Disclaimer: I do not own One piece, but I do own my ideas and my OCs

No Gilded Cage to Hold Ye

Chapter 7

Breakfast at Persephone's

Waking up and jolting upwards, drenched in sweat with heart hammering in his chest, hardly passed his thoughts as an abnormal occurrence. If it had been anyone else, he would have been lenient towards them and encourage trying to sleep again once they had calmed, but he offered no such kindness to himself. Extracting himself from the sheets that had twisted around him like a trap, he stumbled a bit across the room for the door out. Before he got too far from the bed, he grabbed his hat from the bedside table and stuffed it on top of his bedhead. With that done, he continue his quest towards the door. He needed air and a change of scenery. He swept up a discarded hoodie from the floor and halted at the door, juggling both the task of opening it as he threw on the article of clothing. He rubbed irritatedly at the bandage still on his arm underneath the sleeve of his hoodie as he tiredly watched the fluffy tail of his cuddly companion exit the room first.

"You don't have to get up." He mumbled, exhaustion obvious in his raspy voice.

The pretty white cat with the grey stockings paused as she turned her head and looked up at him with those clear eyes if hers, letting out a pretty meow before continuing that dignified gait of hers to where she knew he was heading.

"Well, if you want to..." He rubbed at his eyes with the palm of his hand, still drowsy regardless of if he could return to sleep or not.

He pretended to meander through the metal halls of his submarine, but even the cat had him pegged. He wasn't exactly sure of the time, having not thought to look at the clock in his room before escaping the confines of his nightmares, but he had stopped being surprised whenever he stumbled through the galley doors to see Leon awake and dressed, beginning his prepping for the many meals he individually made throughout the day. Having grown up with him, Law knew the man only slept four and a half hours at night and an hour and a half nap shortly after breakfast was cleaned up and no one could pay him to sleep a minute longer. He didn't even use an alarm to get up, the bastard, while Law struggled to sleep or to wake up on days his insomnia didn't plague him.

"You must look like shit if you are up this early." The chef didn't even bother doing more than glance at his new companion in the room, still focusing on his work.

Law let out a grunt to let him know he had heard the insult, but did little more than continue his shuffling towards The Sacred Coffeemaker™. He had barely made it into the kitchen area before Leon was tossing his drying towel on the counter and manhandling him away from the dark doctor's quest item. He didn't even pretend to listen to whatever Leon was saying as the taller and more alert of the two started pushing him towards a different door connected to the kitchen.

"Go lay down." Leon ordered as he managed to get him into the room.

"It's unfair that I can't have my bedroom in the infirmary but you can have yours in your workspace." Law grumbled as he dug his heels into the flooring. He hated being ordered around, but Leon had been trying to boss him around since they met and threatening him not to would fall on deaf ears.

"If we let you have your room in the infirmary, you'd never leave." He was told. "Now lay down for a while. It's not time for you to be up yet."

"How would you know?" He grumbled as he forcibly stopped them from nearing the neatly made bed. Fluffy soft blankets that he knew Leon never used himself folded nicely at the foot of the bed as if innocent decor, but Leon never pulled those out without there being 'good intentions' towards his captain. Damnit, the cat tipped him off.

He didn't have to see it to know that Leon narrowed his eyes at him moments before sweeping him off his feet and carrying his reluctant captain the rest of the way to the bed. Law was too tired to do more than bite his shoulder half heartedly, though Leon dropped him a foot above the bed as his petty revenge before pinning him to keep him from escaping.

"Because Bepo carried you to bed when you passed out on him in the bridge."

Huh. That explained why he didn't really remember going to bed or why he had been so entangled in the sheets he never slept under. Bepo had probably even taken off his hoodie and left it where he knew Law usually discarded it. Bet he even tucked him in and gave him a quick lick goodnight, the overly affectionate mink.

"Is he still on duty?" Law mumbled as his eyes started feeling heavy again. He was tired, but sleep would surely elude him despite Leon's instance to try and find it.

"Yes." Leon didn't sound super pleased, but Bepo was the best at staying up for long hours with small naps between. It was why, when off duty, he could always be found with Law napping. "Now don't fight me and try resting. You have had three hours of sleep in the last thirty-six."

"What time is it?" Law attempted to roll over, which Leon allowed. When he wasn't tossing about sleeplessly or nightmarishly, he slept on his stomach. A habit he had developed sometime after his fourteenth birthday, seeing as before he slept on his side.

Warm hands crept under his hoodie as strong fingers began to relax his wound up muscles. "It's a little after four. You're invading my quiet time." Though it was meant to sound accusatory, Law could hear warm endearment hidden within the tone. It still baffled him at how much the older man truly loved him that he didn't mind giving up his morning quiet to cater to him. He didn't deserve love, but he was too selfish to cast him away. Not that Leon wasn't stubborn about staying with him, despite Law's obvious flaws and failings.

He closed his eyes as Leon continued his ministrations, slowly relaxing more and more by the minute, but he was still wide awake. He only jumped a bit when Belladonna hopped onto the bed and stole his hat from his head, no doubt the culprit who had left it on the bedside, before curling up next to him. She was such a good cat. He couldn't ask for a better one. He didn't know how long Leon massaged his back half-heartedly before Law began to space out, but he was jolted out of it when he realized his mistake and the older of the two had switched his attention to Law's socked feet.

Law forced out a displease grunt, trying his best to choke back a whine shortly after when Leon hit one of his more tender nerves. He couldn't move to stop him, his body going limp as his second-in-command knowingly attacked Law's one weakness with those strong, deft fingers of his. He buried his face the best he could into Leon's pillow to smother his own mewling sounds.

"That's cheating." Law muffled out, barely keeping the ticklish feeling from causing his whole body to twitch. Leon had found one of his more tender spots. His arms wrapped around the pillow to help muffle the pleased grunts as the other man loosened up the nerves in his foot.

"Geez Law, your feet are like ice-cubes." Leon reprimanded him. "I keep telling you to give yourself foot rubs to help with your poor circulation, but you don't so I end up having to do it for you. Your feet are-"

"-important to care for." Law let out a short gasp. "Ja, you keep telling me."

"Then start doing it." Leon pressed his fingers hard into a particular bundle of nerves and Law started kicking his other leg against the mattress from the intensity of the feeling it stimulated.

"Ahhh! Stop!" He managed to kick Leon's back as the other man laughed as his surrogate brother's squirming. He snatched the foot kicking him and switched feet to Law's unamusement.

"I know it riles you up, but it amuses me." Leon gloated as he began his work on the other foot.

Half an hour later, after Leon had worked his way up to Law's back once more, he left him rolled up like a burrito in the spare blankets he kept in his room for the sole purpose of Law using when he came to sleep with him after particularly nasty nightmares. He washed his hands and focused once more on his morning prepping, completely aware that he had accomplished something when Law was too comfortable and lethargic to try to extract himself from the tightly wound blankets cocooning him.

Leon cut up a few slices of cucumber and threw them into a jar before filling it with clean water and placing it into the fridge to chill. He'd have Law drink it to help detox after he couldn't lay there any longer. To relax the atmosphere a bit more, the tall chef began to hum old lullabies that he use to sing when Law had been too sick to do anything.

"Cheater." Law mumbled from Leon's room, the door having been left ajar so Law didn't feel alone.

Leon chortled a bit between notes.

The quiet that surrounded them was calming and, for the next fifteen minutes, unperturbed, but Law wasn't always the sole culprit to come slinking in before breakfast was announced. Leon didn't even bother saying good morning to the disgruntled, haggard appearance of their tallest human crewmate as Elias shuffled into the kitchen. He looked as if sleep had been lost to him and he had mourned it's absence like a lifelong lover would.

Actually, with how much Elias loathed sleeping alone, Leon was surprised how long he had held out. The chef pulled a beverage out of the fridge and handed it to the haggard man before gestured towards the ajar door of his bedroom, prompting Elias to drag himself towards it to see the future victim of his desire to not sleep alone. He quickly downed the drink and handed it back to Leon before making his move. Law didn't even get around to blearily opening his eyes before the other man dropped onto Leon's bed and pulled the blanket cocooned Law close to him as he tangled his limbs into the blankets.

"Shit! Elias! Get off of me!" Law wriggled about for a few moments, but, too entangled in the well wrapped blankets and Elias's hold to escape, he gave up and sourly laid there with Elias curled against his back. Soft purring snores soon coming from the bigger man as he finally was reunited with his beloved sleep.

"He's been having trouble with restlessness for the last few days." Leon spoke lowly as to not wake up the easily grouchy man. "And his sugar levels keep plummeting. He has basically moved his workspace into the galley so I can give him snacks every hour. If this continues for too much longer, he's going to start having some serious issues."

Law sighed as he turned his head to look at what he could of Elias's form behind him. They knew there would be a rough adjustment phase for Elias, but neither Law or Leon could have expected how difficult it would be for the man. Someone like him wasn't really made to travel long term in an environment like this. Luckily they were scheduled to port sometime soon and Elias could spend some private time with a few women in the meantime to take the edge off.

"Bepo give you an ETA for getting to Cimarron Port?" Law asked, despite not really being in the mood to have conversations. Elias was a furnace compared to him and his body heat was seeping through the blankets and making him drowsy.

"He said sometime early afternoon today. However, that was a sleepy guess when I last saw him shuffling you off to bed around three this morning." Leon shrugged out of habit despite knowing Law couldn't see it. "It may have changed since then."

"I'll get a proper estimate later today and while we are there, let's be sure to stock up on glucose tablets to supplement snacks so Elias doesn't pick up too much extra weight from constant snacking. Once he's stable again, I'll put him on a more rigorous training cycle for a while to ensure he stays in good shape." He let out a half stifled yawn as he laid his head further into the pillow.

"I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear that." Leon blithely said.

"Hmmm." Law's eyes wouldn't open anymore.

Leon started humming again when it was obvious that conversations were over and Law drifted somewhere between consciousness and sleep, acutely aware of sounds and thoughts that ran through his head but unable to open his eyes. On the other hand, Leon was wide awake and happily finishing up his decisions on what meals he was going to serve today. He was currently pitting the last of their avocados he had picked up a while ago that was getting close to its expiration date. He'd be making a guacamole spread for some of his breakfast creations. Avocados were a super fruit. It boosted the immune system, helped with digestion, regulated hunger, boasted anti-inflammatory properties to name a few health benefits. Mix that with some of the other ingredients he put into his guacamole and it was the perfect way to help promote good health first thing in the morning.

Which he had a feeling that they would need.

He knew that once they made port, the majority would want to eat at a restaurant, despite how Leon cooked way better than any run of the mill hole-in-the-wall joint the guys would choose. So instead of making a dinner plan after breakfast, he'd make a shopping list of not only the things they were getting low on but the few items he was looking for that weren't necessarily easily found on certain islands. He'd have to go with Basil later so that he could teach the boy the finer points of where to shop for fresh produce markets and bargaining good prices as well as where to find more exotic items as well.

As if summoned by his passing thoughts, Basil walked into the galley and slowly made his way over to the counter where Leon could be seen cutting up the rest of his ingredients for guacamole.

"Ah, Basil." Leon was quickly chopping up a white onion as he spoke. "So today you and I are going to have to run errands. We're getting low on a few things and I want to teach you a few tricks of the trade while we are out, so eventually I can rely on you to do the shopping while I carry out a few other tasks."

He slide the chopped onion pieces into the bowl before turning his attention to a red onion.

Basil perked up at the idea of being taught and nodded enthusiastically. "That would be wonderful, Mister Leon."

"But until then, I do have a favor to ask of you." Leon dumped the chopped red onion into the bowl and began dicing a tomato instead. "Bepo has been on the bridge for the last twenty hours and he needs a break before we get to the port. He says we should be getting there sometime this afternoon, so can you and your brother go relieve Bepo of his post now and send him to me? I'll send him back before it comes time to dock. We already surfaced earlier this morning and the engines will be shut down in about an hour so we can sail the rest of the way."

Basil looked a little confused. "I still don't understand why we sail into port."

"Penguin and Shachi like to give the engines some cool down time prior to docking so they can do a quick maintenance check and take stock of what they might need while in port. Also, most vessels outside of a Marine warship don't have engines and the sound draws unwanted, unsavory attention at times." Diced tomatoes were thrown in and garlic cloves were now being smashed and tossed in. "Persephone is already an ostentatious color, so we try to be subtle where we can."

"Alright, Mister Leon," Basil nodded his understanding, "I'll go wake up my brother and send Bepo your way."

"Thank you Basil." He gave him a pleased smile before dumping in the last secret ingredients of his guacamole and mixing them together. Basil smiled back before scampering away enthusiastically.

This morning was proving to be a busy morning, Leon mused as he watched his young helper nearly run into Oz on his way out the door.

"Morning Oz! Sorry about that." Basil didn't stop, eager to please his superior.

The older of the two grunted an acknowledgement as she slowly slinked into the galley, her footsteps quiet as ever. Teisei darting into the room as well, careful not to be caught underfoot as he twirled about Oz's legs. He had probably just woken up unlike his human companion.

Leon didn't even make a face as the big cat pushed himself through the swinging doors that connected the galley to the kitchen and proceeded from there to slink into the ajar door of his bedroom. The giant cat had long forgiven Law for his slight against his master and often sought his company while Oz worked long hours, much to her displeasure. She still didn't like Law very much, despite how little contact the two of them had since she had been discharged from the infirmary.

Oz, on the other hand, grabbed a stool from the corner of the room and brought it towards the counter so she could stay in the galley and still talk to him while he continued his work in the kitchen. She, unlike most times of the day where she was on break when she visited him, was wearing a sweater she could probably fit two people in and some grey cotton sweatpants that had elastic cuffs on the ankles to keep her better insulated and toe socks that managed to catch Leon by surprise, seeing as not many people like such a feature in their socks.

Instead of talking to her, he opened up the fridge and produced a mason jar filled with a liquid for her to drink. She wrinkled her nose at it, but did little more than uncap it and drink its contents down with a bitter expression. Leon wasn't offended when she chugged the contents and proceeded to make a disagreeable expression as she shoved the glass back into his personal space.

"That's still gross." He chuckled at her complaint as he set the mason jar into the sink.

"It's not meant to taste good." He was already back at the fridge and pulling out a clear container full of freshly squeezed orange juice. He got another jar and filled it halfway with the juice before pushing it towards her. "It's suppose to be good for you."

"Everything else you make that's 'good for me' tastes fine." She sipped at the juice, tension leaving her as the bad taste did. "Just not that."

"Yes, well, I am putting you a bit on the fast track to help you recover from your previous bad 'tea' habit you had. Some of the ingredients you were using had a lot of poor side effects that last long past your use of them."

"I understand that now, but it doesn't make drinking that other concoction any better." She sipped at the orange juice again. A pleased expression overpowering her annoyance with each sip. She was so easily persuaded into a better mood with pleasant food and drinks.

"It's helping though, is it not?"

He wasn't sure if Oz saw it that way, but he was already noticing she was a whole lot calmer than when they had… taken off with her nine days ago. She still got claustrophobic at times, but less so now that they would surface from time to time. She could go onto deck to take her breaks up there and breathe the fresh sea air. She didn't suffer from any major anxiety attacks after the first few days of being cut off from that herbal tea she had been making herself up until then and Law tried not to agitate her for more than a few health checks to make sure she was doing okay and following the routines he wanted her to practice. Law still antagonized her, like a mongoose taunting a snake, but, with how limited their interactions were nowadays and her being so busy with the other mechanics, it wasn't as awful as those first few days.

Her skittish paranoia seemed to be decreasing the longer she was with them and was warming up to the other mechanics. Though her scopophobia flared up from time to time with the fear of her gender being discovered, she was able to calm herself down instead of inciting an anxiety attack within herself. Not only that, but she was quickly slimming down. She wasn't thin yet, but she was no longer as visibly chunky as before, which, though Leon hated it, could not solely be contributed to his iron tight control of her meals and her long work hours down in the belly of the submarine but her bout of motion sickness, which had lasted three days before Law cleared her to leave the infirmary.

She thinned her lips, narrowing those canary yellow eyes of her. "I suppose."

"I'll take what I can get from someone as stubborn as you." Leon laughed breathily. He was in the middle of pan searing a slab of Elephant Tuna he had defrosted the day before as well as making a two egg cheese and chive omelette. He focused on the two plates he was making before returning back to their conversation. "Have you been remembering to take off your binder every long break you have?"

They had supplied her with a proper breast binder instead of her dangerous misuse of ace bandages. Though, when they had produced it from their stock of health supplies, Oz had raised a skeptical brow and her unspoken question of why they even had something like that was written all over her face. And both to be mysterious and churlish, they never gave her a reason. If she truly desired to know, she'd have to stick around longer than nine days.

The cross-dressing woman glanced about the area nervously before her eyes found themselves glancing at the ajar door.

"No one that isn't aware is present." Leon promised her, which, to be completely honest, was true. She simply didn't know that it was more than just Law and him yet. Leon also had a feeling that Basil and Orpheus were catching on, but that was a passive observation.

She was quiet for a moment more before releasing a tense breath of air and answering his inquiry, though she made no eye contact. "Yes. Whenever I am on break." She plucked at her baggy sweater. "Like now. The guys have learned I don't enjoy having my personal space intruded upon, so they keep their respective distance. So no mishaps or worries there. But it's really nice- the binder. My breasts don't get in the way like before and I can still breath easily as I work."

Leon studied her for a moment. "You should see about getting a sports bra for the times you aren't wearing the binder. It will help with back support."

"I'll remember that." She took another sip of her orange juice and decidedly changed the subject. She wasn't use to such conversations, though, unlike other woman, she wasn't embarrassed a man was talking so casually to her about it. "So I heard from Peng and Shach that we are making port today? They were telling me as they were turning off the engines and dismissing me for the rest of the day."

That was the moment Bepo came through the door, swaying a bit from how sleepy he was. "We will be at Cimarron Port sometime late afternoon with these wind speeds."

Leon and Oz both casted their gazes at the tired bear. He had gone and put on his own sleepwear, which consisted of silk trousers and nothing else, before heading to the galley as Basil had relayed to him.

"Thanks Bepo." Leon said before nudging his head over to where his bedroom was. "Why don't you take a short rest before breakfast? Two somebodies woke up earlier than they should have and probably needs some Polar Bear TLC."

Oz watched in mild amusement as Bepo's eyes gleamed a bit. He gave one nod, yawning wide as he did, before he, with an amazing level of stealth Oz never expected someone like Bepo to have, slid past the swinging doors and slipped into the room without the door letting out a creak. There was silence for a moment before both she and the chef could hear the disgruntled cries of both Law and Elias. Belladonna and Teisei making a quick escape from the room out of self-preservation.

"Bepo, no!" Law cried out. "Quit it! No-blegh- no bear kisses!"

"The fuck?!" Elias shouted as well, obviously having been asleep prior to having a slobbery tongue touch his face. "Seriously!? Ugh! Bear breath!"

"LEON!" Both men hollered irately and Oz could see a bit of what was going on in the bedroom. She had to smother her laughter because both men were pinned down by the furry Polar Bear Mink as he laid on top of both of them and licked their faces affectionately. Leon wasn't even looking, but he was laughing loudly at their cruel fate.

"Garachu~!" Bepo claimed before tightening his hug on the two and giving out round two of kisses, both complaining and cussing up a storm as they tried escaping their overly affectionate tormentor.

Watching their futile struggles kept Oz amused long enough for Leon to finish cooking her breakfast. He put out a large plate with the two egg omelette, some of the pan seared fish, and a good amount of guacamole on a piece of toast. As appetizing as it was, Oz sent him a small look.

"Eat till you are satisfied and you can eat the rest between now and lunch." Leon told her.

She nodded her understanding and picked up the fork he had given her and slowly made her way through the meal. The chef had quickly discovered that Oz ate in small quantities, not able to eat even a normal portion of food like everyone else, but required it often as her metabolism quickly burned through the food. He often sent her small meals and snacks via Basil so that he knew she was eating properly and not skipping very necessary meals like she had been doing prior to his intervention. A good meal plan could help with anxiety, stress, and depression, which Leon implemented it as best as he could with this group of individuals.

He quickly went to work making more meals, to which he set temporarily aside when he noticed Oz picking at hers near the end of her appetite. He took her plate before she began to play with it and wrapped up the rest in a bento box he had fished out of his cupboards just for her. She looked sheepish at least at being caught picking at her food and turned her focus on the two cats now vying for her attention. She picked up Belladonna to her cat's disbelief and petted her fluffy, bunny-soft fur. Teisei wrapped himself around the legs of her seat and outwardly sulked.

Law made his entrance into the kitchen, having finally escaped Bepo's affections and the pile of blankets he had been trapped in, though Elias had yet managed (though things had gotten quiet, so perhaps the two had dozed back off?). Oz vaguely wondered if he was some sort of master of escape, seeing as there should have been no way for him to get out of those blankets, let alone Bepo's ironclad hold. She had been sipping again at her orange juice, enjoying the last remnants of her meal when he quickly slipped in and nearly shot orange juice out of her nose. She began to cough and laugh as she turned her head to avoid making Belladonna icky on accident. Leon had abandoned his attention on cooking for the moment to also laugh openly at his captain's appearance.

Law's hair was normally unseen under his hat, but there had been times she had seen the wild uncombed mane of her abductor and, bathed in Bepo's love, it had looked like someone had attempted to tame it, but it had backfired and now stood on end in some places, like a horrible cowlick, and flat in others. His face appeared to be still a little slobbery and his blank expression told her that he had seen things he could never unsee. It soon enough morphed to irritation as he scowled threateningly at Leon then her.

Normally it would have worked, he still rubbed her the wrong way, but his hair was sabotaging his efforts to look menacing and she had to bury her face in Bella's fur to hide from its ridiculousness. She tried to choke back the laughter as well, but she knew that this was a sight she'd never forget.

Law had his hat in hand and he smashed it onto his head. It did a job of hiding his wild hair and sobered both of his hecklers a bit, though he still a bit haggard from his affair.

"Here." Leon was already pulling out the cucumber water he had set up earlier for him. "Drink this while I get your breakfast."

Law snatched it from Leon's hand once it was in close enough range with a sour look on his face. He took a quick gulp and he exited Leon's kitchen to return back to the galley side of area where Oz was. He glanced at her for a moment, raising a questioning brow that rose up under the brim of his hat, at her bright and colorful toe socks. She scowled at his unspoken judgement at her off duty comfort clothes. The moment ended as he continued on towards her. The woman lurched from her spot on the stool when he made no inclination of respecting her personal space and she nearly shouted when the Heart pirate promptly sat in the vacated stool. To add insult to injury, he reached down with one hand to pick up her large cat, still wound around the circumference of the stool sulking, and placed in him in his lap.

He took another long sip of his water as he stared at her, wordlessly taunting her with lopsided smirk as he began to glide his hand through Teisei's coarse fur. Her cat preened at the attention and Oz was just that much more pissed off at the man, though she still held his super soft cat in her own arms.

Leon broke their staring content when he plopped Law's breakfast plate in front of him loudly. "Stop antagonizing Oz if you don't want your new mechanic fleeing our submarine at the very first moment we make port."

"I'm not anyone's 'new mechanic'." Oz corrected Leon with a snap. She liked him well enough, but the inclination that she would willingly join this infuriating man's crew was a trigger. "I will be leaving the moment we make port. I have already rebuffed his invitation to join and have worked hard during the duration of my entrapment here to honor the food, board, and medical treatment I have received." She turned her attention back to Law, scowl now even focused than before. "Despite how nice your crew is, Doctor Trafalgar, I do not like you and will not stay because of it."

Law watched her with disinterest for a few moments, sipping all the while on his drink, before turning his head away from her form. He had heard this enough times during short interactions they had now that it simply sounded to him like a mantra she cited to make herself feel better. He petted at her cat's head, observing how she bristled at the action from the corner of his eye, before setting down his empty glass and focused on his meal. He reached for the fork Leon had put on his plate before beginning to eat, deigning not to responded to her comments because he already knew he'd figure a way to finagle her back onto his vessel before leaving Cimarron Port.

"Are you ignoring me?!" She hissed from the spot where she was standing, still holding Belladonna in her arms. She was tempted to fling the cat at his face, but didn't want to spook the darling cat or have her hate her for doing so.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Law couldn't help the taunt slip from his lips in mock confusion. "Oz-ya, you need to decide what it is you want, ja. You say you want me to leave you alone, but the moment I do, you complain that I am."

If looks could kill, this one would have been quite the messy murder.

"Knock it off, both of you!" Leon interrupted their bickering before someone did something they couldn't take back. "I'm not in the mood to listen to you both squabble like children until we make port. It's breakfast time and I want some peace to go with it."

Oz opened her mouth to say something, but Leon cut her off, waving a hand in a stern silencing motion. The fact that he was holding his cutting knife made it all the more intimidating. "Go meditate over in the corner until you can not be antagonized by every single thing Law does." He turned to Law. "Eat your breakfast and go back to napping with our other resident grump until not every single thing that comes out of your mouth is antagonizing."

"But then I'd be sleeping for all eternity, ja." If he actually could sleep.

"At this moment, I am quite fine with that."

"Seconded," came the unsolicited comment from Oz's mouth.

Leon turned on her. "Go to your corner, Oz."

"Are we assigning time-out corners?" Shachi made himself known loudly at that moment, entering through the threshold of the area with the other three mechanics. All four of them in their loungewear and looking like they had just finished showering. "Because I totally would like to point out that that corner," he gestured at one of the galley's multiple corners, "has always been mine and I want to reserve the rights to it, because I earned that corner."

"Bullshit!" Penguin countered indignantly. "That's always been my corner and you're just jealous that it's a better corner than your pitiful corner!"

Ignaas, whose hair was still drying so he had yet put it up in his signature pompadour, glanced over at Oddmund. "So do we timeshare a corner or have we yet gotten in so much shit that we've needed one here?"

"Not sure. Most of the time I'm shitfaced when we get a corner- I think." The man wearing the purple beanie shrugged, scratching at his orange-y yellow sideburned as he mused. "So I can't give you a definitive answer on that."

"No one's being assigned a corner!" Leon interrupted their interruption, muttering under his breath a single word of 'yet'. While he was still vexed, he was grateful for Shachi's timely interruption. The tension in the room had significantly decreased since they all had entered.

"Oh, then what's the problem that Oz's gettin' a corner?" Shachi shamelessly poked his nose into the situation. It's not like a lot of things stayed secret around here, after all.

"Because I refuse to agree to join his crew." Oz grumbled through a clenched jaw. This man was not good for her stress levels, which she was trying to keep down.

All four mechanics looked so upset at her admission, like she had told them that cyborgs were an impossible feat of bio-engineering that belonged only in sci fi books- which they certainly did not. Cyborgs were real. Even if she had yet got to meet one; or see one. Ninjas and androids too.

Penguin was the one to blurt out, "But why?!"

"Is it Captain?!" Shachi whined as he further entered the room and put Law in a headlock, eliciting a stern, ignored warning. "You'll hardly have to see this guy! I swear!"

"Yeah!" Penguin joined in and forcibly turned Law's head so Oz had a good look at his annoyed face, becoming more and more irritated by the moment. "This guy's just the cash cow! He's the guy we're painting a big target on as we try to find One Piece!"

"Both of you better quit, ja." Law grounded out a warning as he tried to stand up, temporarily breaking their hold while Teisei fled from his lap.

The other two men wrapped their arms around his neck and quickly yanked on him with their whole bodyweight, causing him to have to hunch as they pulled his face closer to their level. Penguin had his jaw between his fingers as he squished Law's scowling face. "I know he looks like a dark, twisted, murdering psychopath, but he's really just a big old softie. Look at this face! This is the true face of altruism! The face of a future Pirate King! Women even think he's handsome."

Oz did her best not to let her lips twitch into even the smallest smile, but it was refreshing to watch these two successfully harass the man that seemed unharrassable to her. She managed to pull off a stone cold face as the chaos continued, noting how Iggy and Odd had to cover their mouths to muffle their sniggerin or how Leon's eyes gleamed in pure amusement.

"Last warning. Off. Now." Law's voice was low and raspy. He was done being hassled by these two in front of almost everyone and was ready to fling them both onto the ground before assigning them deck duty the whole time they were in port.

"Yes Captain~." The two chanted in time. "We love you, Captain!"

And with that, the two leaned in and gave him the biggest, sloppiest wet kisses on the cheeks Oz had ever seen a human do, only to gag a moment later, releasing Law from their grips as they began sputtering in disgust.

"Oh god! What did you bathe in?!" Shachi lamented as he began to wipe the inside of his mouth with his arm.

"You taste like Bepo's mouth!" Penguin added his two cents.

The other two mechanics were full out laughing now and Oz had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep her more feminine laugh from being heard. She didn't want to laugh, but their reactions were perfect, especially since she had witness all the events leading up to this one, perfect moment. Even Leon's mood looked like it had improved, now that the in-fighting had ended.

Law's smug, crooked smirk returned as he observed their tortured countenances, now standing at full height with arms crossed haughtily. "And how would you know that Penguin?"

Oz could sense the glare that was unseen under Penguin's hat. "You know very well why I know that. It was your evil doing after all."

"And it'll also be my evil doing when the both of you are outside in the dry heat mopping all five decks this afternoon." Law turned and grabbed his plate and drink and moved over to where he normally sat in the galley. The small action was so he could eat with his crew instead of isolating himself by sitting at the counter, Oz realized.

"You're still taking a nap, Law." Leon reminded him, before turning to Oz. "And I still want you meditating in a corner until their breakfast is eaten."

"Ooooo~, Mama's mad at you!" Shachi taunted both parties, finished wiping out his mouth.

He was nailed hard in the side face with the backside of an eating spoon, nearly knocking his sunglasses from his face, but not close enough to break them. "Go to your corner too."

"Yes Mama." Another spoon was thrown, which he managed to dodge this time.

"If I call you Papa, can I get my breakfast?" Penguin teased.

"No. Now go to your corner."

"But Shachi took it!"

"Go to another corner."

"But it was my corner first and-!" A knife barely missed his ear as it flew by, hilt hitting the wall across the room with an angry thud. "-I am more than willing to find another corner."

It was only after the three mechanics being 'punished' where all in their corners did Ignaas dare to approach the counter while Oddmund was going about picking up the thrown utensils. Leon had a withering glare on his face, daring him to even make a stupid comment. "Sooo… May I have some of your deeeelicious~ gourmet coffee with my lovely balanced meal that you work so hard to make- of which I always appreciate?"

There was probably a streak of jealousy coursing through several of the men as Ignaas sat down with a hearty plate of breakfast, balancing in one hand, not one but two mugs of coffee all for himself. Law being at the very top of it.

Leon was a merciful man, as Shachi and Penguin continually professed to him, after he heaved a heavy sigh not even ten minutes later and summoned all three mechanics from their corners to sit at the round galley table everyone was conglomerating to. Elias and Bepo had been roused from their naps and the polar bear, ever the most thoughtful of the crew, assisted the chef in bringing out the side dishes of the meal to be enjoyed as the men seemed fit. Bowls were laid out filled with cut fruit, yogurt, granola, and a few spare jars for anyone to make up their own parfait. Toast and pancakes were also lying in their own neat stacks, with jam, peanut butter, and hazelnut butter available to add as toppings. Extra guacamole in a bowl of zucchini chips to be eaten at leisure. The meals were all customized to everyone's personalized health plan too. Ignaas, she knew from him mentioning it, was lactose free, so Leon made sure that he used soymilk and goat milk as a substitute. Seeing as the man was vocally enjoying some sort of cheesy omelette, the woman knew he didn't think less about it not being cow milk. The mechanics' meals, other than hers, were always high in calories to give them energy to work long hours. Hers, she had realized, were always crafted to be light and nutritious but still give her energy, and, since her appetite was so easily filled, food that was easy to wrap up and eat later when she felt peckish again. Regardless of if she wasn't hungry, Oz found herself sitting between Bepo, who sat on his captain's left (Leon was on his right), and, surprisingly, Elias. The man didn't say much or glance at her very often, but he had more manners than the mechanics, who ate their meals with gusto.

Hats had all been abandoned to the spare spots on the table or even to rest on the bend of their knees when the men sat down at the table, possibly the only amount of manners that Leon had managed to drive home in a few of them. Perhaps it was because she had already eaten her fill, but the change definitely held unusual interest to Oz, who had only seen quick glimpses of faces at times, to observe their unobscured visages for once in a rare moment. The whole lot of them, barring the variant hues of black hair that Elias, Leon, and Law had, had a bright pallet of coloring.

Oddmund had almost what Oz would call a genuine strawberry blond, with how yellow but orange his hair was. He had some serious sideburns that gradiented down to nothing by the time one traced their eyes from his ear, down the line of his jaw, and onto his chin. Mutton chops, she wanted to call them, but a much tamer version. Without his beanie on his head, his hair seemed a little bit wild, but nothing like how wild the dark doctor's unbrushed mess of a head often looked like it could get. His attention stayed mostly down at his plate, his eyes hooded from her full view, but, even in the depths of the submarine, she could swear they were green as a clover in a clear summer's day.

Ignaas had the longest hair among this crowd, his hair, when not done up in his complicated pompadour, reached down past his shoulders, barely brushing against his collarbone as he looked down at his plate while he stuffed another mouthful of omelette into it. Red wine in coloring that matching those dark eyes of his nicely. Oz made a mental note to try to catch sight of his eye coloring in the sun rather than the florencests of the galley to discern what color they really were.

She had already known Shachi's hair color. He was a classic ginger. In the fluorescents, though, she could spot light freckles across his checks, almost hidden under the sunglasses he wore. His hair was the second longest on the crew and he did nothing outside of securing his green hat on top of his head to tame the wild locks. Oz wondered how angry he would get if someone ever gave into the urge to braid it, because everytime she looked at him, the compulsion caused her fingers to twitch as she fought it. She mildly wondered what his sunglasses were for, because she had yet ever see him remove them, lest he was on break and napping it away.

The most surprising of the mechanics, she would have to admit, was Penguin. Because his hat often obscured most of his face, unless she stood barely a few feet away and peered up under the brim of his very custom hat, she couldn't even see the shape of his eyes, let alone the color of them. His hair though, chopped short to where not even a brush was required, was slightly redder than Shachi's ginger locks. She guessed, seeing as the two had admitted to growing up together since their toddler years, that most of the indigenous people to their home island carried similar coloring. However, his eyes were so icy blue. She had grown up with a lot of men who had come from all corners of North Blue, sometimes farther, but none of them had ever this shade and she caught herself admiring them for too long too often. She thanked what little luck she actually seemed to possess that he has too busy eating to notice.

To distract herself a bit, because her eyes had always been drawn to splashes of color, and, in the mechanical greys of the sub, colors stood out, she gave in to the urge to make a fruit parfait. Scooping a little of fruit, yogurt, and granola into a canning jar Leon repurposed for dining uses, she focused on savoring the fruit in the fat of the yogurt. Monks never ate things like this and she was still learning how enjoyable food could be. She suckled a little on the necter of a yellow fruit, sweet, a tint of sour, and cold. She would definitely miss this. She grabbed another jar and poured herself some more orange juice.

Beside her Bepo was licking his plate clean before turning to glance over Law's way. "I'm going back to the bridge. I don't feel comfortable with any of you doing my job, and-" He was interrupted by the mechanics as they, with different degrees of food shoved into their mouths, shouted 'RUDE' at him. He flinched, his head looking down as he mumbled a 'sorry'. Law shot them a warning look before they could continue before prompting Bepo to continue with a nod of his head. "I don't think it wouldn't be fair if those two had to miss this."

It wasn't every day that a smorgasbord like this was laid out with everyone's busy schedules, Oz had noticed.

Law nodded calmly, still chewing a bit on his most recent bite. Once his mouth was cleared, he spoke calmly, kindly to his navigator. "Leave your notes about the island and we'll look through them as we assign onshore chores to everyone, ja."

"I'll send them back with Basil." Bepo nodded as he got up, taking his plates and walking them to the counter window to the kitchen.

Oz nearly squawked her surprise when Law scooted over one chair, sliding his meal along with his arm and situated himself so he was now sitting where Bepo had. She barely noticed Leon doing the same, leaving two open spots for the two brothers to sit in. She almost fled, but a hand held her in place from the other side, and she whipped her head around to her other side to see Elias of all people keeping her in her spot. His fuchsia eyes (Weren't they ocher? She blinked and they were once more. It must have been a trick of the light.) told her to calm down as he chewed his food silently. His touch, after her initial shock of contact, was soothing, and as he slid his hand off her shoulder, she felt safe enough between the two tall men not to try to escape after all.

Her attention turned from Elias, who, while he was eating steadily was just about done with his breakfast, already pulling out his insulin kit to balance out his blood sugars when he did finish, to Law. She was in slight awe of his plate, seeing as nearly everyone else had quickly polished off their main entree and were fighting for the rites to the pancakes and toast and zucchini chips and guacamole, he was nowhere near done with his plate. Trafalgar Law, she came to understand almost immediately, ate slower than fuck. He would chew slowly on each bite, watching the others in the room chatting away, sometimes joining their small talk, and, usually with a hard nudge from Leon, look back down at his plate, cut out another decent size morsel of food, and put it in his mouth to eat half-heartedly.

No, Oz rectified. He got bored of eating. No matter how appetizing it looked or how good it tasted, he quickly lost interested in it. His mind was on other things, perhaps even things within this room, but not on his food. She would admit he savored his bites, enjoying the flavors in his mouth, but if one isn't hungry, what compels him to eat? When his grey eyes casted their way to her, the young woman returned her attention to her jar of yogurt, fitting a spoonful of it in her mouth, the crunch of the granola filling her mouth with a strange satisfaction. She had almost been caught staring.

Beside him, Leon sighed. He had finished up his own meal, which, now that Oz thought about it had been too meagar for a man with such an active lifestyle, and took Law's plate and set it infront of himself. Law made no argument, his attention falling from Oz back to his chef, though his nose crinkled when the other man quickly made up a jar similar to Oz's and thrusted it into the captain's hand. It was an unspoken compromise, one that Law accepted as he took up a spoon and began to mix up the ingredients together.

The moment Leon's attention wasn't on Law though (he was lecturing Shachi to chew with his mouth closed instead of smacking loudly on his food), she found much to her shock, the spoonful that should have been his first bite was dumped into her serving. Her eyes quickly met his, as if demanding him to explain, and his warned to keep quiet.

He did not just do that, she gawked at him, oh, but he did. Such audacity from this man!

Scowling, Oz ate the piece before reaching over to the fruit bowl, gathering up a decent amount and quickly dumping it into Law's jar. His face was one of complete discontent and he turned his eyes from the jar to her glower wordlessly. She covered her jar with a hand and kept her guard up. She had only served herself what she knew she'd eat and he had already gotten away with not eating as much as Leon had probably wanted him to eat.

Skinny bastard.

He kicked childishly at her foot with his, glowering as he took a bite, none too pleased about her defiance. Next to her, Elias chuckled under his breath, quite aware of the two's ongoings. He was in the middle of giving himself a shot of insulin when he glanced down at her. He pulled the needle out with his eyes still trained on her, keeping his hands busy with cleaning up his things and putting them away.

"I usually will humor him a bit." He whispered low so only she, and possibly Law, could hear. "He's never had much of an appetite and he's not good with eating."

"Then perhaps he should sit next to you next time." She sent a sour look at Law, who sent one right back before putting another spoonful in his mouth. Leon now boring holes into the back of his head.

"Normally I do," he lowered his head and the softness of his breath tickled at the shell of her ear. "However...I'm finding this... far more entertaining."

Elias straightened with a grunt. Oz rubbing at her ear with her shoulder, half wondering if she should feel so giddy from such a sensation and half mortified that she had. He sent a nasty look his captain's way. She figured out why when the heel of Law's foot brushed against the loose part of her sweatpants as he returned his leg into his personal space. The dark doctor was sending a hard look at his bookkeeper with something of a warning in his grey eyes.

The young woman would be grateful when they got to port and she could finally get the hell away from these people.

Mercifully, before she got caught up in some weird war sitting between these two men, her bunkmates came into the room, Basil proudly delivering Bepo's notes to Law.

He nodded his thanks, still chewing on his bite of parfait, and glanced at papers given to him as Basil ushered his brother over to where the kitchen was. He probably already knew where their meals were and wanted to serve Orpheus some coffee. The captain paused as he stared at the notes. He heaved a sigh.

"Forgot you can't read his writing, didn't you?" Penguin grinned wide as he watched rather amused across the round table.

"I can." He squinted at the words. "It just takes a while, ja."

"It's not any worse than yours," Shachi gestured at Law with his utensil, "and you can read that atrocity you call handwriting, Captain."

"I can read my handwriting because I wrote it, Shachi." Law huffed as he turned the paper upside down before uprighting it again. "And my handwriting is perfectly legible, ja."

The room boomed with an uproarious laughter. Even Orpheus was laughing at that statement, Basil the only one other than Oz that was confused. He never was subjected to Captain's handwriting to know its horrors. Not really knowing how to respond, Law glowered as he slouched down a bit, tossing Bepo's notes and taking a bitter bite of his yogurt as nearly the entirety of his crew laughed at him.

"That's… haha... the biggest load of bullshit… hahaha... I've ever heard." Penguin wiped a tear from his eye as he forced himself to sober up.

"Yeah!" Shachi agreed as he held his stomach from laughing too hard. "I'm just… just glad Orpheus has been… ha… translating all your notes for us."

Orpheus frown, no longer laughing. "I don't know what you're talking about. I can't read it either. I usually go to Leon when I can't read his work notes."

The room quickly sobered up as they all looked about confused.

"But we know Leon's scrawl, right Odd?" Ignaas looked over to his best friend.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly, "He writes our names on sticky notes so we know what bentos are ours. I'd recognize his. And Shach's and Pen's and your's and even 'Lias's."

The bookkeeper's angry words of 'don't call me that' went ignored.

"It's not me." Orpheus shook his head. "And I don't think it's Basil either."

Mentioned brother shook his head.

"Well if it's none of us then-"

"It says Cimarron Port is one of a few ports on Charreada Island. Fertile lands… flat plains… ranching and farming community… simplistic technology though there are rumors about the island trying to start a railroad. Hmm. I wonder what kind of locomotive they'll want…. Oh, he's also got a few question marks around the words 'log pose'. That's about it other than some star charts and a crude topographic map. I'm paraphrasing, please note that. He seems to have written out a whole report, but there's not much susutence to it, seeing as the island is very simple other than how much produce they ship. And I don't get what you lot are complaining about. I mean, sure, it's a little choppy and squiggly, but I have seen much worse scribbling. Actually, it's pretty impressive for someone with such bulky paws. Does he use special pens or maybe his claw?"

The young mechanic's curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had plucked up the discarded notes to see if it was really as illegible as everyone else was claiming. She had stopped listening at some point while they had been teasing Law. Though rare as it was for them to gang up on their captain, she couldn't stand people being made fun of for simply having terrible calligraphy when their skill sets were so obviously in different fields. She vehemently disliked Law, yes, but he was brilliant at being a doctor, she'd give him that.

She glanced up from skimming over the notes when she felt everyone staring at her. It was nearly sending her mind into a hysteria the moment she realized it and she was doing everything in her power not to have a damn panic attack here and now. Not when she was so close to leaving this damn ship.

"You." Penguin started, but he was at a loss of words.

"You were the one rewriting Captain's requests?" Shachi finished.

Her eyes wide as she looked about, shoulders tensed painfully. She tried not to clench her hand with the papers in it. She didn't want to ruin Bepo's work. Stay calm. Stay calm. It was a mantra in her head now. "Was I… not suppose to?"

"You can read his scribbles." Orpheus looked astounded.

"It took a minute or so the first time, but he looked really exhausted when he wrote it. So, yes?" Why were they all so quiet? She was starting to forget what breathing normally felt like. Oh gods, she didn't want to have a panic attack in front of all these people. She had been doing so well these last few days and-

The room had erupted into a cacophony of voices all speaking over each other as the four other mechanics began to plead for her to stay.

Elias's hand slammed onto her shoulder and it felt like his touch broke through the anxiety overtaking her, allowing her control once more. "Breathe."

She took a long gasp of air and wondered when she had stopped. From the corner of her eye she could see Leon was pulling himself out of his seat to get to her.

"Be QUIET." Law raised his voice above the others, sitting upright in his seat and reminding them all of their place underneath his authority. "What were you told about Oz-ya. Don't corner him, don't stare too much at him, and don't shout. And what have I said countless times before this about Basil? And what did you all just do, ja?"

Leon's hand replaced Elias's and the other man stood up and wordlessly gave up his spot to him. He moved to stand, arms folded behind Law as he watched the mechanics look abash at their slip up. Basil had to also take a puff from his inhaler from the sudden shock of all the noise, something Orpheus was currently tending to himself, worried over his younger brother.

"But he can't leave!" Shachi whined. "On top of everything else he can do, he can read your writing!"

"Only Peia has ever managed to do that!" Penguin added in haste. "And she's not around to do it!"

"Thank Lady Luck for that." Elias muttered under his breath as he moved to sit in Leon's abandoned spot.

"Oz-ya staying or not staying is only between him and myself." Law asserted in a stern voice, no longer in his previous lackadaisical mood where he was trying to pawn off his fruit and yogurt to the woman next to him without Leon noticing. "I expect the rest of you to shut up, behave as instructed, and trust in my ability to negotiate this, ja."

Oz had to look away from him for a moment and focus more on what Leon was reciting to her about breathing, because, damn, he was sorta cool there. For an iota. A oxygen deprived, brain addled moment. She took long breaths hoping that the feeling that had bloomed in her chest would disappear once she wasn't in a small tisy.

There was a pause before the whole sum of the crew, sans Elias and Leon, replied unanimously to his command. "Yes Captain!"

She glanced at their glowing faces as they too suffered admiration for their captain. Great, it hadn't been her brain being oxygen starved. He really was cool there.

"Now go get ready for when we make port. Shachi, Penguin, run diagnostics and see if there is anything that might need to have a spare part ready at hand. Ignaas, Oddmund, go check supplies in the engine rooms and see if we are fully stocked on all needed materials to keep Persephone running smoothly until our next destination. Orpheus, go run inventory in the infirmary. Basil, once you have caught your breath, I would like you to help Bepo once more in bridge. Elias, I will speak to you about the budget for the supplies once I have what is needed from all the areas. Leon will supply you with his once it's finished." He looked at everyone, eyes lingering for a moment on Oz, who was still shaken a bit, before turning back to the group. "Now go!"

"Yes Captain!" Hats were being thrown back on their heads as they readied to leave.

"And take your dishes to the counter!" Leon added in before they all got up in their variant speeds, eager to do as their captain had sternly commanded.

Ignaas had to turn around a bit to snag up his, but no one complained about the extra order. Oz was the only one other than the captain and his first mate that didn't move. Leon had a hand on her shoulder, coaxing her to stay seated and calm herself down. Law set down his jar as he turned to her and gently press his fingers to her throat. She noted the jar was mostly empty sans the leftovers that could not be scraped clean. She clenched at hers, still held in her one hand since she had been perusing through Bepo's notes.

"Well, I wouldn't call that an anxiety attack, ja, but it seemed to be a close call." Law confirmed, removing his hands from her person. "I am going to go you two naproxen and it will help some with the residual anxiety."

"Yes, Doctor Trafalgar." Oz inclined her head in subtle thanks.

He gave her one of his mischievous lopsided smirks before getting up and leaving the room to go fetch the medicine for her. Leon patted her shoulder and drew her attention to him.

"Sit here for a while and meditate after he gets that for you." He then gestured at her jar. "Try eating a bit of that to help calm down. I'm going to start cleaning up, but ask if you need something."

Oz wordlessly agreed as he got up, but her brows furrowed when she thought about what he had just said. She glanced down at her jar, knowing she had taken her last bite before delving into Bepo's notes and nearly dropped the jar- one she had never even set down since finishing- in shock.

Son of a bitch. She didn't know how he even did it, but she recognized the half eaten jar of parfait in her hand not as hers but as Trafalgar's.

What the actual fuck?

She needed to get off this submarine.

A/N: I am so sorry it takes me forever to get my ducks in a row. It's not intentional and I don't have plans to stop, but my brain sometimes wants to be farther than I am and skips over to future ideas instead of focusing on one arc at a time. I am working on this by outlining better.

As for Penguin. I chose red hair. I know its a gamble with Oda, but I like to have descriptions at times and based off of Law taking his hat off to eat, I feel like its a rule on the sub everyone follows.

Again, I have been trying to keep people updated via my tumblr account. Volleys-chan dot tumblr dot com. If you want to send me an ask or even just chat, I love to do such things and would enjoy it immensely.

Please tell me what you think as well in the comments below. They feed my muse and in return she comes back from her wandering to give us all more of this wonderful world!

Also, let me know who your favorite OC is thus far. I'd love feedback on them as well!

Till next chapter!

Vo-chan