Fun Fact: the cooling system I imagined the submarine would have was inspired by the cooling system of the Sydney Opera House, in which they pump sea water throughout the building to use its naturally cool temperature to cool the air. It's called a Seawater Cooling Condenser System, thought it was a pretty neat and logical idea (but I doubt you guys really care about air-conditioning all that much!)
As usual, please enjoy and feel free to submit one-shot suggestions (smut, fluff, crack, etc.) if you've got any cool ideas.
Thanks xx
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The first thing Lou noticed upon setting foot inside the sub, was that it was surprisingly cool. Contrary to her expectations of steaming pipes and intense humidity, there was an odd freshness about the air that seemed even a few degrees cooler than outside. With her bags and pots slung over her back, she gingerly touched on of the hundreds of pipes that formed the walls of the corridor, only to be pleasantly surprised that it did not scald her. Shachi shuffled past her bulbous bag, narrowly avoiding a valve that attempted to jut his side through the boiler suit.
He sheepishly scratched his cheek, the lightest dusting of pink on his cheeks. "Pretty awesome, ain't it?" The startled look on Lou's face as she whirled to face him caused him to jerk back and collide with the dreaded valve. He cringed before continuing. "Me and Penguin designed the cooling system in this sub, and it's a world first! Sea water gets pumped from the bottom of the sub and into the hull, where it's diverted into the outer pipes that surrounded all the pipes in the submarine. It keeps them cool and prevents overheating at the same time."
"Ah, right. I don't know anything about engineering, sorry." She placed a hand over one of the pipes and felt the very faint vibrations caused by the rapid flow of water over the inner pipes. "That sounds really impressive though, and practical."
"Heh heh, well as head mechanic you've gotta be original with-"
Penguin's head appeared around the corner as if on cue, though slightly obscured by the light at the sub doorway behind him. "Oi we're both head mechanic, and don't you go forgettin' that to impress the newbie!"
"Who said I was trying to impress anybody?" The ginger snapped, suddenly attempted a far harsher attitude and causing Lou to flinch the tone of his voice.
The other head mechanic scrunched up his nose and mimicked his childish tone, "Who said I was trying to impress anybody? I did dumbass, now let's get down to the engine room and change the oil before Captain gets aboard."
Shachi uttered a short grumble before saying his goodbyes to Lou, who was mesmerised by the continuous jumble of pipes that ran below the criss-crossing grate that they stood upon. Such a meticulous piece of extraordinary machinery was fascinating and, though she loathed admitting it, above the science of a good meal. Though a submarine could never truly compare to a belly full of hot delicious food! Food was the staple of life, and as such good food was ideal for health and happiness.
She landed her first in her open palm as she thought, Of course that would give me the most important job as the chef! Such contemplations were interrupted by the tapping of thick boot heels against metal, causing Lou to twist around to the source of the sound. The pans strapped to her bulging bag clattered and rattled against the pipe walls as she did so, and Lou instinctively reached around to still them whilst watching her new Captain approach. A lazy, somewhat confident, smirk seemed to be his default expression, though the look wasn't always reflected in his dark rimmed eyes. Occasionally Lou thought she caught a glimpse of genuine amusement at the psychological manipulation of others, yet it is was always gone before she could properly evaluate the look.
Nevertheless it was worn perfectly and suited the slight slouch in Law's posture, adding to the lazy façade he had adopted. "You'll be our chef effectively immediately and, as dinner will be served at five-thirty on the dot, I'm afraid you won't be able to settle in your new cabin until after dinner."
Lou swallowed thickly in an attempt to quell the knot that had formed in her throat. The euphoria of saying goodbye to Cortula and leaving Bella Fortuna in Malia's capable hands in search of what lay beyond the horizon had somewhat blinded her to the reality of chef work. Unlike Bella Fortuna, the sub was limited in terms of supplies and thus her creativity was too. Similarly she had no assistant to move the preparation along, although Lou was confident in her ability to complete her task within the hour. No pause or time to settle was less disheartening in the face of a proper fully serviced kitchen instead of her makeshift café kitchen. At least she hoped so.
Law led her through the complex series of pipeline mazes that eventually brought them to a pair of swinging double doors with a porthole in each. Inside she could see a monotone if not sterile mess hall, still empty as dinner was but an hour away. The chef let out a forlorn sigh and ran her fingers through her messy hair. It would be a race against time, but the kitchen inside the mess hall was enough to compensate for the stress. In spite of the messy film of grime and grease that covered the beautiful stainless steel, it was a welcome upgrade from her previous kitchen of portable gas burners and fires. A large bolted freezer door was situated to the far right of the kitchen, whilst three stoves and their respective ovens lined the furthest wall. Pots, pans and utensils hung from the grill above the stainless steel benches, with a heavy set knife block simply beckoning her at the main counter.
"Oh my… This is every chefs dream." She mumbled, tracing the edge of the kitchen counters with gentle fingers, careful not to leave even a fingerprint behind. "Your last chef must've had a ball with this."
"Well if he did it certainly was not reflected in his cooking." Law griped. "The man was stubborn and ill-suited to the position, something that as captain I have little patience for. "
A pang of nervousness struck Lou in her throat, causing her voice to seize up at the thought of being disposed of if she wasn't cut out for life as a pirate; or at least her temporary life as a pirate until she had been brought closer to the Saboady Archipelago near which her home island was situated. Returning home had been Lou's ultimate goal, but the fear of returning to an unrecognisable island and those who lived in it frightened her so greatly that it had caused her very dreams to be diminished in the face of it. Though it was hardly a dream by any stretch of the imagination, it was more an objective than anything else.
A crooked smile appeared on Lou's face and she turned to face her new captain. "Don't worry, I'll live up to you expectations," she said and patted her roundish stomach. "You know what they say: 'Never trust a skinny chef'!"
Law quirked an eyebrow. "Well let's hope that's true, because the crew will be ravenous tonight, and probably for something a bit more substantial than fried rice."
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The captain of the infamous Heart Pirates was more correct than Lou had initially assumed regarding the crew's supposed ravenous appetite. In some ways, they were exactly as she had expected: loud, crude and hungry. Though the sheer force with which they had all simultaneously attempted to push through the mess hall doors was unprecedented and frankly hilarious. The front-runners tumbled through and landed face down on the stark linoleum floor, only to be trampled by Shachi and Penguin who bolted through the rows of tables towards the kitchen.
The kitchen and the mess hall were separated by a thick metal wall with a rectangular hole cut from it through which the food could be served by those placed on kitchen duty, whom had yet to be assigned apparently. Lou eyed the quickly approaching pirates from her spot at the kitchen doorway and seized their collars as they sprinted past. They choked briefly before struggling in her inhumanly strong grip.
"Oi let us go!" Penguin squealed, flailing in her grip.
"You two seem awfully keen to be on kitchen duty tonight," Lou grinned and dropped them on their feet. The other crewmembers were beginning to filter through the doorway and inched past the trampled pirates on the floor. "Mind helping a girl out?"
"You're hardly a gi-"
"S-Sure, Lou!" Shachi interjected and cut off Penguin's attempt at starting an argument like they had on Cortula. "Anything for you."
Penguin stared utterly dumbfounded at the lopsided smile Shachi wore that coincided with the dusting of a blush on his cheeks, thinking, Oh you poor bastard, look at what she's done to you.
The woman in question replied with a slightest tilt of her head, which caused a lock of dark hair to fall from its place behind her ear. "Thanks guys, you better hop to it though!" She passed them a pair of aprons, which Penguin begrudgingly received. "Don't forget to wear aprons and gloves when you serve."
"Hey look, chubster, I'm not going to be ordered around by you."
"Penguin-ya, would you rather be placed on cleaning duty for the rest of the month?" Once again Law appeared, rather without warning, and his husky voice immediately neutralized the possibly volatile situation. Penguin gaped in response to the threat but quickly shook his head; all the while the ever-present smirk never left Law's lips. "Good, so follow Miss Lou's instructions. And Miss Lou, don't be goaded into a fight with every comment."
Her silent fuming was not left unnoticed by him, so he directed the red-faced chef to the kitchen, and ushered the Penguin and Shachi in behind him. Inside a large pot of simmering curry sat upon the low flames of the stove, steam rising and carrying with it the irresistible scent of spices so perfectly combined that even Law himself was curious as to its taste. Lou hoisted it off the stove and placed it on the counter in front of the serving station, and ordered Shachi and Penguin to fetch the rice that had been left to steam in the ovens. Within moments the serving station was filled to the brim with hot steamed rice and fresh curry with most of the crew eagerly lined up.
Much of the crew gobbled up the food within moments, before returning for seconds which were consumed at a slowly pace so as to enjoy the flavours of the meal. After they had been served, Shachi and Penguin piled their plates high with rice and curry before settling at one of the less crowded tables with Bepo. Penguin, unlike his smitten friend who was gorging himself on mouthfuls of curry (of which half landed back on his plate), continued to eye the new chef warily. She was talking quietly with the captain, head tilted slightly to one side and hand holding her own arm just above the elbow. From the angle at which he watched them he couldn't make out the words, though from his captain's relaxed and slightly slouched posture it didn't seem serious. Lou reached up a brushed a few strands of stray hair behind her ear, revealing the gentle curve of her neck-
Penguin jerked his head forward and away from the pair who were casually talking and returned his attention to the food before him. His heart thudded at the embarrassment of noticing such details of the dastardly harlot. Though the tantalizing scent of the curry drew his thoughts from the sight, and he deeply inhaled the rising steam.
"You gonna eat that, Penguin?" Shachi asked, motioning to his friend's high pile of untouched food with his fork. A piece of lamb was still jabbed on the prongs, and its movement sent droplets of reddish sauce flying across the table, causing Penguin to scowl in response.
"I haven't even had a chance to start yet!"
"Because you were distracted by captain?" Bepo inquired as he crossed his arms in deep thought. "It's okay, that happens to me sometimes too."
"Shut up, Bepo!" Penguin hissed.
"Sorry," the bipedal bear mumbled as he confidence once again plummeted. His plate was empty, though he was significantly less interested in human food than he was in his regular diet of fish.
Penguin's scowl disappeared eventually, and he prodded the curry with his own fork. The lamb was soft and fell apart at the touch, beads of oil glistening as it did. Mounds of buttery white potato covered in tiny streams of sauce sat perfectly amongst the carrots, beans, onion and peas that littered the mix. Needless to say after the first mouthful it only took a few moments for the rest of the food to disappear. He huffed and patted his ballooned stomach before swiping a finger across the sauce-covered plate and licking it.
By then a pile of used plates had accumulated at the serving counter for Lou to wash, and she eyed it with disdain. Bella Fortuna had always used disposable plates and cups, only investing in metal cutlery that Malia had always washed. Never would the chef be subjected to 'clean up duty', as Bepo put it, if there were any crewmembers without specific jobs. See, as those enjoying her meal came to say 'thank you' or to deliver their plates, Lou found herself inquiring about names and positions. Almost half the crew worked solely on keeping the submarine running, including Shachi and Penguin as the head mechanics, Bepo as navigator, six lower mechanics and general maintenance men, two air conditioning technicians, a tool and part maker and finally a boiler maker. The rest of the crew consisted of a male nurse, a specialist fisherman, two plumbers and a pair of chemists. The specialist fisherman, Shu, was particularly interesting. He remained behind for a few minutes to discuss the submarine with Lou.
Apparently menial jobs such as cleaning and cooking, prior to her arrival of course, were divided amongst the crew to be performed on a routine basis so no crewmember was left without work to do for the majority of time not spent in sleep. Only when the submarine was docked and sufficiently stocked and repaired could the crew have some unperturbed down time, which seemed rather high strung to her. Likewise Shu also informed her that all members were capable fighters, something she was not.
That made Lou shift nervously at the thought of danger and busied herself by carrying the mile high plate pile to the deep sink on the other side of the kitchen. She filled the sink with boiling water and soap before leaving the dishes in the sink to soak.
Her mind was a wanderer, always drifting off to think of thinks other than the present, whether it be in daydream or worry. This time it happened to be worry over her severe lack of fighting skills. Sure Lou's inhuman strength was helpful to some degree, though the fights she often got involved in were with small fry pirates with poor reflexes and a weak penchant for pain. And to a similar degree they were often started by the woman's hotheaded response to insults. However, as she figured, the chances of encountering other pirates or even Marines were far greater than on her old sleepy island. If it weren't for her strength and her opponent holding back, Lou was sure Shachi would have beaten her within moments.
Lou had since moved on to preparing for tomorrow's meals by slicing up tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes, eggplant and a variety of other vegetables. Law had insisted on using seafood where possible, as Shu was specialised in catching fish whilst underwater resulting in a near never-ending supply of seafood. Other meats such as lamb and chicken were more expensive and low in stock, so they would remain a weekly thing. So the chef descaled a number of recently caught fish and left them in a soupy mixture of Greek marinade. Following that Lou prepped the batter for the naan bread, only pausing to note the time as her captain entered the kitchen.
"Getting quite late is it not, Miss Lou?" He drawled in silky words.
She wiped a splatter of flour off her cheekbone, only to spread the flour left on her hands across her cheek with a small smile. "This is a chef's life, captain. Last one awake at night and first one up in the morning. We're like food athletes."
"What's this?" He asked whilst gesturing to the large mound of flattened dough on the counter.
"Naan dough." Lou replied as she turned to face him fully. Much of her dark shirt and pants contrasted starkly against the white powder that had likely exploded on her when she opened it. It was really opened or used due to Law's strong hate for bread, and he could feel the tightening dread at the concept of bread being present at breakfast. "It's far better than bread, no added sugars or preservatives, uses Durum wheat which is better for your digestive system and keeps the weight off your thighs!"
The woman laughed briefly and motioned to her thick thighs. "Clearly it's not doing much for me though."
Law felt a small spasm at the corner of his cheeks where his mouth attempted to curl into a truer smile than his constant smirk, yet he quelled it quickly. "It's good that you're interested in the nutritional value of your food. Health is an important aspect of a successful crew, and I'd very much hate for the crew to be out of action due to something like their diet."
"Wow, you're really piling on the pressure today." Lou muttered.
"I value my crew's health a great deal, Miss Lou, which you'd take care to remember," he said in response, eyes trailing across the array of dishes that had been left to soak in the sink. "Which is what I had actually came here to discuss. Tomorrow I shall require your full medical history in writing and for you to start some self-defense lessons with one of the crewmembers. From what I saw on the previous island your combat skills leave much to be desired and that fight with Shachi was frankly embarrassing. I may well have him join you for making the Heart Pirates look so weak."
"He wasn't putting his all in, not his fault, Captain."
The tanned pirate crossed his arms and leant over the smaller chef with a darker look in his eyes. "That's not the point. The point is he looked like a fool which impresses upon others that the Heart Pirates themselves are fools. And that puts the rest of my crew in danger when every back alley pirate and their whore wants to challenge us."
She huffed and returned to her kneading. "Righto, Captain. Makes sense, I was just sayin' is all…"
Law rolled his eyes at her somewhat childish attitude, but quickly remembered the other side of his intentional visit to the kitchens: dinner. Normally he would skip meals until the fancy struck him, and this was no exception. No meal, regardless of how 'heavenly' it was according to his crew, would ever cause him to eat when the urge did not occur. Yet, at near midnight, he had felt the foreboding grumblings of his stomach in his quarters as he attempted to read and so ventured into the kitchens. Naturally he had not anticipated the woman's already great devotion to preparing for his crew, though it was a pleasant surprise to see she was not slacking off like the previous chef.
The woman in question quickly noticed his snooping and asked, "Are you looking for something?"
"Dinner."
"This late at night?" Lou yelped with a wide eyed expression. "Oh, Captain, as a doctor you should not late night snacking isn't good for you weight."
He peered at Lou carefully from the counter opposite her. "Are you implying that I'm overweight?"
A hot flush appeared across her face and the woman vehemently shook her head. The artificial light emphasised the ghostly hue of the flour against her skin, which in turn washed out her complexion. Exhaustion was clear in the slight slump of her shoulders, though her mental alertness indicated otherwise. She waved her hands in front of her and opened her jaw in an attempt to speak, however the incredulous look of faux hurt on his face silenced any arguments.
The pair fell into a strange silence, in which Lou served up some curry for her captain and returned to her kneading. Law leant against the counter, plate in hand and fork methodically working through the meal. He had to admit the food was high quality and worthy of great praise, not that he would bother with it. As he ate, the pirate captain watched as his new chef scrounged through the kitchen in search of a rolling pin, only to stumble upon something far better.
A small gasp signaled her excitement as she hoisted a rather banged up coffee machine from beneath one of the many counters and placed it on the bench. Law resisted the urge to wince at the damage its weight may have caused to the metal counter tops, but he too was intrigued by her enthusiasm over the contraption.
"Why did you not tell me earlier you had this?" She squealed as she eagerly hooked it up to the submarine's power line.
Law shrugged and said, "I merely assumed you didn't have any skills as a barista."
Lou turned and winked at him. "Oh well you're right. I'm more an amateur enthusiast. Used to own a coffee machine at Bella Fortuna, but it was simply too expensive to run and repair." She paused momentarily in thought. "But I suppose if you have so many mechanics aboard it'd be easy to keep running!"
With deft fingers that were surprisingly gentle for her obvious strength, Lou inspected the machine and fetched a tin of ground coffee beans she had spotted previously in the extensive pantry.
"Any orders?"
"I'm not sure I trust an amateur for this." Law remarked as he crossed him arm. Despite his refusal, Law was no less keen for a piping shot of pure caffeine to keep him going through the rest of the night.
"Oh but I'm the best amateur, I swear."
The nagging feeling of distrust tugged at Law's conscience. Such openness and immediate companionship from the woman was somewhat disconcerting for a man as reclusive as himself. It was as if the barrier between nervous acquaintances who have only recently met was bypassed by Lou and instead replaced with this assumed familiarity. Joking and closeness was almost foreign to Law due to his incessant need to distance himself from the term 'friend' or anything remotely similar to it. Yet his quick and aloof attitude was left unnoticed by the bubbly brunette.
In spite of his better judgment, Law relented to his desire to satiate his coffee addiction. Mere instant coffee would no longer suffice. "… Just an espresso."
"Boo, you're boring," Lou replied to Law's chargrin. "What about an affagato? Or a breve? Or even a corretto?"
"Espresso," Law murmured without so much as a hint of room to negotiate.
She shrugged in response and filled the coffee wrench with the strongly scented ground beans. The shrill whirring of the machine quickly filled the once quiet kitchen and within moments a murky liquid dribbled out into a small espresso glass. Lou swirled it for a few moments and sniffed the hot liquid, deeming it acceptable before handing it to Law with a smile. He grunted in thanks and took it from her. Having long missed what others considered a glass of pure bitterness, the man eagerly sipped at the opaque shot of coffee. It was smooth and downed within moments, barely managing to scald his tongue on its way day.
As Law placed the glass on the metal bench with the sensation of freshly made coffee warming his insides, he caught the expectant expression of the woman in front of him. With hands clasped in front of her thighs and saucer-like eyes staring up at him, she seemed the picture of innocence. Though the levelness of her voice when she spoke suggested anything but immaturity.
"Hope it's not terrible since I haven't used a coffee machine in a while."
He shook his head but hid his true enjoyment of the shot. "No. It was fine." Law offered her a nod and continued. "Finish your duties and head off to bed, Miss Lou. Breakfast starts at seven am on the dot."