insatiable [in-sey-shuh-buhl]
1. not satiable; incapable of being satiated or appeased
When Bepo had showed the kitchen to Lavender for the very first time, the poor thing almost had a stroke. While everything else in the ship seemed passably clean, the kitchen was solid proof that the ship was inhabited by bachelors.
Apprehension began to fill the young woman's stomach as she eyed the stained walls and appliances and overflowing sink. Plates and cups were chipped with leftover food residue that Lavender was sure would be a struggle to remove. She fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt as she shuffled further into the kitchn.
"Is… Is that a ratchet? " she inquired weakly as she eyed at the oily tool sticking out from between two wobbly towers on plates in the sink.
Upon her inquiry, Bepo shuffled closer until he was standing in front of the sink.
"Yes."
"Oh God almighty," Lavender groaned, let her head slump back and brought up her hands to her eyes, "how can you live like this?"
The first mate gave no response, though looked at the ground almost guiltily. Lavender paid him little mind as she eyed one of the cabinets that hung askew. Well, of course it was crooked. It was hanging on the top hinge, the door completely unattached from the bottom hinge. Her eyes then dropped to the floor. Before she closed them, and took a calming breath to stop her hands from shaking.
Taking a moment to calm herself down, she walked over to the fridge. The outside of it had specks of brown, but when she opened it, she was surprised to find it clean and filled. She blinked, closed the door and then made her way to the pantry, only to find it in a relatively similar state as the inside of the fridge. Though it could use a bit of organizing…
Turning around, she cast Bepo a pleading look.
"Mister Bepo," she cooed clasping her hands together behind her, "could you please help me fix up the kitchen, please? The faster I get the place cleaned up, the quicker I can start making breakfast."
At the word 'breakfast' Bepo's round ears perked.
"Breakfast? But it's night time," he commented.
"I know, but there's a lot to clean and I feel that by the time I'm done, it'll be time for breakfast," Lavender explained, "and I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that the kitchen is like this, nor can I make food for the crew."
There was a pause and the bear nodded. Lavender beamed, then proceeded to clap her hands together and twirl a little.
"Oh, thank you Mister Bepo!" she chirped, "you're such a blessing."
At the compliment, the white bear blushed, causing Lavender to laugh a little. So, the two began to clean.
Bepo left to find an empty box for Lavender to place any items that had no place in her kitchen- or galley, rather. Plucking out the ratchet she'd found earlier along with a wrench, she scrunched her nose, both were grimy and the other slightly slimy. Placing them on she counter for her to wash later on, she collected a small bowl that she proceeded to fill with small miscellaneous objects such as nuts and bolts, and the occasional piece of change. The bear returned with the box and placed it on the floor and began to fill it with the things that Lavender had so far gathered.
While pulling out plates from one of the cupboards, something caught Lavender's attention. A stack of papers? Moving some chipped mugs aside, she soon discovered that it was a magazine. Blinking, she stood on her toes as she reached for it. It slipped through her fingers, fell forwards, and landed on the counter, but not before smacking her in the face. Glancing down, she noted that it had opened to a desultory page. Picking it up, she took a long, good look at the pages before slapping the pages shut. The girl turned around and flung the thing into the box.
Bepo, who had been placing an engine part into the box, jumped back as the magazine nearly hit him. Placing the piece of metal into the box, the bear reached for the magazine and opened it up.
Meanwhile, Lavender was still recovering from what she saw. With one hand on the counter for support and then other covering her face, as she prayed for strength from her god. I'm on a ship filled with perverts, she thought as she felt her cheeks burn from the memory of the nude woman in the magazine. Or rather- nude women. She didn't even want to know why the thing was in the kitchen to begin with.
"This is Shachi's," Bepo commented and placed the magazine back into the box, completely un-phased by the explicit images.
Lavender's cheeks burned even more as she took a shaky breath and lowered her hand and turned to face the open cabinet. She shook her head and cleared her throat. N-never mind the magazine, she told herself, lets just focus on getting this place clean.
For the next few hours, Bepo helped Lavender clean out the cabinets, do the dishes (Lavender decided that all the dining ware should be washed), and organize things. Occasionally Bepo would go and find something for Lavender, and when she'd asked for a screwdriver, he returned with Penguin. Explaining sheepishly to the man that one of the cabinets needed to be fixed, he nodded, and offered to fix it for her. Pleased with this, she agreed and went back to putting the dishes away into their respective places. Plates and bowls went into one cabinet, while mugs and glasses went to the one next to it. Pots and pans went into the cabinets under the counter and even the kitchen utensils and dining ware were sorted and placed into the drawers neatly.
When Penguin was done, she thanked him and sent the man and bear away, leaving her alone with a sponge, rag, mop, broom, dustpan, a pail of water, and a bottle of all-purpose cleaner (courtesy of Bepo).
It wasn't until six in the morning when Lavender had finished wiping the counters and walls, and sweeping and mopping the floor. Once it was all to her satisfaction, she brought all the cleaning supplies into the closet not too far from the galley. Bepo had been kind enough to inform her the location of the cleaning supplies. It certain made things easier for her.
She returned to the kitchen and sat down on one of the log benches by one of the few log dining tables. Lavender huffed softly and then placed both arms on the table and laid her head on top her arms. Her chest rose and fell as her arms felt heavy.
When Lavender had lived with her aunt, she had to do little cleaning. The place was always kept clean, so there wasn't any heavy duty cleansing to do, except when it was time to do the annual spring cleaning. It was same for the bakery- sure she had to do more cleaning there, but it wasn't as much work to do there than here! No worries, Lavender thought to herself, I won't let the kitchen become like that again. Feeling her eyelids grow heavy, she closed them, promising herself that it was only to rest her eyes.
It felt like only a few seconds later when someone shook the chef. Her eyelids fluttered open and her head shot up. With wide eyes, she looked around until her gaze locked with the mirthful gaze of her captain. Her mouth opened, closed, and then opened again. Lavender was at a loss of words. With a smirk, Law turned around and walked over to one of the other tables with leisure. There was a blue book tucked under his arm.
"I like my coffee black, Miss Lavender."
It took the stupefied blonde a few moments to realize what he was talking about, but when she did realize, she shot up and took off into the kitchen with a 'yes captain'.
Law chuckled and sat down with his back leaning against the wall. It was his table. Two of the five tables were pressed against the wall between the hall way and the galley, and the other two tables were pushed against the opposite wall, where as the captain's table was pressed against the outer wall of the ship, so that when Law leaned back, his head would be next to one of the port holes. Each table had two log benches on each side, save for Law's, who sat alone.
Law could hear rummaging in the kitchen, the fridge close, several pans clattering. The familiar sound of the coffee machine hissing brought a smirk to Law's face. Soon, the smell of bacon wafted through the air as it began to sizzle in the captain and doctor, engulfed in his book, grinned lazily.
Peering out of the kitchen, Lavender made an incoherent sound before asking:
"How many people are in this crew?"
"Five, excluding you and me."
The young woman nodded slowly and then retreated back into the kitchen to check on the bacon before pulling out the plates and other necessities. Bringing them out into the galley, she began to set the tables before rushing back into the kitchen to make sure that the bacon wasn't burning, before walking back out with cups and glasses. All the while she ran back and forth between the rooms, occasionally staying in the kitchen for a long time, Law observed her from the top of his book. Lavender made no effort to hide her exhaustion, but was still attentive to the food and making sure that all the necessary items were set on the table neatly. He pulled the book towards his chest as the woman set his table. She even had the ardor to smile and be patient when putting the dining utensils neatly down on the table.
When Shachi had been the chef, it was often that one would have two knives and no fork, or someone would just have a spoon. Law noted that Lavender had laid out two of everything for one person. The captain stopped to wonder whether they really had that many cutlery, and where had they gone to while Shachi ran the galley.
There was some more rummaging coming from the kitchen and the woman appeared with different bread spreads and distributed them between the two tables. The tables and benches were large enough to easily fit six people, for they seemed like they were made for ten (five on each side).
The door to the galley opened and Bepo walked in. His beady eyes took in the set table, and then his captain who seemed very pleased as Lavender poured the hot, steaming coffee into his ceramic mug. The woman turned to the giant bear and flashed him a smile.
"Good morning, Mister Bepo," she greeted.
"Good morning," the bear replied, then turned to the captain and bowed slightly, "good morning, captain."
"Good morning, Bepo," Law chuckled.
He reached out for his mug and took a sip. The hot substance burned his throat slightly, but it was good. It wasn't mild, but it wasn't strong either. Just somewhere between the two, granted he would have preferred it just a little bit stronger. Bepo took a seat on the set table with his back facing to his captain. His ears perked when Lavender emerged with a large platter of eggs and bacon in one hand, and several baskets of bread on the other. She set the food down on both tables and smiled. Bepo dug in, where as Law placed some of the food on his plate, though resumed reading, occasionally nibbling his food.
The smell of the bacon eventually roused and lured the rest of the crew members out into the galley. They were all dressed in uniform, albeit a bit ruffled as if they had been carelessly tossed to the floor the previous night. The first one to enter the galley from the group of men- was a boy, much to Lavender's surprise. He wore a white jumpsuit, similar to the one that Penguin and Shachi, though the top part was left unzipped and the sleeves were tied around his waist, revealing a black t-shirt. He bellowed a loud 'good morning' not taking any note of Lavender as he took his seat opposite of Bepo and Lavender. He wore a yellow beanie hat with the Heart Pirates emblem. Around his neck hung a pair of steampunk goggles. As he he began to scarf down some toast with butter and jam smeared on the surface, the blonde woman noticed that he was missing one of his front teeth.
As the boy was about to bite down on his second piece of toast, a fist collided with his head. Lavender jumped in her seat. Her eyes grew wide as she gaped at the scene. A much older man with slowly graying brown hair with a mild case of alopecia and an impressive bushy mustache, wearing the same white jumpsuit that everyone else seemed to be dressed in, glared down at the child. Shachi dragged his feet over to the table, his hat sat crooked on his head, and his brown hair seemed a bit tousled. He took a seat on the outer part of the bench as the old man scolded the boy for his "appalling table manners".
Penguin joined them too, a bit more animated than Shachi, but still quite tired. The bird themed hat wearing pirate took a seat next to Lavender and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Can't ye' see tha' 'yer in th' pr'sence o' a lady?" the man exclaimed, took a hold of the boy's head and turned it so that the boy was facing Lavender, Who in return, smiled back nervously.
The two stared at each other for the longest time. The boy didn't even blink as he kept his eyes on Lavender's face. The said female became apprehensive under the boy's scrutinizing gaze and felt her smile start to crack. The boy then wiped his mouth on his arm, brushing away any bread crumbs or blotches of butter and jam before inquiring rather rudely.
"Who th' bloody 'ell are you?"
