Kelsey left Brad to it after making sure he safely got to the showers to wash off the rest of the oil. She was walking past the kitchen when she heard the tightly wound XO going off on the chef.
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"Buckman! What the hell are you doing?" Kelsey was worried about the vein that showed in the smaller man's neck as he was yelling. "Stocking the pantry, sir." Buckman said not understanding the problem. "You forgot "like an idiot", because you're stocking the pantry like an idiot." Kelsey really wanted to step in but she could tell by how unaffected Buckman was he could handle Pascal.
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"What are in these cans, Buckman?" The man said holding up two giant cans.
"That one's coffee." He said pointing to one. "That one looks like cooking lard, sir." He said smiling as he identified the other. "And which do you think we're going to be using more often?" The XO asked furious. "The coffee or the lard? You think we're all going to jump out of bed and have a big hot steaming cup of pig fat?" It was obviously rhetorical, but she admired when the chef answered.
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"Well, if it's a cold morning, sir, you might..." The man began joking. "The lard is in your head, Buckman! Now you take a look at that galley chart. Cos' I want that cabinet repacked regulation-style by 1100. Do you know what time 1100 is?" By now Marty was almost purple with rage.
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"That would be after 1000, sir." Kelsey honestly couldn't tell if he was joking. Kelsey was going to step in when she realized the captain stood next to her and moved out of his way. Seems he caught the end of Pascal's rant. "Marty." He said calmly.
"What?!" The man asked enrage as he turned. He paled when he saw it was the captain with a raised brow. "Sir?" He swallowed hard at his mistake. "Can we speak in my cabin? Carry on." With that he let Buckman get back to his work and took Marty with him.
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Kelsey decided to help the man. Partly because she felt bad for him and partly because she didn't feel like eating food that was rancid. "I'll help you, Buckman." She said moving into the small space. The man turned surprised. "Really?" He asked happily surprised. "Ya, I finished with the aid room and I don't feel like going hungry, so I figure helping you is helping me."
That made the man laugh. They worked out a good system where she put things low and the large man took the top shelves. "So, you're a nurse? And that jerk is your husband?" He asked finally. She laughed, "Yes to both. I love the navy and medicine. After patching up my brothers for so many years it came easy. So, I was lucky enough that the navy sent me to medical school." She explained.
Buckman stopped working and leaned on the counter. "So, how does a nice lady like you get with a guy like him?" He asked pointing his thumb toward the bunks where they could hear Brad cussing up a storm as he complained about everything.
"Well, it takes a fight, 5 stitches, and shutting his shit down." She said smiling. Buckman laughed imagining how that went. With her help he had the kitchen restocked and up to code within an hour. "There we go. And an hour ahead of Marty's deadline." She said looking around happily. "Thanks a lot, Kelsey." He said grateful the work was done.
"No worries, Bucky. Never make enemies of the people handling your food." She said with a wink. His smirk told her he knew what she meant. "Alright, I'll leave you to lunch while I go find out what trouble Brad's up to." With a quick salute she was off.
————————————— Kelsey would have been pissed if she had known what her husband was up to as she slept. He and some of the others had snuck into Emily's laundry and put them in hot water and the dryer.
She knew from her husband's 'innocent' look when he saw Lt. Lake that he was the main culprit. She wouldn't call him on it in front of Dodge, just as she knew Emily wouldn't. He would get his though.
"She may not be the youngest girl at the ball, but she'll turn a head or two." Dodge had been singing their praises at a job well done with cleaning the old sub.
"If she drives as well as she looks, we may even survive." Kelsey smiled with the captain. His humor reminding her of Brad's.
"Dive test tomorrow morning 1000. The rest of you are on leave until..." Dodge had spotted her at the same time as Kelsey and sighed deeply. She would hand it to Emily, she stood in line pretending nothing was amiss as buttons strained and her pants were now capris.
"Lt Lake, you're almost out of uniform. Either you're confused about your dress size or there's been foul play." Dodge was able to keep composure and address the matter.
"If it's a disqualifying offense, I'd like to take full and sole responsibility, sir." Brad called from down the line. The glare Kelsey shit him making him shut his mouth and the captain smirk. He knew she would do worse than he could.
"Gentlemen, I want to know who did this or shore leave is cancelled tonight..." Dodge gave them a moment to admit their crime. With no answer he was forced to act.
"Very well. Everybody back into the boat." He said causing a huge groan from each sailor.
"You heard the captain. Back on the boat!" Marty parroted yelling at them to hurry.
"Lt Lake. Sorry. It won't happen again." He told the woman as she passed him on her way onboard.
