Chasesgirl11: Thanks for the follow and fave!
Jag: Yes. I suppose he will. But I'm buying time with this chapter, so he'll start interrogating her in the next chapter. I spent some time thinking about how he would react to the revelation. In fact, I was originally planning not to even let the readers know that Smoker was her brother until Law knew, but it's more interesting to see how the characters react to a surprise you already know about, don't you think?
"Head count!" Law bellowed the moment he stepped into the sub.
"All present, captain!" Kuzuri replied. "And the estate vault empty."
Law smirked. "Good."
He didn't feel any guilt. Lor had led them in, after all, and if she cared for her family, she would not have done so. Hadn't she once told him that the only family member she cared about was her brother?
Law shot her a glance, which she pointedly did not notice. They needed to talk.
"H-hello, F-fluffy-c-c-at-sama," Bepo stuttered, smiling shyly as he walked up to the grizzly.
Ah yes. They had to talk about that too, Law thought wryly.
The bear pointedly ignored him, just as the cat pointedly ignored the crew as it sniffed at everything.
Law raised an eyebrow. Like mistress like pet?
But he would have time to ponder the mysteries of the relationship between pet and master personalities later. Maybe over some psychology books. It had been a while since he had read those.
"We leave. Now," Law ordered, and the crew set to work.
He wanted to leave before the reunion ended and the marines started leaving, before the family discovered that they had been robbed blind while they partied. They would probably continue until the crack of dawn, unless Smoker said something. And if the man didn't?
Law smirked. He had given Bepo a note to leave behind. He wondered when they would get it. He half wished he would be there to see their reaction, but would rather not. After all, they would probably go for his head with their teeth bared and their weapons out, and would behave very much unlike the gentlemen and gentlewomen they were.
"I'll start dinner," Lor said, and headed for the kitchen.
Law followed her, intending to get questions answered—
Only to be blocked by Teddy-bear growling at him, guarding the kitchen door at Lor's orders.
Law scowled at the oversized cat. Its hackles went up. And Law huffed, spinning on his heel and returning to his room.
It wasn't until he lay on his bed, trying to figure out exactly what happened that day, that he figured out he had lost to a cat.
And the very same cat came to get him for dinner.
He could swear it—no, he—was smirking at him. Law scowled.
Dinner was quiet, for a successful looting. But Law didn't have to think twice to know why. Everybody was wary of the cat, even if the sight of Bepo trying to gain the attention and affection of the grizzly had tamed their fear of the bear.
"Do you want my fish?" Bepo asked.
Fluffy-cat grunted.
"Is there anything you want? Seconds? Water? I'll get it for you," Bepo offered.
The grizzly snarled a little before huffing and turning its head away.
Bepo's ears drooped. Law sighed, and quickly finishing his meal, walked up to the first mate and leaned down to whisper in Bepo's ear.
"Keep trying. I'm sure she's just…" Law thought hard, searching for a term he would associate with Lor. "Tsundere."
Well, Lorelei wasn't exactly tsundere. More like kuudere, perhaps, especially towards him when they first met. But he personally thought she was a little too difficult to understand to classify like the other females he had had the displeasure of making a very brief acquaintance with.
Tsundere seemed to fit the grizzly, though, if the bear didn't really dislike Bepo. He really hoped… ugh… Fluffy-cat would warm up to Bepo. His first mate deserved a female bear after longing for one for so many years.
Law moved towards the kitchen. He needed to talk with Lor. Her relationship with Smoker. He wanted to know. He needed to know. The kitchen was probably not the best place for such a discussion, if Teddy-bear even let him in, but if the cat was guarding the door, it also meant that their discussion would be private.
He didn't even make it to the kitchen door.
"Teddy-bear, Fluffy-cat, seconds?" Lor asked, stepping out of the kitchen.
Law winced at the name, and he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that his crew were torn between laughing and feeling terrified.
"Lei-ya," Law said, hesitating a little. "Can we give them new names?"
Lor blinked, turned to her pets. "What do you think?"
It may have been his imagination, but Law thought he saw the two animals seem a little too eager for the name change.
"Alright, then. You're Alaskan Malamute. Laska for short," Lor said, pointing to the white tiger. "And you're… Reindeer."
Law blinked. And he blinked again. He didn't even notice the utter silence in the mess hall as everyone stared at Lor.
"You're… naming a bear Reindeer and naming a tiger after a breed of dog?!" Law finally managed to say.
Lor furrowed her eyebrows, cocking her head in confusion. It was kind of cu—and Law cut off the thought.
"I thought we were going with the cold climate animal theme?" Lor asked.
Law stared at her, then turned and slowly surveyed his crew. He hadn't noticed before. But all his crew members, save Jean Bart, had cold climate animal related names. And Bepo was a polar bear. Not to mention that Lor was a 'siren', also from cooler, wetter areas. Namely the ocean, but that didn't matter.
"I… guess," Law said reluctantly. Then his brows furrowed, his head cocked in an imitation of her earlier expression. "What am I?"
"Snow leopard," Lor answered immediately. "Because of your hat."
Law blinked, and nodded. He could deal with that.
"So are you alright with those names?" Lor asked her dear pets.
The animals thought for a moment. The names were… strange, to say the least. And it would be difficult to get used to a new name after so many years being called 'Teddy-bear' and 'Fluffy-cat'. The people that they hated yet smelled mildly like their master and mistress even though their master and mistress hated the people paid them no mind as long as the servants fed them and they guarded the estate. That was why there was nobody who ever called their names after mistress Lorelei left. Because their names were ridiculous and even they knew it. They knew it ever since their master, Smoker, refused to call them by name.
Reindeer and Alaskan Malamute. They would gladly take the names.
"Alright," Lor murmured, smiling and rubbing them behind the ears.
They would gladly take the names. Because anything would be better than 'Teddy-bear' and 'Fluffy-cat'.