Penny stood before this charming man with his lovely workman’s hands and nodded and grinned and got lost several times in the course of his speech. It didn’t matter, she loved it and wanted him to talk and talk and her grin said as much. He seemed rather inclined to do so and she was rather inclined to let him. His name was jack and there were gobs and apparently she had one or was one? It didn’t matter, she’d be a gob and his Penny and he’d be Jack to her if he just kept rambling on. 

She did honestly try to follow along, it was a delightful distraction from that horrible on the spot moment of before. She could feel the two men behind her, Josey all sweetly affronted for her sake despite her being a stranger. Then there was Henry, whom she wanted to feed and flee from all at once. A rapist. Part of her wanted to know the circumstances, the rest of her said the circumstances didn’t matter in the least. She shook off the uncomfortable thought and returned to the delicious ramble from her new friend Jack who apparently wanted a slut. 

She couldn’t’ help it, she giggled when he said the word. She knew from something like context that it didn’t mean to him what it meant to her and hearing that oh so crude word dropped so blithely was worthy of a giggle that made her eyes dance and her hand lift to cover her mouth like such a gesture could hold in the mirth. 

Then he started to explain, real slow like and that just made it funnier to her. She didn’t exactly follow but the slow explanation and then hand gestures started to paint a picture for her. Slowly like a seed in one of the hydroponic tanks her understanding grew and then her eyes widened in understanding. He was talking about booze. He was talking about moonshine and what’s more he was talking about doing it under the radar of the authorities. Oh how wicked, how wonderful. Images of flappers and speakeasies flashed into her head, gilded and frosted with romanticism rather than reality. A speakeasy in the stars, how perfect. 

She let out a high pitched sound of delight when it all clicked into place and she bounced on her heels. When Penny bounced, things happened. Softness shifted and moved and made itself known in appealing little jiggles all over several key parts of her. 

“Are you talking about a still, Jack?” she asked finally in an excited stage whisper. “Like for making booze?” 

She looked back over her shoulder at Josey, her eyes all alight, nodding her head as if coaching him to agree.

“Can we? Pretty please?”