A/N: I know I've said that I'd slow down, but writing this is such a relaxing thing for me. I've been trying to work out this particular problem of mine for some time now, but it feels like chiseling away at the white cliff of Dover with a soggy toothpick.

PS: I feel like if I ever get around to fixing all of my mistakes in the previous chapters (and this chapter too, I'm sure), I'd need the literary equivalent of a combine harvester.

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Enterprise was pushing her face flat against the surface of a round table in the main recreation room with her shoulders slumped and her arms hanging loosely like vines. Her head was entirely hidden by her black hoodie, making sure that no one that might pass could see her flustered expression. That wouldn't stop Enterprise from hearing the gossiping voices around her, however.

All over the room, both ships and humans were whispering, the kind of whispering that a resistance movement would use in case of occupation. But no matter how subtle they were trying to be, Enterprise could still overhear her name and Zuikaku's being mentioned.

One Japanese cruiser, one with a large camera slung over her shoulder, suddenly approached Enterprise, smiling.

Enterprise gave the cruiser a death glare that could drive a king to tears, but it seemed to have no effect this time. The cruiser pointed at Enterprise with two index fingers while grinning playfully.

"Nym~Pho~" the cruiser sang, and before Enterprise's fist could reach her face, the cruiser immediately bolted out of the room, leaving Enterprise even more frustrated than before.

"Dammit." the Big E cursed. Right now she's definitely not feeling like the conquering, invincible hero her peers had made her to be.

Enterprise was actually feeling rather pathetic. She's used to the relative certainty and simplicity of a war zone, where all of her problems could just be bombed away. She had never felt this confused before, absolutely not knowing what to do, and she hated the feeling.

Enterprise had seen Zuikaku trying to subtly approach her a couple of times since this morning, but then she always chickened out at the last moment. The worst part was that Enterprise could totally sympathize with her. Even right at this moment, Enterprise was considering to simply walk into Zuikaku's room and talk things out, but for some reason, she couldn't muster the will to move from her seat.

"Feeling in the dump?" said a familiar cheery voice.

Enterprise looked up and groaned.

"Iowa."

"Not even a hello? Come on girl! cheer up!"

Enterprise had always liked Iowa as a friend, but at this moment the mischievous smile on her face only brought a bad omen signing that Enterprise's day was about to get even worse.

"So?" Without waiting for permission, Iowa took a chair and turned it around, taking her seat with her legs wide open and supporting her breasts on the backrest. "How was her?"

"How was her what?" asked Enterprise back, almost rhetorically.

"Never mind, from the noise I guess she was pretty skilled."

"Goodness!"

"Ah, yes. You screamed that word a couple of times, too."

Enterprise crossed her arms on top of the table and buried her face in them.

"As far as I know, you haven't had any prior relationship since your summoning. So was that your first time?"

"So what if it was?" Enterprise mumbled.

"Well, then you're lucky to get such an experienced player for your first go. Me and Bongo didn't get it right until our third try, even after extensive research."

"I don't need to know."

"Apparently it's better to have a lot of pillows. We couldn't borrow them, of course, so that put quite a dent in our wages. On the flipside, I sleep a lot better now."

"Please stop." Enterprise begged.

"But I guess you don't need to worry about that sort of things since that lanky crane most certainly knows what she's doing. Who knows how many girls she had been with before you? Or will after?"

Enterprise morale dropped like depression era economy when her mind was forcefully steered towards the image of Zuikaku doing what she had done to her last night to a random girl.

Enterprise looked up slowly. "Y...you really think so?"

Her genuine question was met with a teasing look from Iowa.

"Oh, my. Look at that. The great Grey Ghost is acting like a teenage girl just past her puberty. How cute."

Enterprise felt her face heating up before slamming it onto the table.

"Aaargh...!" Enterprise screamed into her arms, not seeing that Iowa was desperately holding on from laughing out loud.

"Yeah, guess your pride wouldn't allow you to accept that you had been used in a one night stand. But no need to worry." Iowa clicked her tongue. "I looked her up. She's purer than a newborn baby whose mother had nearly drowned in a baptism pond just prior to labor."

"You mean..."

"Congrats. You've bagged yourself a natural. Maybe the Lucky E is not just a moniker after all."

"Ah..." Enterprise bit her lips, suddenly looking conflicted.

"It'll get better after the initial shock wear off, you know? After you had built up the confidence necessary and start to experiment..."

"We're not dating."

Iowa raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Enterprise sighed. "We're not officially dating. We just got really drunk last night."

Hearing Enterprise words, cheerfulness promptly drained from Iowa's face, replaced by an expression of almost pure dread.

"oh, shit. this is serious."

"Huh?"

Iowa shook her head. "You don't get it, do you? Between 'Zero' and 'being blasted by Godzilla', having unconscious drunken sex is around about 'being eaten by a resurrected T-Rex' in terms of terrible ways to start a proper relationship!"

If Enterprise hadn't been feeling so flustered, she'd probably have found the analogy interesting.

"You simply will not have the proper foundation to build your bond if you start that way! You might as well had gone into a club wearing skimpy clothing and get bent over a sink in the women restroom!" shouted Iowa, punctuating every word with an exaggerated hand gesture.

"A...ah." Enterprise tried to respond, but it's as if her tongue was locked. Partly because of Iowa's sudden filibuster, but mainly because she had just imagined Zuikaku bending her over a sink.

"This is a lady emergency!" announced Iowa loudly, uncaring of the people around her. "You need to clarify your relationship! Right! Now!"

"H...how..?" Enterprise barely managed to say.

Iowa bent forward, supporting herself on the table. "Easy. Go to her and ask her if she's willing to go official."

The color red promptly exploded on Enterprise's face.

"It...it's not that easy..."

"Of course it is. You're basically bombing eldritch monstrosities every other week. This should be a cakewalk, right?" encouraged Iowa.

Enterprise honestly felt that bombing eldritch monstrosities was probably easier than...whatever this was.

"What...what if I get rejected?"

Iowa softly put a palm on her face. "Doggone teenagers..." she muttered under her breath.

Iowa took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. "Look, I've been in this base for quite a while, and there's something I noticed about that Japanese carrier you're with."

"What is it?" said Enterprise, audibly anxious.

"Well, she's really popular. Like, 'Hugh Hefner with tits' popular."

"But you said she was pure."

"Only because she's denser than my citadel. My point is, girl, if you do not confess, someone else will. You now have a head start from being a ridiculously noisy performer, but it won't last so you better use it!"

Enterprise imagined Zuikaku walking through a church aisle with a random woman in hand. She felt blood rushing to her face, this time not from embarrassment, but from anger.

"I...I think I'll go." said Enterprise slowly as she stood up.

"Atta girl." said Iowa with a hint of pride in her voice.

Enterprise was about to exit the room when Iowa called out to her.

"Hey, Big E?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't joking about experimenting." said Iowa, still in a room full of people. "Find out her taste, it'll help tremendously. Sometimes I would go in with only a necktie and colorful socks and...hey, are those rope marks?"

Enterprise promptly dashed out of the room.

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A/N: I'm going to milk that T+ rating for all its worth, dammit.

How many of you know that Iowa inherited the nickname 'Grey Ghost' from Enterprise?

Also, nearing 200 reviews! Thanks for all of you who have been here since the beginning, and to the newcomers too of course! I've been enjoying reading your witty comments and have made several friends responding to the reviews. I kinda wish that those who had posted as guests would actually log in so that I could make friends with them too, but I'm sure you had your reasons, so I'm just going to say my thanks here instead of using PM!

Cheers!