Desires of Men ~SEQUEL TO THE LIFE I LIVE~

Nightmares

*The Next Day*

Summer acted like nothing happened. That was just the way it had to be. Law never mentioned anything to her about it after that morning, and Summer wasn't inclined to say that she was slightly crazy and could whig out at any moment. No one had to know, as far as she was concerned.

She hadn't had any other problem since then; nothing had set her off or gave her horrible flashbacks to her time in the lab. Of that much, she was grateful. And so she found herself helping Casper cook dinner that night, much to her relief.

"It's good to have you back, lass. The rest of 'em just weren't much help in the kitchen." Casper admitted, handing her her apron. She took it with a grin, tying it immediately around her waist.

"I could imagine. Hopefully they didn't burn too much?" He gave a chuckle, handing her the recipe for the night.

They worked in companionable silence, chopping vegetables and slicing strips of beef for the recipe. The smells the sounds, the heat from the stoves...it made her smile, happy to be back in a familiar place. She remembered recalling just how much she'd miss the little kitchen if she'd never got to see the Heart Pirates again. It had become like a second home.

She distinctly remembered how much she'd dreaded working in the kitchen with the rumored 'stoic and mean cook.' Summer had never really had to cook in an actual kitchen before, all of her meals either things she'd gathered or stolen, and so the thought of actually preparing meals hadn't been appealing.

Meeting Casper hadn't been a very pleasant experience either, though she knew now that her old habit of distrusting anyone she came into contact with had gotten out of hand. Though he had been pretty tough on her right from the beginning...

"Oi, you alright?" Casper called, pulling her from her thoughts. She hovered the knife above the meat, and she realized she'd spaced off for several minutes. Shaking her head, she laughed.

"Oh, yeah. Just thinking."

"What's runnin' through your head?" He asked. He finished chopping an onion, tossing into a saucepan to saute them with the mushrooms.

"Oh, just remembering how much I hated the thought of working in the kitchen at first." The older man chuckled.

"You didn't seem too keen on staying." He admitted.

The two could hear the sounds of crewmen shuffling into the mess deck outside, talking and laughing about their days. The past few days had been pretty uneventful, but Summer didn't mind. She was glad she had the opportunity to enjoy being back with the crew.

"Yeah." She trailed off, finishing up her side of the work. "But...I'm really glad I did stay." She mumbled, more to herself than anything. She hadn't intended for Casper to hear, but he did anyway. Smiling, he swept the rest of the ingredients into the pan.

"Why don't you go inform the Captain that dinner's about ready?" He suggested, noticing that the girl was quite lost in her thoughts. She nodded obediently, and began walking out the door. She hesitated, but he waved her away. "Off you go, now." Grinning, he hoped she wouldn't think about the order too much.

~~~

It took Summer all the way until she stopped in front of Law's door to realize that Casper never had to inform the Captain that dinner was ready. Law just always knew when it was done, probably because of the aroma of food that tended to fill the sub, and because he usually was with Bepo who had an excellent nose. So...

Why had he waved her out the door to do so? She frowned, standing in confusion at the door to his room. Who was to say he was even inside? And why had she gone so willingly without question? Sure, she'd been pretty distracted with her thoughts, but...