Behind Closed Doors

The automatic door slid open as Arnold was finishing his report on the computer. In came to the data room of the Archangel was his superior, Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel. Arnold lifted his eyes from the screen and looked over to Natarle as she walked over to the bookshelf.

"Natarle." Arnold softly greeted the Lieutenant by her first name, which surprised her a bit.

"Ensign." Natarle replied in a cold tone, ignoring his addressing of her in such a personal manner as she searched the bookshelf for what she needed.

Unsatisfied with the response he received, Arnold rose from his seat and walked over to Natarle. As he got behind her, he placed his two hands onto the bookshelf, enclosing Natarle into the small area in between his arms, and softly whispered into her ears, "I thought you promised you'd call me by my first name when we're by ourselves."

Natarle blushed as she felt Arnold chest pressing onto her back, and with him breathing into her ear, her cheeks only got redder. "We're not quite back in our own rooms yet."

"Well, it's just the two of us in this room now anyway."

"This is a public area…what if someone comes in?" Natarle stuttered as she tried to keep herself calm; she was sure that if she did not find herself a way out of this situation now, the outcome was bound to be bad. As the Vice-captain of the ship she tried her best to be a role model for the other crew members, therefore she was obviously not prepared to let her relationship with the helmsman of the ship known to others. Kneeling down a bit, she got out of Arnold's enclosure. She then reached for the stool a foot or two away from her and stood on it, trying to grab the book she was looking for which was located on the top shelf.

Giving up as Natarle refused his attempt to get a bit more intimate, Arnold leaned onto the bookshelf and watched Natarle as she tried to get the book out, which it was clearly stuck in the bookshelf.

"So should I wait in your room tonight instead then?" Arnold asked in a teasing tone, waiting to amuse himself with whatever a reaction Natarle would return.

"Eh?!" Alarmed by Arnold's suggestion, quickly turned to look at her secret lover to see if he was actually serious about what he just said, but at the same time she lost her balance and was to fall to the ground. Arnold quickly held out his hands to catch her, and with a loud 'thump' they both fell onto the floor, with Natarle right on top of Arnold.

"Ouch…" Arnold moaned as Natarle tried to get up from on top of him, supporting herself up with her two hands on either side of his shoulders. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly, looking into his emerald eyes with sincere concern.

Although it did hurt a bit, all the pain eased away as Arnold saw Natarle's anxious gaze, which was a sign of her soft side she seldom showed others. As he was about to answer her, the automatic door opened again, and there stood the Captain of the ship, as well as their Ace Pilot, none other than the – rather nosey, and big-mouthed, in Arnold's point of view – Hawk of Endymion.

Not realizing how misleading their current poses were, Natarle innocently looked up to her two superiors as if she was wondering whether the two needed anything from her. It was until she noticed how red Murrue's face had gone that she understood the awkwardness of the situation, and at that very same moment Natarle's own face went as red as Murrue's.

"Um, seems like we're interrupting something," Mwu casually said, though his tone did somehow imply that he was enjoying the scene.

"H-hold on a second!!" Natarle protested as she held out her hand as to gesture the two to let her explain before they jumped to conclusions. "It's not what you…"

But before Natarle could finish what she was about to say, Murrue had already shouted out "…S-sorry!!" and fled the room with Mwu following straight behind.

Natarle hastily turned to Arnold with an even more worried look that before, and even tears on the brim of her eyes due to the embarrassment she just went through. "What should we do now?"

And again, before Arnold could answer, the door shot open for the third time, and this time with only Mwu at the door. He advised with a smirk on his face, "Oh by the way, you might just wanna lock the door, ya know, just in case someone comes in again. Erm…enjoy yourselves!" Then gave the two a wink and took off.

"Wait!!" Natarle yelled after him. She had to explain to him what really happened, or else her reputation on the ship can just go straight into the trash can. But as she tried to get up, Arnold encircled his arms around her waist and pulled her down closer to him. He gave her a peck on her lips and murmured, "Since the word is already spreading out as we talk now, we might as well enjoy ourselves for a bit, shouldn't we?"

"But…" Natarle tried to object, however the words did not come out of her mouth; or maybe it was that Arnold's proposal was just too tempting to refuse.

"Or should I go and lock the doors first?" Natarle froze on the spot as Arnold asked in a seductive tone. She instantly knew it was a bad idea, and timidly shook her head. Giving a slightly disappointed smile, Arnold pulled Natarle down again for another kiss.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So, that was a bit surprising, wasn't it?" Mwu asked as he caught up with Murrue in the corridor after returning to the data room to give Arnold and Natarle his 'advice'.

"Well, considering that I always knew that there was something between them, I shouldn't be…but I would have never expected that to happen…I mean, was that really Natarle?" Murrue still found it hard to believe in what she just saw.

Mwu looked at Murrue thoughtfully, then replied, "Yeah, that was Natarle for sure…Hold on a sec! Did you just say you always knew there was something between them? I knew that Arnold had something for the Lieutenant, but I've never thought that there's actually a relationship between them!!"

"Well, Miri mentioned that Tolle told her he saw Natarle handing Arnold a drink when she went into the bridge for her duty. How often to you see her handing out drinks to other people? And it was only Ensign Neumann that she got a drink for, neither did Tonomura or Tolle get one." Murrue shrugged as she shared the piece of information with the Commander.

"Ah…so that explains everything…" then Mwu paused for a while. "…But I've certainly never pictured the Lieutenant as the…um…aggressive type."

"Me neither." Murrue replied with a hint of uncertainty in her voice as she recalled the scene she just saw with Natarle pinning Arnold to the floor. The Natarle she knew just did not seem to fit into this picture they just saw with their very own eyes.

As she was caught in her own thoughts, Mwu suddenly blurted out, "Um, Captain…are you the aggressive type?"

A/N: Haha! Didn't see this coming, did you? Yeah I know there aren't many Arnold x Natarle fanfics out there (yup the AA helmsman Arnold Neumann), but it is actually quite a common pairing in the Japan GS fandom, and it's also my favorite pairing, so I thought maybe I should give it a shot… Well, hope you guys like it!! Oh and please R&R…it IS my first fanfic so I'd love to know how I'm doing…Thanks!!

P.S. Just wanted to pop this in, the bit where Natarle handed Arnold a drink, that scene actually exists. It's in episode 16, if anyone actually cares to look it up. (Hehe, I'm personally obsessed with that scene cuz Natarle's just so cute in it!!)