Part Two – Peaches and Cream

It'd been about a week since I started seeing NC, and I felt extremely guilty about this weekend coming up. I had a patrol request come in and I had assigned Enterprise to go with some of the newer cruisers, so naturally, NC had insisted on going with Enterprise, telling me, "Where Enty goes, I go."

I'd tried to talk her out of it, but well that hadn't gone as planned. It'd been hard enough with a temp in her place in the front office. But to get a message from EUPACFLT requesting my presence in San Diego for Monday meant I had to pack and fly out before NC got back from that patrol. I was just putting my laptop into its bag when I heard a knock at my door and out of reflex I call out, "Enter."

As the door opens, I hear that southern drawl speak out, "Patrol fleet reportin' in Captain."

I blink a couple of times and look up to see NC crossing the floor over to me and she yawns, blinking her blue eyes a couple of times as I say to her, "I wasn't expecting you back till Monday, but how was the patrol?"

She shrugs while she says, "Long an' not overly excitin', but where ya goin'?"

I sigh and finish zipping up my bag as I say to her, "Sadly I've got to fly out to fleet HQ, and they're expecting me Monday morning."

A pout crosses her lips as she says, "But I was wantin' to spend some time with ya. I haven't seen ya all week, Captain, an' I pushed us hard to get back here to spend the weekend with ya."

I nod as I say to her, "Believe me, I'd rather spend the weekend with you too, and I pushed going as long as I could."

North Carolina sighs before coming around the side of my desk to hug me as she asks, "Is this what life's goin' be like for us?"

I rub her back as I say to her, "At least for a little while. Tell you what though, next week we'll make some solid plans and I'll do what I can to keep my schedule clear, alright?"

I feel her take a deep breath as I hear another yawn come from her and she says, "You better, next weekend is your birthday, I got somethin' in the works for it."

"Oh?" I ask.

She leans back and reaches up to touch my face before nodding as she says, "Yeah, I think you're goin' to like it too."

Slipping my hands down her back to the small of her back I give her a grin and say, "Then I'm looking forward to it."

She leans up to give me a quick kiss before letting go of me and saying, "Me too."

She takes a step back and offers a salute before I reach out and take her hand in mine and ask, "I know you're exhausted, but would you mind walking with me to the runway so I can catch my flight?"

She grinned broadly before saying, "I think I can manage that much."

The walk to my flight was uneventful, with no public display of affection between us, we'd been keeping it between us, Enterprise, Bremerton, Phoenix, Reno, and Washington. As NC had put it, it was hard to keep it a secret from her sister. As she had explained it to me, after I left the dorms last Sunday, NC had gone up to her room with such a grin on her face that Washington immediately knew something was up and pressed her for details. Washington naturally, after NC forced my hand for that deployment, demanded to be on the secretary desk till she got back.

As I was about to board my flight, she reached out and squeezed my hand as she said to me over the sound of the turboprops "I mean it, be back for next weekend! I fixin' to make your birthday this year somethin' ya ain't goin' to forget!"

As my hand slipped out of hers I called back, "I'm planning on it!"

I was going to say more, but the pilot closed the ramp and I felt the plane start to taxi down the runway, leaving me to sprint to my seat and get buckled in.

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I'm jolted awake when my transport slams down on the tarmac at EUPACFLT. Rubbing my eyes with my hands I grab my phone to check the time and see that I slept for most of the flight. As the plane comes to a halt and the ramp starts to go down, I grab my laptop and kit bag and hear my name being called, "Captain Bellamy!"

As I start heading down the ramp I see a fresh-faced-looking Ensign by a jeep, making my way over I put my kit in the back and ask them, "Where to?"

"Fleet Admiral Thatch wanted you to go directly to her office before your quarters." He said to me.

I give him a nod and get into the passenger seat and say, "Best not to keep the Fleet Admiral waiting then."

XXXX

As I shut to office door behind me, I look around the office, the fine dark cherry wood panels, large oak desk. And behind that oak desk, sat Fleet Admiral Thatch, her blue eyes framed by dark hair, her thin lips pressed in a thin line as she looks at me and asked, "Well?"

"Ma'am?" I ask puzzled after a quick salute.

She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose and elaborates, "Why have I gotten images of some of the Royal Navy kansen in maid uniforms."

Ah, that.

I stand at ease as I inform her, "The Royal Navy seems to have encouraged their kansen to take on additional non-combat roles. Some of them seem to have taken on the role of maids, but I have noticed that they seem to be slightly better adjusted having something to do outside of combat and as such have not requested that they stop it."

Her head tilts to the side as she asks, "How has it improved them?"

I shift a little, it's been a marginal one, but they have slightly higher performance data when I compare them to our own kansen. I sigh inwardly as I say to her, "It's been minor, but they seem more focused during exercises as if these additional tasks help improve their ability to multitask in some way."

I watch as she nods and asks, "Have you considered applying it to our own then?"

I nod as I say to her, "I have, some of our kansen have taken on personal roles as well and I have noticed improved metrics with them as well."

She leaned back in her chair a little and asked, "How so?"

"Well, two of my lighter carriers have taken on roles as teachers, my repair ship has taken on the role of the base doctor, one of my light cruisers has taken on the role of being a borderline mother to her younger sister-" I say until she raises a hand, causing me to stop short.

"That's enough Captain." She says, paused to change the subject, "I've also heard that when some kansen become attached to a human they have shown improved metrics as well, have you thought about initiating such a relationship?"

I shifted uncomfortably for a moment, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she asked, "Do you not find them attractive?"

"Far from it, this assignment has been, difficult." I say to her, pausing to take a breath and admit, "I have only recently started to see one of them in a more personal capacity."

She nods, getting out of her chair to look out the window as she says, "Good. Are you able to deploy her, knowing you may be risking her life?"

I nod as I confirm, "Aye ma'am. She just returned from deployment just as I was heading out for this meeting."

I see her shoulders relax before she looks over her shoulder at me and she says, "Good, I want you to write a report highlighting your experiences, and I mean all experiences with them. Have it ready to present at the general fleet meeting on Monday."

I sigh inwardly before I say, "Aye, aye ma'am."

"Dismissed, Captain." She says turning to salute me.

"Aye, ma'am." I reply with a salute of my own and head out.

XXXX

Once I was in my quarters during my stay at EUPACFLT, I set up my laptop and get out my phone. I put the phone beside the laptop, facing me as I get started on this report I need to write, I try calling NC. It takes a moment before she answers. I see her rubbing one eye with the back of her left hand as she says to me, "Do ya know what time it is?"

I smirk while looking at her, she looks like she was still in bed, letting my eyes fall on my the local time on my laptop I say to her, "Sure do, it's oh-nine-hundred here."

She groans and flops back down onto her bed and I laugh. After a moment she asks, "How was your flight?"

I shrug as I say to her, "I managed to get some sleep on the plane, but now I've got to write a report on all of my experiences with kansen so far."

She takes her phone and holds it over her face, letting me see her with her hair splayed out behind her on the white pillowcases as she asks, "What do ya mean 'all of my experiences'?"

I sigh and keep typing away as I say to her, "Fleet Admiral Thach was pretty clear with her meaning. She even wanted to know if I was in a relationship with a kansen."

NC blinks a couple of times and was quiet for a moment before asking, "What did ya say?"

"Well, I was honest about it, I told her that I had only recently started seeing one in a more personal capacity." I say and I take note of the upward curl of her lips when I say that.

"So we're in a relationship then?" she asks in a playful tone.

I smirk as I respond to her, "Maybe. By the way, your bed looks pretty comfortable."

She laughs and says to me, "Don't go changin' the subject now."

"I'm not." I tease back.

"Sure ya are." She says with a wink, rolling onto her belly with her phone and bushes some of her hair with a hand before saying to me, "I'm goin' to miss you while you're away, how long ya goin' to be?"

I shrug as I say to her, "If I'm lucky, I'll be flying back on Tuesday, but I expect I'll be here till the end of the week."

She nods and says, "Well, just be back for Sunday. I'd hate for all this work I'm puttin' in to be for nothin'."

I smile and lean back as I say to her, "So would I."

She smiles back at me and says, "Well since ya got me up now, I'm goin' to grab a shower an' get my day goin'. So I'll talk to ya later, alright?"

I nod with a smile on my face still as I say to her, "Sure, looking forward to it."

She winked at me and signed off with me, leaving me to close my phone and focus on the report.

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It'd been a long week, one that had gone on longer than I thought it was going to. I didn't get back to Midway until that Sunday evening. As the ramp to the transport opened up, my phone got a message from NC suggesting I head to the Eagle Union dorms for dinner. I quickly check the time and sigh to myself, no real-time to grab a shower it seems.

XXXX

As I start getting close, my nose is picks up a wonderful smell, so wonderful it makes my belly start to growl and my mouth water. Having grown up in California, I'd grown up with grilling, but this smell… This smell told me it was down-home, true blue, Southern Style, slow-cooked, barbeque. You know, the kind of thing that takes like a day to cook, low and slow, staying up all night.

I pick up my pace, and hurry around the back of the dorm, to see North Carolina, not in her uniform, but rather simple black leggings and an oversized white t-shirt. She spins around at hearing my approach no doubt, and gives me a big smile and gestures to the picnic table that had a red, white, and blue checkered table cloth on it. With a grin on her face she said in that southern drawl of hers, have I mentioned how much I love that way of speaking? "Take a seat, Captain, dinner's almost done."

I hurry to take a seat as I say, "Thanks NC, this smells amazing!"

She flashes me another smile before ducking into the dorms and coming back out with what looks like cornbread with little red and green flecks in it, followed by a fried green of some kind as well as a plate of what I guess to me collard greens. As she puts them down across the table she says to me, "Peppered Cornbread, fried okra, an' collard greens, the ribs are about to come out."

I pile up my plate with the sides, and I drop the spoon as she opens the barbeque unit and the smell hits my nose, roasted peaches and peppers of some kind, I honestly started to drool. North Carolina walked over with the ribs on a butcher's block, once she was right beside me she bent at her hips and used the tongs to put a rack on my plate as she said to me, "I'm not gonna beat around the bush, Captain, I'd like this to be our first date."

Our first date huh? Well, that was fair, I mean we had spent most of the week talking about actually having a date, especially after that game of twister that I had been roped into, and the revelations that had been dumped in my lap. I think I might be taking too long to answer when she brushes to hair with one hand before I say, "I've never had a girl or woman cook for me on a first date, but I can see the appeal."

She flashes me another smile and takes a seat across from me and tucks into her own plate. I lift the ribs to my mouth and take a bite, my eyes roll back as the sweet heat of the roasted peaches and chipotle hits my tongue… I think I made a noise that bordered close to being lewd in the process, solely for the fact that NC blushed right afterward. Once I swallowed that first bite, I just had to ask, "Did you make all of this?"

She nodded and said, "I surely did, an' I wanted ya to myself for a bit." She paused before looking past my shoulder as she added, "But I also know the other girl's wanted to do somethin' for ya too, tonight."

I reach across the table and pat her left hand as I say to her, "Well, you were right. This is the best birthday gift I could ask for."

She smiles sweetly at me as I start to dig into the ribs, after a moment she snaps her fingers and asks, "Oh! How was the trip? Can ya talk to me about it?"

I nod while licking some of the sauce from the ribs off of a finger before I say to her, "Yeah, it seemed to be that PACFLT was gathered together to discuss how things are going at different bases with the kansen. It was interesting to hear that a lot of what I've been seeing has been the norm from the other pacific bases."

She raised an eyebrow and said, "Yeah? Like what?"

I sit back a little and finish licking off the sweet heat of the sauce as I tell her, "Well, I learned that the base commander at the San Diego base is married to one and they're expecting a daughter in the summer."

I watch as NC's eyes go wide and she puts her hands up saying, "Hold up! You sayin' I could get knocked up?"

I laugh a little while reaching for the ribs again before saying to her, "How did you learn that term?"

She shrugs and gives me a shy smile and says, "We got the internet."

Raising an eyebrow I ask, "Yeah, but what have you been watching?"

Her cheeks went bright red and she brushed some of her hair behind an ear as she said, "Instructional videos."

Laughter escaped my lips as I tease with air quotes, "Right, instructional videos, on what kind of sites?"

She coughs to clear her throat and avoids eye contact as she mumbles, "I'd rather not say."

This makes me laugh even harder; I'd never caught a girl admitting to watching porn before. After I get myself under control and start eating more ribs, NC starts to say to me, "Captain, I-"

"Jack, we're on a date you can call me by my name if you want." I say to her with a warm smile and a bunch of sauce on my lips.

NC gives me a shy smile and runs a hand through her hair again as she says, "Jack, I like sayin' that."

I reach across the table and touch her left hand as I say to her, "I like hearing you say it."

Her cheeks went red again before she dug back into her ribs.

XXXX

After dinner, we walked to the mess hall hand in hand and she finally asked a question I knew would be coming, "So, why are ya still in your uniform?"

Squeezing her hand I say to her, "Because I just landed before dinner and I haven't had time to change yet."

NC smiled at me and leaned her head against my shoulder as she said, "It's your birthday an' here you are makin' me feel special, that ya came right over to see me after a long flight."

"Well, it'd been two weeks since we were really able to spend some real-time with each other, and chatting on video chats, while good, doesn't hold a candle to actually touching your hands." I say to her as I lift our hands and kiss her knuckles.

She smiles and asks, "I know the girls have somethin' planned for ya, but we don't need to stay long if ya don't want to."

Doing my best to suppress the yawn I feel, I let her know, "I should be there, besides you had me all to yourself through dinner."

I feel her bump her hip against me as she says, "I did, didn't I. Still, I hope ya saved some room, the girls made a cake for ya an' everythin'."

I smile at her and bump back as I say to her, "Cake is good and all, but I really liked your ribs. They reminded me of what my mom would make in the summer."

NC moved to stand in front of me, taking both of my hands in hers as she said, "Maybe someday I'll get the chance to meet her."

I squeeze her hands and pull her in for a hug as I say to her, "Well, it's a bit soon to introduce you to my family, hell we're still keeping this quiet on the base as it is."

She let go of my hands and wrapped her arms around my shoulders as she pressed herself against me and whispered in my ear, "An' a bit soon to be tryin' some of the stuff I saw in those instructional videos."

I laugh as I tickle her sides before saying, "Now I really want to know what kind of things you saw in them."

She playfully nipped my ear before letting go of me and starting to walk ahead. Looking over her shoulder at me she winked her blue eye and teased, "Maybe another day."

With a laugh, I hurry to catch up to her and rested a hand on her hip till we got to the mess hall.

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A/N: And that's chapter two, I'm trying to set something up that feels like it's building in a healthy way. The hardest part is trying to balance the sense of adventure that comes with a new relationship with the level of knowledge they have about each other already. That knowledge comes from the fact that they work closely with each other every day so there is a limit to how much they don't know about the other.