Vuela

Chapter 9

Thank goodness for that good night's sleep. She wakes up, first thinking about what she's going to do that day. The memory of Savage's first order after breakfast comes back to her after her morning yawn.

After eating, away from everyone else this time, and Sora is strangely nowhere to be seen, Vuela follows Savage into the kitchen. Everything in the kitchen seems normal as far as cleanliness is concerned. The only difference is that all the bowls and spoons from breakfast are stuffed in the sink, overflowing at the sink's rim. Vuela looks at the sight and can only think that some of the crewmembers must have had seconds or something else on the side because there is no way that more people have snuck onto the ship other than the Captain, the cook, the four members of the crew, Sora, and her.

"I want all of these scrubbed, dried, and put back into the cupboards by the time I get back," Savage orders.

"And how much time is that?" questions Vuela.

"Eh. Depends how long my meeting with the First Mate takes, so I'd better start now rather than ask me more dumb questions."

And that is what Vuela does when Latimore Savage heads back to the stairs. If anything, the dishes are not that hard to clean since the porridge bits don't have the time to harden just minutes after everyone is done with their eating. Then again, that only makes it less pleasant to touch as Vuela holds each bowl in her left and washes them down with the scrubbing brush in her right. The sweet porridge smell is watered down to sugar, which overpowers Vuela's nose. What bothers her more than the smell is how shiny the plates get once all the debris is off. It's not the satisfaction of a clean bowl but rather the reflection that appears in each of them when she inspects them for hidden lumps.

Vuela hasn't looked directly into a reflection since Maxime did her hair for their father's funeral. She has tried looking into the mirror since then, but every time she's looked, she sees the image of her ten-year-old self with ugly tears rolling down her cheeks, and that makes her remember why she cried that day. Vuela can't bother to remember anymore. It'd only bring up the pain that came after.

The best parts of the job are the drying and the putting away since they are the easiest parts to complete (though not by much in comparison to just washing the stew crumbs off). Not only is it easy, but it's quick. Soon as Vuela puts the last dry bowl in the cupboard, she looks around the kitchen and realizes that she's still the only person in the room.

If Savage has come in while she's still washing, she would have heard her say something. At least, that's always her reaction whenever she's indulged in something and Max enters the room to tell Vuela to come down for dinner to say goodnight. It's a talent for her to be doing one thing but can still be aware of her surroundings.

To kill some time waiting for Savage, Vuela explores the rest of the kitchen to see what equipment the cook deals with on a daily basis. There are the classic ovens, pots, and collection of hand-held tools that look like they haven't been used since the last trip. Of course, Savage's mechanical hands are the tools she needs and nothing else.

The last thing Vuela finds brings her blood to a slight boil. The moment she discovers the dishwasher that sits under the counter next to the oven, she can feel her hands become clammy once again. After all this time of scrubbing the plates herself, how come Savage doesn't tell her about this beforehand? Now that Vuela thinks about it, how come she doesn't discover it herself until now? Her body relaxes when she opens the machine. It's cold. It's extremely cold.

"Ah yes. That son of a bitch hasn't worked in years," Savage says when she returns to the kitchen.

"No one has come to fix it?" replies Vuela. "I'm surprised that it's been kept clean."