Paulie removed the cigar from his mouth as Kaku walked into the kitchen.
"Took you a bit longer than usual! Hope it's because you were making sure not to spill half of my coffee this time!" He laughed, but his smile dropped when he didn't receive a reply from his subordinate.
Kaku sloppily placed the tray of coffee on the table in front of Paulie.
"Should be all there."
Paulie awkwardly grabbed a coffee from the tray, lighting his cigar with his free hand.
"Uh, sorry to spring this on you, but Iceburg said he had a special project and I figured you'd be the best man for the job." He smiled to try and cheer the long nosed shipwright up, as he was unusually quiet.
Kaku sighed as he grabbed a coffee from the tray.
"I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to work on any special projects today, Paulie. Would it be alright if I started tomorrow?" He turned his back to his leader as he mixed cream and sugar into his drink.
Paulie groaned. "Sorry kid, this needs to be done today. I'd usually give you more of a heads up but Kalifa just told me a few minutes after you left for coffee."
Kaku continued to stir his coffee, thinking of a reply that would get him out of the task. The morning realization had put him out of sorts.
Peepley and Tilestone charged into the room.
Tilestone grabbed Paulie by the shoulders, causing him to spill his coffee.
"PAULIE! I CAN DO THE SPECIAL PROJECT! PLEASE, LET ME DO IT!"
Peepley sipped his coffee and exhaled. "This project requires a degree of finesse, I think I'd be better suited for the job."
Paulie knocked Tilestone on the head to free him from his grasp and whipped a rope at Peepley.
"NO! I'VE ALREADY DECIDED THAT IT'S GOING TO BE KAKU. If you guys have anything else to say- DON'T!"
Peepley and Tilestone bowed their heads and replied with "yes sir."
Tilestone looked at Kaku. "KAKU! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT, I'LL-"
Paulie wrapped a rope around his mouth preventing him from speaking any further.
Kaku sighed. Once Paulie made up his mind, it was hard to convince him otherwise. "Alright Paulie you win." He shot him a smile. "What do I need to do?"
Paulie smiled and released his rope from Tilestone's mouth.
"Meet Iceburg and Kalifa at the main office."
Kaku raised his coffee in a cheers like motion and made his way to the main office.
Tilestone began to whine once again.
"No fair, Pauliie...why does Kaku get to-"
Paulie ran a hand down his face. "Listen, Kaku is the most personable out of ALL of us, and I'm including myself there too. Also, I think this would be good for him."
This should be interesting...
Kaku could hear chatter coming from Iceburg's office. An unfamiliar voice was present.
He knocked on the door gently. Kalifa greeted him with a nod as she opened the door.
Kaku caught his coffee before it could fall out of his hand.
There she stood holding her white hat against the front of her legs.
Kate turned and blushed upon making eye contact with Kaku.
Golly...I'm glad I didn't turn down this project after all!
Iceburg beamed as Kaku entered the room and rose from his seat.
"Hello Kaku! I'd like to introduce you to Kate. She has been hired on a contract basis to help out Kalifa and I, as our busiest quarter is among us. She's studied business and also has an interest in architecture. I was hoping you could show her around on days when I'm busy for the next few months."
Kalifa sighed. "Which would be today, tomorrow, and part of Wednesday...Thursday, and Friday." She adjusted her glasses. "Weekends will be free for Kate to decide what she would like to do. Making her work on weekends would be a form of sexual harassment."
Kaku laughed nervously and stepped towards Kate, holding out his hand.
"Hi Kate, real pleasure to meet you. My name is Kaku."
Kate shook his hand. It was extremely calloused, but his warm smile softened it somehow. "Nice to meet you, Kaku."
They both failed to contain their smiles, knowing that they had technically already met.
Kalifa took notice of this and kept a mental note.
"Iceburg, we'd better get going. If we don't leave in the next 26 seconds you'll be late for the meeting."
Iceburg sighed. Before he could reply, Kalifa cut him off.
"20 seconds."
Iceburg rushed out of his seat and ran out the door.
Kalifa handed Kaku a piece of paper. "I've printed a list of items you two must go over. We will be back around 4:00PM. Save any questions for me for then."
She waved and left the room.
Kaku and Kate stood in silence.
The black haired beauty was the first to speak.
"Well, this is kind of awkward." She laughed and looked up at Kaku, holding her hat tighter.
Kaku laughed. "It's definitely a wee bit different from my daily routine, but in a good way." He continued to smile at her. "How about we start by introducing you to the rest of the crew?"
They walked silently to the shipyard. Kaku was feeling surprisingly nervous, and Kate was still feeling embarrassed from earlier.
Kaku rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what to say.
"How are your feet feeling?"
Kate couldn't help but blush. She must have looked like such a fool wearing heels!
"The embarrassment is a lot more than the pain..." She looked down at the ground, internally screaming at herself for not packing any flat shoes.
Kaku laughed. "It's fine, I understand. Water 7 is very unique and there aren't any guidelines for visitors to follow. I wouldn't beat myself up over it!"
Kate felt a bit of relief. He was so kind.
"Is there a shoe store nearby? I'd like to buy some shoes later."
Kaku pondered for a moment.
"Mr. Tomashi is the best darn cobbler in town! He's a bit far though... About an hour and a half by yageda from here."
Kate sighed. "Oh well, it'll give me time to take in the views I guess."
The shipwright couldn't help but feel bad for her. Walking in heels all day must have been excruciating.
"Well, if you take the Mountain Wind Express, you'd be there in no more than two shakes of a lamb's tail!". He smiled at her playfully.
Kate shot him a confused look. "Mountain Wind Express?" She had done as much research as she could regarding the available modes of transportation and had never heard of this.
Kaku gave her a wink as he chuckled. "Once everything opens I'll take you there. No sweat!"
She smiled and gave a small bow. "I'd really appreciate it. Thank you."
Their moment was interrupted by the sound of murmured voices and slight scuffling coming from Dock 1.
Oh jeeze..
Paulie, Tilestone, Peepley and Lucci stood in a line.
Tilestone's jaw dropped upon seeing Kate.
"OH WOW SHE'S HO-"
Peepley was the one to quiet his boisterous friend this time, while using his free hand to try and control his hair.
Kaku waved at his comrades.
"Hidey ho!"
They waved back at him awkwardly obviously trying to be on their best behavior.
Paulie examined Kate, every step she took made his blood boil.
"What...is... She... WEARING?!"
He stepped out from the line and before he could do his usual speech about dressing immorally, Hattori flew over a shoved an additional cigar into his mouth.
"Fellas, this young Miss is Kate. She'll be interning with us for a bit. I'll be showing her around for the next little while."
Kaku stepped beside Kate and presented her in a showcase fashion.
Kate bowed and shot them all a smile.
"I'm very excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me."
They each shook her hand a stated their names. Paulie had managed to control his anger by avoiding looking at her outfit.
Kaku analyzed the list carefully.
"Anywho, we'd better skidaddle. Kalifa gave us quite the number of tasks for today."
They waved as they exited Dock 1.
Tilestone peered over Paulie's shoulder.
"Do you think she likes him?"
Paulie knocked the large man on the head.
"They literally just met. We'll see if the kid has it in him! Shouldn't be too hard to catch since she's already half naked."
The other members sighed as they continued to watch the pair walk away.