolboy practice taught him to press his teeth and not cry out.

“Answer the gentleman, Mr Valance,” said Dandy Pete.

“Yes,” he said, and the balls of his feet were permitted to touch the ground again. “Yes, eminently reasonable.”

“So glad you’re seeing things clearly, Mr Valance. What assets do you have, Mr Valance, to pay your debt to me?”

“Assets?”

“That suit of yourn,” said Dandy Pete, “that’d fetch a few bob.”

“I... I can’t pawn it again.” The words came out in rush, incoherent.

“Can’t Mr Valance?”

And Dandy Pete took a step forward with his knife.

“Oh, but bless my soul,” said Sharp Rick. “There’s no need to be uncivil, is there? Must be other things at your disposal.” He looked around as though something was dawning on him. “Now forgive me if I’m mistaken, Mr Valance, but these ain’t your lodgings, are they?”

He said nothing.

“Unless I’m being deceived, these look like the rooms of Peaches Waghorn.” Rick smiled, terribly. “Is she sweet on you, Mr Valance?”

Edward swallowed.

“Oh, but now, there’s a sensible, cautious girl. She knows what’s good for her.”

Edward said nothing, and prayed that his face said nothing, as well.

“You can’t help but like our Peaches, can you boys?”

“I like her a lot, Mr Rick” said Dandy Pete, and his cold, hard eyes did not leave Edward’s face.

“And you give me the impression she’s an interested party in this, Mr Valance?”

“No,” he said. “No. She’s got nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, mercy me, Mr Valance, then we ought to bring this to her attention, oughtn’t we? After all, she’d be very concerned to know that a swell was using her place as a hide out. Don’t you think she’d be concerned, Dandy?”

“Very much so, Mr Rick. Concerned is what I’d call it.” He brought up the knife, putting the point beneath Edward’s right eye, scratching it down over his cheek.

Edward tried to twist his head away, to pull it back, but Bruiser was behind him, wrenching his shoulders so hard they seemed about to come out of their sockets. At least there was no blood, though. Not yet.

“Leave her out of this,” he said, his lips barely moving as Dandy brought the knife to rest by his mouth. 

“Leave her out of this, he says. Why, have we done anything to bring her into this sordid business, Dandy?”

“No, Mr Rick.” His face was close to Edward’s now. You could see every pit and wrinkle on it, every scar on the many times broken nose. His teeth were chipped and crooked, his breath foul.

Dandy grabbed Edward’s face in one hand and twisted it to the side. His fingers were thin but strong as steel. They bit into the swellings and bruises Dickie had left along Edward’s jawline.

“I think you’ll find, Mr Valance, that it’s your actions as have brought Peaches into this business.”

“Put her right in our sights, Mr Rick” said Dandy, bringing his knife up along the side of Edward’s neck, close enough to shave with. 

He was trembling. Could not stop the trembling.

“Now, look here,” Edward said, or he tried to, but it was difficult to speak with Dandy’s grip warping his face out of shape.

“Of course,” said Sharp Rick, “sensible girl like Peaches might chose to distance herself from a swell if she found out he were so... impecunious.”

“Nah,” said Dandy. “Bleeding heart, that’s our Peaches. Ain’t that so, Mr Valance?”

He closed his eyes and did not speak.

“Well, if that’s the case, Dandy, maybe she just needs something to stir her compassion.” He paused for a long moment, then said, without any of that wheedling softness, “Take his ear off.”

Edward bucked, tried to struggle, but Bruiser held him with a death grip and Dandy shoved his head to one side, bringing up the knife to the corner of his jaw. He wouldn’t cry out, he would not scream he...

The knife slid into flesh without pain, just a burning sense of wrongness. A trickle of something that was no warmer than his skin ran down his neck. Edward made a muffled sound, protest or plea or desperation. Dandy pushed harder with the knife, and then the agony came, roaring over him with a wave of sickness and...

There was a knock at the door.

Edward risked opening his eyes. Dandy was still right in his face, the knife still caught in the tender flesh of Edward’s ear. Over Dandy’s shoulder, he could just see Sharp Rick staring at the door, motionless, suspicious.