The bar was lively that night. Law sat in a corner while his crew spread out across the establishment in varying levels of a party mood. There were noticeably more women this round, and a good portion of them were eying him like a piece of meat to be eaten. Apparently, word traveled fast. The brunette from the night before had also come back for seconds, although Law was less inclined for a second round. As fun as she had been, a second night usually meant they developed feelings, and feelings were messy.
Shachi and Penguin weren't around, meaning that the bar was quieter than the night before, although that wasn't saying much. At least there weren't two drunk mechanics dancing on the top of the tables, loudly singing that damned engineers drinking song again. He had anticipated this, and they had warehouse watching duty tonight.
No Bepo again, but the bear had seemed happier to wait behind this time. It seemed that he was getting rather attached to the mechanic working on their ship. Law knew it was only a matter of time before the bear asked Law to bring her into the crew, and despite her seeming attachment to the mink from his descriptions, he highly doubted that she'd accept.
He would have to find out more about her. It was possible that there would be a way to convince her by the end of the week, and Law had every intention of finding it out. Between Bepo's thorough reports and his own deductions, he was positive that the woman was in fact a greater engineer than Krill could ever have hoped to be.
Law carefully sipped his beer, a lazy grin on his face as he watched a middled aged man take a seat opposite of him.
"So, did you find someone?"
This was Krill's former teacher's son, Graham. The man unfortunately had no aptitude for mechanical engineering, instead starting his own rather well-known bakery in town. When at least half of the people were involved in engineering in one way or another, food services became a much more profitable profession. There wasn't exactly much competition.
Law nodded, and the man visibly relaxed. "Great. I was disappointed when none of my recommendations worked out. Who is it?"
Law reached into his pocket, pulling out a slip of paper where Shachi had drawn a sketch of her. Shachi was a surprisingly good sketch artist. "This is her."
The man reached for the paper to examine it closely. For a moment, nothing happened. Law watched him carefully, noticing every tick as the man examined the paper. To his disappointment, the man handed it back without a spark of recognition.
"Hm. Never seen her before. What's her name?"
Law folded up the paper, putting it back into his pocket before he answer. "I don't know. She can do the job, and that's all the matters."
"Huh. And here I thought I knew at least the faces of all the masters in town. Maybe she's new?"
Law shrugged. He didn't want to give too much away, after all. "Perhaps."
"Well let's have a drink to that, at least!" the man exclaimed, happily waving the bartender over and buying himself a beer as well.
Damn. Another dead end. He glanced back around the bar. The last thing he wanted to do was go around flashing Shachi's sketch in everyone's faces, but he could still pick up some information. He caught Quilo's eye from across the room, and made a minute gesture with his wrist indicating that he wanted to speak to him later. After they had both sated their carnal desires, of course. He eyed a blonde for this round, a slight smirk on his face.
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It was probably around three in the morning when Quilo finally made an appearance in Law's room. The man entered unannounced, the door shutting silently behind him.
Quilo was a thin man in his late twenties, with long, dark hair always tied into a low pony-tail. He was flamboyantly gay, and often the center of attention wherever he went — but previous to joining Law, he was one of the deadliest assassins in the North Blue. Most people didn't equate flamboyance with intelligence, or even with ears. Plus, he was extremely well connected. Among his many duties, Quilo was the best intelligence gatherer of all the Heart Pirates.
The man in question now approached Law before he leaned against the wall next to Law's bed.
"Any news, Quilo?"
The other man chuckled. "Samei finally lost his virgin card. Minnow got in a fist fight — seemed like a guy in with the local mafia who didn't realize that there were powerful people outside of it."
Law shook his head. "Any damage?"
"Just a table and the other guy. You know Minnow, the big guy can take a punch."
Law smiled to himself. Despite his name, Minnow was a rather large, brunette man. Krill used him for heavy lifting in the engine room.
"So why the late night call, Captain? Not that I don't love you, but from the smell of the room I don't think you're asking for the same thing I usually do on a late night call to handsome young men."
Law ignored the innuendo and fished out the sketch from his shirt pocket. "I want you to see if you can find anything out about this woman."
Quilo frowned as he stared at the sketch. "Does she have a name? Or anything else to go on besides Shachi's sketch work?"
Law's mouth twitched. "She's the mechanic working on the Tang."
Quilo glanced up at Law, clearly taken aback. He took another look at the drawing in his hand. "I'll do what I can, Captain. I hear she's done a quality job so far."
Law nodded. "So far. Graham has never seen her before, but she's clearly a master. And there's more… the woman has snuck up on me. Bepo as well."
Quilo grinned. "Did she now? Any chance she can teach me that trick?"
Law scoffed. "You do well enough on your own, Quilo. But I have an inkling that we'll be wanting her along as a crew member, and you know how I feel about surprises."
"That you love them and you wish you got one every day?"
"Begone, foul beast," Law stated blandly, dismissing Quilo. The other man jokingly bowed before tucking the picture in his boiler suit pocket and leaving Law in his room.
With any luck, Quilo would find out more about this woman's past. For now, Law turned out the lights and tried to sleep. Tomorrow, he'd need to slowly begin a desensitization process. If he was going to win her over, she was going to have to get used to him and his crew.
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This time, Law didn't wait to make his appearance at the warehouse.
Law woke up early, as per usual. He rarely slept longer than a few hours, particularly when he was not on his ship. He stopped by a food stand as the sun began to rise, and bought more seal buns for Bepo. The rocky island had a particularly large seal population, so much of their food was made with seal meat. He ordered a coffee from the lady, as well as some more food for himself and the young mechanic. She had been rather thin in the face, and Law wasn't sure that it was a natural thinness.
The morning was chilly, the air fresh from the morning dew. Although the red and yellow streaks from the sunrise colored the city, there were ominous storm clouds to the north. Law pulled his hat down further on his head, avoiding the few people out at this early morning hour as he made his way to an alleyway. Rather than walk the distance, once he was in the alleyway Law began teleporting himself down to the junkyard, and then into the warehouse itself.
There was a gasp and the sound of steel dropping to the ground as he found himself face to face with his new mechanic. He had accidentally teleported himself to within two feet of the woman, and she had dropped the comically large steel plate to the ground, holding her arms up to defend herself.
He took a moment to appreciate the size of the piece of steel. She was far stronger than she looked, because the panel was bigger than she was. Turning back to her, he saw she had quickly stepped back, arms in front of her face in a defensive position, chest heaving in panic.
For a moment, Law's eyes narrowed, before he sighed. "Relax. I would be an idiot if I even entertained notions of hurting the person who is fixing my ship." Glancing around, Law pretend to ignore the young woman as he found Bepo. The mink man was asleep again, sleeping on the warehouse deck with what looked like a ragged blanket pulled over him.
"… You do realize that Bepo has a fur coat and doesn't get cold, don't you?"
Here breathing hitched for a moment. Then she growled under her breath. "Fuck off, I didn't— he— I was just—"
Law smiled at her. "Thank you."
With that, he left the mechanic sputtering in her confusion and gently prodded Bepo awake. He hadn't missed the darkened blush on her cheeks when she was trying to spout off an excuse. Having gotten a close look at her, he was glad he brought seal buns for her as well. He was right in his assertion that she was too thin. It was hard to tell with the overalls that covered her from her wrists to her boots, and her natural curls puffed out underneath the hat giving her head volume. If he was lucky, giving her food out of the goodness of his heart combined with a few nice words would make her more likely to join his crew.
Bepo started awake, and immediately began to cry apologies for having fallen asleep again. Before he could finish his sentence, Law shoved a seal bun into his mouth, effectively silencing him. Law took a sip of his coffee, before finding a comfortable place on the ground besides Bepo. He gave Bepo the bag of his share, before grabbing out another bag and holding out to the indignant mechanic.
"Here — I brought you breakfast."
For a moment, she didn't move. She eyed the bag, clearly torn between suspicion and hunger. Law shook the bag. "It's for you, Mechanic."
Bepo swallowed his bit, and waved her over. "Come on! Come eat with me! Ah, sorry…"
She glared at the bear for a moment, and he apologized again. She smacked her palm on her face with a frustrated groan. Clearly, she was as frustrated by the minkman's apologetic nature as Shachi and Penguin.
She began to inch over, and slowly took the bag from Law's hands. He slowly and deliberately lowered his hand, opening his own bag and beginning to munch on a seal-rice ball he had gotten himself. After a moment of hesitation and Bepo's encouraging pats, the girl tucked herself underneath one of her creations, close enough to Bepo that she was a part of the group while simultaneously being as far as possible from Law. In response, Law pretended he was interested in nothing more than chewing his food and drinking his coffee.
It took a few moments, but she finally relaxed enough to actually eat her food. Law thought carefully while he ate. He had been right to assume that it was not just him that she'd been afraid of. Her reaction when he had appeared reeked of abuse. Looking back on all of their previous reactions, they all did.
This meant two things. First, it meant that she figured violence from other people — potentially adult males specifically — was a matter of course. This explained why she wouldn't get near them. And whatever abuse she had sustained, it had not broken her spirit; that accounted for her tough-girl act. It also accounted for why she was okay with Bepo, who was not a human male. The second thing it meant was that it was possible that with some work, he could tame her. And that if she could be tamed, she would become one of the most loyal members of his crew.
He would have to tread very carefully.
"Bepo, how was the night shift?"
The bear swallowed, and then saluted his Captain. "Everything went smoothly, Captain! She's really good at her job, she doesn't even need my help."
Law nodded. "I've noticed. Maybe you are worth the price I'm paying." He directed this to her, but took care to seem as if he was more interested in drinking his coffee than he was in speaking to her.
"So, Mechanic… how old are you?"
She munched on her bun, glaring at him. For a moment, she did nothing besides chew.
"Yeah, I'm curious as well," said Bepo. Her gaze shifted back to the bear, who immediately apologized. Law tried to appear as uninterested in her as possible.
"… I…" she began, with another suspicious glance at Law. He took another bit of his rice bun. "… I'm eighteen."
Law nodded. "You're incredibly talented for your age. I'm curious — who was your teacher?"
She blinked, clearly confused at his compliment. She said simply, "… He died. A long time ago."
Law nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry to bring it up, then." He turned back to Bepo, and began discussing where they would go after this island.
"Well we can take the log pose direction from this island, or we can use one of my eternal poses to go somewhere, Captain."
Law weighed his options for a moment. "Well, that depends. Without an onboard mechanic of the same caliber as your friend here, Jaya might be a good bet. Or Water 7."
She shifted, and Law turned back to her, slowly, before he spoke. He made sure he placed each word carefully. "I can't just expect you to leave your friends or family behind and join us."
Bepo whined. "But Captain! I-"
"No buts, Bepo. I would never take an unwilling passenger away from their home." Bepo looked dejectedly towards the mechanic, before apologizing. Law went back to his food. "Personally, Water 7 seems like the best option. Do you have an eternal pose for there?"
Bepo nodded, clearly depressed. Law stole a glance at the mechanic. It was clear the wheels in her head were turning, but it wasn't clear in which direction they went. He didn't risk her noticing him looking at her, so he pulled out a book from his pocket, and began reading.
"Bepo, tonight I'll take over warehouse watch. You should sleep in a decent bed for once."
The mechanic stood abruptly. Law glanced up at her, frowning. "You won't deny my chief navigator the chance to rest and visit with his friends, would you? You already know I won't hurt you. To be fair, I'm better at staying awake than he is, and I have some work I need to do anyway."
He presented the argument as evenly and logically as he could, putting particular emphasis on the parts of her denying Bepo his time off. For a moment, she glared, before she glanced down at the bag of food she was holding. Law frowned for the first time, as he realized she hadn't finished.
"Finish all of those. I'll bring you more later."
The full suspicion was back. "Why?" she asked sharply.
"Why what?"
"Why are you giving me food? Asking me questions?"
Law thought for a moment, propping his chin onto his hand. "I'm a doctor. I take care of the health of everyone. I'm giving Bepo a day off because he needs one in order to remain healthy. I asked your age because it's relevant to how much you should be eating. It's clear you've missed meals, so I'm providing you food to make sure you don't faint on the job."
She didn't look convinced, and opened her mouth to argue. Law held up a hand, "Stop. Bepo is my crew member, and as such I take care of him as he takes care of me. I couldn't get far without someone to navigate this ocean, and any ship needs a doctor to treat wounds and illnesses. You may not be our ship's mechanic, but you're still taking care of her. The least I can do is feed you."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're already fucking paying me. Those buns better not have come out of what you owe me."
Law glared. "I may be a pirate, Mechanic-ya, but I'm not a fool. You'll get every beri I promised as soon as the Polar Tang's repairs are completed. If I wanted to cheat you, I would have promised you the one million you asked for."
She considered this for a moment, before she looked back at the bag. Law went back to his book, and made it his goal to not look at her again. There was a slight pause before he heard a crinkle of paper that singled she had reached into the bag, and the sound of chewing as she hungrily ate the last bun.
While she ate and eyed Law, Law considered all of the new information this morning had brought him so far. A part of his mind ran over her every minuscule reaction to every word, while the rest of his brain focused on reading about a few new treatments for chronic heart conditions.
Clearly she'd been abused, but he doubted it had been her whole life. She had too much spunk for that. And based on how she was treating the food he gave her, it was possible that she was still in that abusive situation now. That certainly explained why she only worked at night, as well as why Graham hadn't known her. If she was in an abusive situation, it was possible that the abuser kept her hidden from the rest of the town.
It would also mean that it would be more difficult to convince her to leave with him than he thought. He was glad he dropped the hint of her being welcome aboard his ship so early. If he hadn't, she might not have enough time to process the possibility before they left this damned island. As it was, he needed to give her as much time as he could. Those in abusive situations were sometimes rather difficult to convince to leave those situations — it was the nature of abuse. Furthermore, she needed time to scope out his crew and realize that they were harmless.
There was the sound of the bag being crumpled, and the young woman pocketed it.
"I'll be back tonight to work on the ship."
Without looking up from his book, Law nodded. There was no sound, and Law couldn't sense her leaving. Then again, he hadn't sensed when she was around either. Still, he had a feeling that she was gone now. He dismissed Bepo to the town to enjoy his day off and inform both Shachi and Penguin that they would have to come to the warehouse for training.
It was interesting to note that she had said her master had died, and long ago. She was clearly a prodigy and genius if he'd ever seen one, and that meant that whatever abusive situation she was in, it was possible that she still managed to teach herself most of what she knew. He had certainly done that in regards to his skills as a doctor, it was possible that she had done so for engineering. Far more likely, in fact. It was easier in a town like this to find mechanical pieces to toy with than humans to dissect.
There was also her strength. That steel plate she had been holding had to have been at least 500 pounds, yet she had been carrying it by herself when he had warped into the warehouse. How the hell was she being abused when she was that goddamned strong?
Law continued to read for another hour before getting up and going to his office. In truth, he needed some time to himself. He was expecting a call from one of his agents soon regarding Doflamingo's dealings, information that his crew was not privy to. Even Quilo did not know about Law's plans to destroy the Shichibukai, or if he did, he kept his mouth shut.
As he opened the door to enter in his sub, he thought more about the mysterious mechanic. He hoped that Quilo would find the answers he was looking for soon.