Commander's Rounds

Entry 3: Azur Chef

"Commander, dinner is ready."

The commander paused his work at the sound of that voice. It was one thing for a maid to announce that dinner was ready, but when it was announced by King George V, it was with an air of finality- dinner was occurring, and it was upon you whether one was ready for it or not.

"Ah, well, would you mind bringing it to me?"

The battleship shook her head. "I'd rather it be the other way around."

Which was part of the Royal tradition of understating things, because his initial refusal to budge from his desk was met by her sweeping him out of his chair and carrying him away in her arms like he was some damsel recently liberated from a dragon. He didn't object to this sort of treatment, as he knew that he needed some prodding, at times, to remove himself from humdrum and appreciate what others offered him.

And what King George V offered with dinner was much more than just food.

The woman expressed many of her thoughts and feelings in terms of food and her superlative cooking. When she had concerns for him, she would ask him, "Have you been eating well?". And there are times when he had said no, and this was because he had been stressing himself, and wasn't sleeping well, and otherwise been thrown out of whack. When this happened, she would come over, and despite what may or may not be in his refrigerator, something delicious would appear.

Because great food just seemed to happen around King George V.

She had cooked up one of those Lancashire stews, which meant there would be plenty left over for him to enjoy later, as well as mince pies while she was waiting the hours it took for the main dish to cook up. But there was one thing that King George V always insisted on, an indispensable component of any dinner.

"Commander, it doesn't do to dine without company when it's being offered, or the offer can be reasonably extended. It's an ingredient that improves any dish."

He knew well enough not to talk with his mouth full in front of the Royal Navy. "Sometimes one of the maids does cook for me, but aside from Newcastle, they tend to decline that sort of invitation... I think they might be too mindful of "status" around me. I don't come from prestige, I'm just a guy who got lucky."

"Do you think it was only luck that brought you here, commander?"

That was something to chew on. "How do you figure?"

"Say, for argument, that it was only chance- a flip of the coin, a roll of the dice. Do you think you could have lasted this long if it were only fortune?" She let him think on that as she ate. "No one knows how and why you were selected as commander. They may have known things about you that you did not."

That was something to worry about later. Thankfully, it was easy to focus on the fact that he was having dinner with a beautiful woman of dignity and authority.

In time, though, she had something to say. "Commander?"

"Yes?"

She had finished well before he did- Among other things, she was a big eater, too. "When the commander has finished his work for the evening, I would like to take some of his time."

"Sure, there isn't much left, really."

And there really wasn't- just some patrol reports that needed to be signed off on before anything else, and there was so little that King George V merely needed to wait on the couch for him. But when he was done and he moved to join her, she started rolling down her stockings. "...Belfast says you enjoy this sort of thing when you are tired, so lay down, if you'd please."