The smell of burnt vegetables filled the air of the small kitchen, black smoke unfurling from the iron cauldron. Naomi frantically stirred the contents, trying her best to salvage what she could from turning into a crumbled, ashy mess. She regretted volunteering to make today's dinner while the men were busy bolting down whatever they could up deck for an incoming storm - but clearly, cooking was not her forte. Naomi's biggest regret so far was that she had not asked Cressida to prepare a recipe book catered to her less than novice skills.

Nothing a little salt and pepper couldn't fix, right? She thought delusionally, sprinkling in whatever aromatics she could find.

No luck. In fact, now it was just a burnt medley of mismatched spices.

Naomi coughed, wafting the smoke away, trying to convince herself that maybe no one would notice. Suddenly, the kitchen door banged open from behind her, where a tall woman with half-shaved, half-braided hair stood. Her arms were shackled loosely, legs tightened with a chain that was enough to walk around with but not run. A scowl was etched on her scarred face, aquamarine eyes taking in the destruction of the kitchen: unevenly chopped foods, a dozen utensils seemingly used with no proper purpose, and of course, the smoldering cauldron.

Kaelen took in a deep inhale before suppressing a gag. "Holy shit, what the hell did you do?"

Embarrassment rushed up Naomi's cheeks, pointing at the pot with a wooden spoon. "It's supposed to be dinner."

"Really?" Kaelen wrinkled her nose. "Because I think I'd rather throw myself overboard."

"No one's forcing you to eat it," Naomi said, scraping out the worst of the char. "Besides, you're not supposed to be down here."

"Everyone's too busy bolting down shit for the incoming storm to pay attention to little ole me," Kaelen snorted, plopping down on a rickety chair. "Besides, I'm dying for some attention. You're the only choice, doll."

Kaelen did her best to sound dismissive, acting as if Naomi was a last ditch option for conversation, but something in her inflection was off. No matter how hard the copper haired warrior tried to hide it, a lifetime of courtly intrigue had honed Naomi's insight to a razor sharp point. Beneath the tough exterior, there was a hint of loneliness in her voice. Still, Naomi hesitated out of caution for the ex-officer of their enemy; was this just a ploy to build a rapport with them only to betray them later on? Did she really turn her back from Alistair? She was good at reading people, sure - but she wasn't a mind reader. Whatever her intentions were, Naomi knew she had to be careful.

Still, it wasn't in her nature to be mean. Naomi sighed, discarding the burnt mess before starting again. "Fine, you can stay. But you'll have to make yourself useful."

"With these on?" Kaelen held up her hands, the chains clinking together.

"Nice try. You don't need them taken off to see if the food is burning," Naomi responded, hacking away at a new stalk of lotus root.

Kaelen grumbled, leaning back in her seat as she watched Naomi with a bored expression, though the scene of how poorly she handled a knife was entertainment in itself. Still, she stayed in the kitchen and reluctantly gave pointers to the blonde haired ditz, knowing that this was a good opportunity to earn some trust. Not that Kaelen would ever admit out loud to finding Naomi's company preferable to silence, but she also missed having someone to talk to; they had spent six days aboard so far, and not a single person except for the duchess would even look at her.

"You're holding the knife wrong."

Naomi paused, sliding her thumb forward. "Like this?"

"It's like you're deliberately trying to be bad," Kaelen grumbled. She stayed seated, but held her hand out in a mock demonstration. Naomi tilted her head, attempting to mimic the same pose. "Pull your thumb back, the tips of your fingers should be gripping a bit of the blade. It's better for control."

Carrots were next, though Kaelen didn't bother trying to correct her peeling technique. "Cut them diagonally, slanted."

"Does that make a difference in taste?" Naomi asked sincerely.

"Half of what makes good food taste good is presentation," Kaelen said dryly. "Would you rather eat something that looks like complete slop, or has some kind of texture to it?"

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Naomi poked her tongue out to the side, chopping carefully. "Yes, chef."

"Stir. It's starting to burn."

"Yes, chef."

"Just shut up and cook."

Naomi continued following her instructions as best as possible, laughing lightheartedly at her clumsiness when she accidentally knocked over ingredients or sent a jar of chili powder flying across the room. Kaelen sighed at each mishap, though she didn't stop assisting.

"Your sleeves are down," Kaelen snapped. "Aren't nobles supposed to be prissy about their clothes?"

Naomi lifted her arms to wrap down her sleeves, though she bumped into a sauce ladened wooden spoon in the process. Before it hit the ground with a splatter, Kaelen's shackled hands shot out just in time to catch it between the chains.

"Honestly, you might as well unchain me if you're this inept at cooking," Kaelen scowled.

Strangely enough, her snappiness seemed to have little effect on the duchess, as if every comment was brushed off as quickly as it came. For Naomi, such criticisms of her admittedly terrible culinary skills were child's play compared to the lifetime of judgements from her own mother. In a way, Naomi could discern that Kaelen's advice had a semblance of genuineness to improve behind it.

"How did you learn how to cook?" Naomi asked, scraping unevenly chopped leeks into the pot.

Kaelen hesitated for a moment, half-surprised at the question. "Why do you care?"

"It's just a question," Naomi shrugged, not facing her. "You seem to know a lot about it, so I figured maybe it's something you like to do."

The red-haired woman went quiet, and Naomi thought for a moment that perhaps she had left rather than answer her question. But a few seconds later, she responded in a quiet voice. "My older brother taught me when I was a kid. I was really bad at it - like, worse than you - but eventually I got good enough that he started to let me cook the family dinners."

"That must've felt good to get his approval, I bet," Naomi clapped her hands together. "Like a chef's stamp of approval."

Kaelen didn't smile back, but her voice was almost soft. "Yeah. It did."

She went silent after that, though Naomi didn't push any further. After a gruelling hour of slaving over the kitchen fires, the stew came out half-decent, at least to Kaelen's standards. The vegetables weren't complete mush, and the liquid wasn't as watered down as Kaelen had expected after watching Naomi dump an entire pitcher of water into the cauldron.

Naomi ladled a generous bowl and set it in front of Kaelen. "Thanks for the help."

Kaelen's cheeks pinked, though she turned away before Naomi could see it. "Whatever. I just wanted to eat something edible."

"Of course," Naomi simply smiled at her before turning back to her pot.

The galley door swung open to the four men. The smell of salty sea air mixed with the aromatics of the kitchen as they entered, boots leaving wet prints across the dark planks. The mens' hair was slicked down, clothes dampened.

"Geez, so much for smoothing sailing," Thom complained, wringing water from his gloves into a nearby bucket.

"The storm does seem to be picking up," Aryn agreed warily. "We adjusted our course slightly, but let's hope that's enough."

The men seated themselves at the table, looking away from Kaelen.

Cassien crossed over to Naomi, kissing the top of her head. "It smells good."

"Ah," Naomi handed him a bowl with a nervous laugh. "Kaelen helped. My first batch didn't come out so well."

The men raised a brow at her response, though they didn't say anything else. The only sounds were the rumbles of the sea outside and the clattering of wooden spoons against bowls, and the silence was becoming deafeningly awkward.

Aryn broke the silence. "Thank you for cooking, Naomi. It's quite good."

"You're welcome," Naomi smiled. "Like I said, I had some help."

The group stayed silent at her response, though Aryn at least gave her a tight smile. She couldn't blame him for his aversion towards Kaelen - no matter how well Aryn hid it, the quiet pain in his eyes always seemed to be present. Even if Kaelen hadn't done the act of killing Seraphine herself - to him, her prior affiliation with Alistair might as well meant she did.

After another deafening minute, Kaelen pushed back from her seat in a sudden motion, picking up her bowl between shackled hands. "I'll just eat in my room. No point sticking around where I'm not wanted."

Naomi glanced between the men before looking up at Kaelen. "We- I don't mind if you stay…"

Kaelen threw her an annoyed look. "I don't need your pity, doll."

Without another word, she stepped out just as Finneus stood from his seat. "I'll make sure she doesn't wander around."

"Thanks, Finneus," Naomi leaned back against her seat, slightly disappointed.

He nodded to her in acknowledgement, quickly departing.

As soon as the kitchen door closed behind them, Thom let out a low whistle before spooning in another mouthful of stew. "Well. That was awkward."

Naomi sighed, pushing the last remnants of her food around her bowl. "It's going to stay like this for the entire trip, isn't it?"

Cassien's response was firm but not unkind. "It's better this way. She's not some random person - she was one of Alistair's lackeys."

"Being soft gets you killed," Thom said through a mouthful of lotus root. "And getting killed means dying a gruesome death."

"Yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious, Thom," Cassien glared at his friend.

Naomi frowned into her bowl. "It doesn't feel right. She's not a prisoner, not an ally, but we're treating her like she's less than human anyway. How can we expect her to work well with us?"

Naomi felt a gentle touch on her shoulder, and looked up to the kind silver eyes of Aryn as he spoke in a soothing voice. "I think we can all appreciate what you're trying to do, but even sympathy is a risk."

She said nothing in response, knowing deep inside that their cautions were rightly found. Still, Naomi understood loneliness in a way that others would otherwise miss; and in the reflection of Kaelen's eyes, she saw herself.

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