@thatchtheawesomecook
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The owl witch had arrived just in time for the beginning phases of planning. During the peak hours for the kitchen, the rest of the commanders would find time to slip away and plan for what was to transpire on March 24th. She too was ushered to these meetings.
In hushed common rooms, duties were delegated and, surely enough, Serena was assigned the task of distracting their beloved cook on his special day. With a cheery chime, she accepted and began to plan accordingly.
On the day in question, she casually shadowed the cook. Watching intently as Thatch was kicked out of the kitchen by Marco with the truth that “he had been working himself too hard” and began to meander around the main deck. All according to plan~
That was, until the ever-persistent cook, saw the droves of brother still diligently working on deck and asked if they needed any help. It could have been the witch starring them down that threw them off or maybe the underlining threat all the commanders gave to their subordinates, but sure enough one stammered, “W-well, we could use the wax and extra lines from the storage area, commander”.
Oh sweet, (All)Mother! She had planned the entire day to seem like any other. The commanders had shifts to be setting up the party so that way they would still be seen in passing later. Even the brothers had routes and signals to ensure they would not be spotted by the cook as the carted party supplies. The last thing she wanted was to distract him by doing something unusual and stir up suspicion. But now, as Thatch hummed to himself blissfully, off to run a helpful errand, she had to cut him off before he could make it to the mess hall. There was no doubt in her mind that the cook would take the shortcut through the mess hall to get to his destination and, of course, that’s where the surprise party was being set up.
Now most would panic when their well-crafted plan was being pulled apart at the seams, but Serena simply began to improvise. Following him down the stairs, she called out. “Hey, Thatch do you have a-AH!”
He turned at the call for him and watched as his friend’s foot slipped off the front of a step and the rest of her crashed onto the floor. Of course he rushed to see if she was alright but, at her rushed attempts to compose herself, a hard chuckle escaped him, “You know, I am fresh out of ‘AH!’’s…”.
“Yes, yes. Laugh it off. Just don’t tell Marco.”, her nose scrunched at his laughter and she allowed him to help her on her feet. “I don’t know. I’m sure he would be curious to know just how well his training is affecting you.” A smug smile met her grumbles before his memory kicked in that he had a task to finish.
She watched him begin to head off again and hastily met his gate, “Anyways, as I was saying. Would you like to join me on an outing?”. The cook’s pace didn’t slow as he thought, “You can give me the details in a minute, beautiful. I sort of have my hands full at the mome-“.
Without even so much as letting him finish his sentence, the witch used his shoulder as a anchor and threw her weight at him. Out of sheer reflex, his feet came to a halt and caught her. “I happen to know full well that I can be a handful, there’s no reason to be so blunt about it~”, she teased.
A couple confused blinks came in response and so she continued, “I need to make a run to gather supplies…and I couldn’t help but notice that you have the day off. Would you like to accompany me?”.
“I…I was actually running to grab some wax and lines for the men on deck but I-“, once again Thatch was cut off by the mess hall door opening just a few feet from them. Almost on cue, a stockier gentleman who was often times a fellow cook in the kitchen, peeked his head out.
“Ah! Raoul! Impeccable timing as always. Do you think that you have a moment to grab some wax and lines for the upper deck? I’m planning on stealing the cook for a while~”. The witch watches as the man nodded his head in agreement before disappearing through the door again. It just so happened that the slam made by her body hitting the floor alerted the decorators inside the mess hall. In response to hearing Thatch’s and Serena’s voice, they had sent someone who often worked in the kitchen out to investigate.
Thatch’s mouth was slightly agape, his mind trying to process the events that just happened. He looked down trying to gauge the witch in his arms and it was her this time that wore a smug smile. She may be a owl zoan but, on occasion she could be a killdeer.
