Sebastian stares at an eclectic collection of pans piled before him.

The Dead Tyrants watch Sebastian as he thinks.

The pressure is on.

His current state of mind is new to him. It’s a thrumming mixture of adrenaline and hyper concentration.

Amongst the pile, there are three cast irons, all of them are sprinkled with varied levels of rust. One of the cast irons is, by some miracle, somewhat seasoned. Sebastian takes this one out of the pile and sets it aside. He’s looking for a stainless-steel pan. He had confidence that it would be an easy thing to acquire. According to June’s remark, these pirates had previously looted a yacht. They nabbed a chest full of kitchen grade spices and oil. Surely, they would have grabbed some quality cookware.

But to Sebastian’s disappointment, the majority of the pans in front of him are browned and dented. Layers of burnt oils and fats have been baked onto these pans after years of misuse. He makes a small effort to look through the pile, but he has given up on finding anything better than the cast iron.

Sebastian has picked his pan. He holds it awkwardly and asks,

"So um… you mentioned that there were a few options for an oven…"

"More like a couple, really." Ringo rubs his beard. "There’s the forge in Dusty’s workshop."

"It’s not big enough. It can hold maybe an ingot or two—not all this." Dusty chimes in. "Besides, whatever mess this makes would likely ruin it."

"Well, then." Ringo puts his hands on his hips.

"There’s the engine! We can scorch ‘em real quick in there!" June yells.

"Personally, I'd like the food to stay edible. Nothing made of matter can last more than a second before being unmade. Come to think of it, I think I lied to ye, lune. No ovens aboard, I'm afraid." Ringo shrugs with a devious smile.

Most of the crew laughs.

"Hm…" Sebastian says with an introspective rub of his chin.

He’ll have to think of something else. Though, looking at the size of the stove before him, he might have enough heat to work with here.

"I think this um, stove will work. How hot does it get?" He asks.

Dusty steps forward. She gently pushes Sebastian away from the burner.

"Stand back. It’s a little fucked." Dusty says.

The kitchen’s stovetop is essentially a massive industrial Bunsen burner with a makeshift grate welded to the top nozzle. She turns a valve on the burner’s base and a large blast of orange flame roars out immediately. The warm light illuminates the room as it rumbles loudly. Dusty rapidly turns the valve until the orange blaze shrinks and becomes a small, concentrated jet of blue flame. It emits a searing hum as it wisps along with the ship’s turbulence.

"Does it... go any lower than that?" Sebastian asks, staring at the blade of blue inferno.

"If we slow the ship down? Sure. This burner is hooked up to the core’s exhaust." Dusty answers.

Sebastian’s facial expression is completely blank.

"The flame’s coming from the engine." Dusty reiterates.

"Oh. Right." Sebastian half smiles. The state of the cookware suddenly makes sense. He thinks for a moment. "Is it… okay if I loosen that valve then?"

There are grunts and gasps of surprise throughout the room. The Captain raises her only eyebrow. Dusty stares at Sebastian with a faint nervousness. She’s not sure how to respond to his request.

"Ye what?" Ringo speaks up.

"I need the heat to be dispersed. If all that heat is concentrated on the center of the pan, the meat will cook unevenly." Sebastian explains.

Dusty looks at Sebastian. She’s sees something in his eyes. Something familiar.

Passion.

Despite the circumstances,

Despite all the threats,

Despite his life being on the line,

Sebastian has placed his cooking technique above everything else.

It’s strange.

Dusty is momentarily befuddled. She loosens the valve, and the flame begins to grow. Its hum rumbles into a deep roar as the blue blade widens into a fluffy orange crown.

"Can we move the meat closer to the stove? The heat will help it thaw." Sebastian asks.

Hunger has its effect, as without question, several crewmembers find ways to bring the frozen wagyu bricks closer to the stove. A wide cart is brought up from the cargo bay to hold the two tool trays that the bricks are stacked upon. The heat of the stove does indeed begin to thaw the meat. Pools of water begin to form atop each tray. Sebastian takes the olive oil and carefully pours a small amount onto the cast iron pan. He finds a cloth that looks mostly clean and uses it to wipe the oil on the pan, coating the entire surface in a thin layer. Pan in hand, Sebastian steps forward, then awkwardly turns around.

"Um, are there any tongs that I can use?" He asks.

"Yes, there are. I’ll be right back." Dusty answers.

Dusty runs down the hall to her workshop, then quickly returns with a large pair of smithing tongs.

"Be careful with those, lune. They’re my favorite pair." She says.

Sebastian uses them to grip the handle of the cast iron and carefully dip the pan directly into the flame. He awkwardly rotates the pan side to side to ensure that every area of the pan is exposed to the intense heat. Continuing to stare at Sebastian, Dusty can see that he is absolutely scared for his life. Yet, like the roaring flame that illuminates the room, Sebastian is carrying a flame of his own. It’s the uncertainty in his voice that grounds his otherwise uncanny confidence. Her pity for him blooms into a light admiration.

The pirates all watch curiously as Sebastian carefully heats the pan for a couple minutes. He removes the pan from the heat. The oil on its surface is smoking. Carbons have bonded. A polymer has formed. Shimmering brightly and standing out from the room of abused tools around it, the cast iron has been freshly seasoned. Sebastian sets it down on the counter and stands back, finding a brief moment to appreciate his ingenuity. The Captain approaches quietly from behind. She stands tall over Sebastian’s shoulder.

"So… you’ve cleaned it?" She asks. For the first time, there is a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"It’s seasoned now." He answers.

The Captain doesn’t respond. The awkward tension pressures Sebastian into elaborating:

"I um… the meat won’t stick to it as much. So, I can rely on it to sear better."

"Oh. I see." The Captain says.

"Alright, I’m just gonna…" Sebastian mumbles as he picks up the vial of olive oil. He dribbles another small amount onto the pan, then picks up one of the wagyu bricks. He lays the frozen meat onto the pan and it immediately begins to sizzle. The pan has cooled off a bit, but it is still very hot. He carefully grips the handle of the cast iron and begins to lift it. Then, he stops. After having second thoughts, Sebastian instead uses the tongs to grip the body of the pan. The pirates probably won’t mind that the soot covered tongs will be occasionally touching the food.

They probably won’t mind…

Fear enters the back of Sebastian’s mind. There’s no more room for hesitation. He lifts the pan close above the roaring stream of fire. He makes sure not to get too close, yet he is still wincing from the flame’s intensity. The wagyu sizzles loudly. Sebastian pulls the pan away from the heat. He takes the hot pan to the counter, then uses a spatula to flip the meat over.

"Is the pepper ready?" He asks.

"Here you are." Ringo says as he hands Sebastian a mortar full of ground rainbow pepper.

The mixture is a bit darker than Sebastian was expecting, but he’s too caught up in his process to think about it. He sprinkles a few pinches of the ground pepper onto the wagyu and sticks the pan back into the flame and—

There is sudden bright combustion within the pan. The tiny explosion lights the entire room. The pirates all watch closely with awe. Dusty watches as Sebastian’s determined silhouette braves the heat. Her admiration continues to grow, leaping higher at this moment. In reality, the suddenness of the flare was too much for Sebastian, so he had no time to react to it. He stood in place because he was frozen in fear. It seems that there was still a bit of gunpowder left in the mortar.

The first thing Sebastian does is check his eyebrows. They’re still there. Somehow. Then, he pulls the pan away from the flame. The wagyu is perfectly seared. Luck is on Sebastian’s side tonight. He cuts into the wagyu brick using the knife that bounced off the frozen block. He is initially relieved that the knife cuts through at all, then he sees that it’s still blue inside. As the pirates begin to gather close, Sebastian feigns a bit of confidence to make it look like this was all intentional.

"It smells amazing…" One of the crewmen says.

Capitalizing on the moment, Sebastian takes an empty wooden bowl and pours a generous amount of the sea salt inside. He then takes the jars of paprika and dried thyme and adds a reasonable amount of each to the salt. He mixes it all together and sprinkles a good amount over the seared wagyu.

"Can someone help me set this down near the um… stove?" Sebastian asks.

The Captain walks up to Sebastian and holds her gloved hand out. Sebastian looks at the hot cast iron, then back to the Captain’s open hand.

"Wouldn’t it be better to uh… use your… other hand?" He asks as anxiety washes over him, tensing his shoulders upward as he hesitantly progresses his question towards its eroteme.

There is a tense moment of silence. Ringo and Dusty nervously exchange grimaces. It’s not looking good. The silence continues for just a second, but the tension draws it out for ages.

The Captain laughs.

Nervously at the start in the wake of the unexpected reaction, the rest of the pirates soon all join in and laugh along with her. Dusty and Ringo sigh in relief. The Captain’s laughter slows.

"The blade, lune." She commands.

"Oh. Right." Sebastian says as he hands her the knife he used to cut into the wagyu.

He holds it up to her handle first. She takes the knife, then straightens her posture.

"Grab another cart and a large tool tray." She orders.

The command is done within the minute. Sebastian finds an errantly present jade plate amongst the collection of dishes scattered throughout the cabinets. He plates the seared wagyu and places the plate atop the empty cart. He carefully pushes the cart close to the pillar of fire roaring out of the stovetop. The wagyu sizzles softly as it is cooked by the aura of heat surrounding the stove space. He uses the gunpowdered pepper grounds to flash sear another brick of somewhat thawed wagyu.

He generously seasons it and sets it aside. He repeats this two more times, having three seared bricks of seasoned wagyu ready to bake.

Lost in his process, Sebastian pulls the baking cart away from the fire without hesitation. It’s only at the last moment that he notices the overwhelming heat. He grips the far side of the cart and hurriedly rows his arms back, bringing the first steak away from the heat. The room is near silent. There are a few hushed conversations throughout the space, but Sebastian has unwittingly garnered a modicum of respect amongst these Dead Tyrants. Watching this artist getting lost in his work is one hell of a first impression. Dusty is particularly awed, witnessing this new side to this nervous wreck of a man she helped kidnap. Sebastian inspects the cut he left in the wagyu. It’s a little more cooked than he would have liked, but he can still see red inside.

Some red to pair with a red.

This should complete the Captain’s order.

Hopefully.