AN: This was an attempt at a class exercise to write a story which is essentially a montage of scenes with a very loose plot attached. And hey, there's a lack of GertrudxShirley pairing fics on here, so why not?! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

-Symbiotic

After defying the orders of her superiors and nearly losing her life by flying with a faulty ME-262 prototype jet striker, Gertrud was ultimately sentenced by her compatriot and commanding officer, Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke, to peeling potatoes until further notice. It was during this sentence of culinary labor that Gertrud began to notice Shirley, who usually spent time in the hangar of their Romagnan air base fixing and modifying her P51 striker, start to poke her head in on her while she peeled the potatoes like a rabbit eying a chance at a meal.

Gertrud didn't care much for Shirley's checkups at first. The last thing she wanted to see during her sentence was the person she saw as her rival smiling at her from the corner while she peeled the potatoes. She managed to pay no heed to the visits at first, telling herself to maintain silence and discipline while Shirley watched her from across the room. Eventually Shirley forced Gertrud to break her cloistered mannerisms when, during one particularly long session of potato peeling, Shirley made her away across the room, pulled up a wooden chair, and sat alongside the Karlsland witch. Gertrud continued to shave the skin off the potato in her hand and never took her eyes off of it.

"If you're trying to start something then you'll have to wait," Gertrud said bluntly.

"Start something?" Shirley said. She let out a boisterous laugh and leaned back in her seat. Gertrud remained focused on the potatoes, unintentionally digging the potato peeler into the potato and sheering off a chunk of the white tuber. "Why Trude, I'm taken aback! Why would I, Captain Charlotte Elsa Yeager of the United States of Liberion Army Air Corps and the fastest witch in the world, feel the need to 'start something' with you?"

Gertrud gnashed her teeth and continued to peel the potato in her hand, not paying any attention to Shirley's talk. But Shirley wouldn't even let her stay quiet. "Is there a chance though you have an extra potato peeler on you?"

Gertrud shot her head over at the Liberion witch sitting next to her and raised her eyebrow. Shirley was grinning from ear to ear like she always did, her blue eyes as wide as a child looking to help its mother in the kitchen. "What do you mean 'do I have an extra potato peeler on me', Liberion?" Gertrud growled. Shirley laughed again and watched Gertrud's face begin to turn red and her fingers dig deep into the potato and leave marks in the starchy white material of the tuber.

"Relax, Trude," Shirley said calmly. "I just want to help." She began to laugh again at watching her squadron-mate and fellow with grow incensed at her presence. Gertrud continue to gnash her teeth and dig her fingers into the potato until she noticed an extra potato peeler sitting on the table. She picked it up and flung it across the table into Shirley's hands. Much to her surprise, Shirley stopped laughing, grabbed a potato from the pile on the table, sat down and began to peel the potato in silence.

Gertrud sighed and went back to peeling her own potatoes. Shirley's presence hung over her as she shaved the skin off of one potato after another. She couldn't help but glance at the Liberion witch next to her and was surprised to find that, unlike her, she was taking her time peeling the potato in her hands.

Gertrud figured that Shirley's visit was a one time affair, but she never did. For the remainder of her sentence Shirley would join Gertrud and help her sheer the skin off the starchy tubers. Gertrud never once expected Shirley to show up to help her, who was she help a soldier who was sentenced after court marshal for breaking orders? But everyday she was pleasantly surprised to see the buxom witch come take her place at the table and peel potatoes with her.

The visits were devoid of conversation, the two witches maintaining a vow of silence akin to nuns cloistered in an abbey. Gertrud refused to say anything to Shirley, not even a "Guten Tag" when Shirley arrived or a "Wiedersehen" when she left. And while Shirley maintained this silence with Gertrud without qualm. Initially Gertrud appreciated the silence, but eventually she found herself increasingly unnerved by the lack of conversation between herself and the Liberion witch, a feeling which was amplified by Shirley's curious blue eyes constantly sneaking glances over at her as if to suggest that Shirley was looking for something.

"I know you can peel potatoes faster then you are, Liberion," Gertrud stated. Shirley turned her head and stopped peeling a potato in her hand. "Why don't you make yourself useful and speed up a bit? Mach schnell!"

Shirley chuckled and went back to peeling the potato at a relaxed pace. Gertrud ground her teeth into one another and again dug her fingernails. "What is it with you, Liberion?!" Gertrud shouted.

"What is it with me?" Shirley said with a smile. Gertrud slammed the potato peeler on the table and stood up from her seat, clenching her fists and furrowing her brow at Shirley while the red haired witch continued to peel a potato. Shirley watched as Gertrud tried to sputter some words out of her mouth only to produce a fury of "hnghs" and "mmrfs" before pointing over to the pile crates packed with potatoes sitting next to them.

"I am not going to be slowed down by someone who wants to lollygag about like you are, Liberion!" Gertrud spat as she pointed at the crates. "You've only peeled five potatoes today and I have a quota of at least two hundred more to meet by sunset, and all you're doing is..."

"Making sure you only have to peel 195 more potatoes instead of 200, Trude?" Shirley quipped.

Gertrud stopped and felt her jaw drop open. She watched Shirley's grin hold itself across her face and stay wide and bright, gleaming on her while she stood there with her fists clenched easing open and the blood that had rushed into her face slip back into her hands. Shirley laughed and grabbed another potato to peel. Gertrud stood there for a few more moments before sitting back down and going back to peeling another potato. Shirley turned her hair to face the Karlsland witch. Gertrud never bothered looking her in the eyes.

It was only as she began to shave away the skin of the potato that Gertrud realized she only had 194 potatoes left to peel for the day.