Sorry. The chap is now re-uploaded. The computer I initially uploaded on
did not have Word, so it ruined the quotes and the dots.
Still so many readers, thank you so much. You make a med student happy. ^^ This got done on a free night. Spoiler warning for those who still don't know, after 7 crazy chapters, because at this point my pronouns might be hard to follow.
........
"I got to peep in there!" one of the less prominent girls confided the next morning at the rec room.
Soon she was surrounded by not less than fifty young women. "Well?"
"They were all just standing there, holding each other at the shoulder and the waist..."
"Standing? Must be tiring!" Dita commented, as many other girls nodded.
"And they were SO, SO stiff!" the informant continued. "The vice- captain was counting so monotonously-------"
"The vice-captain!" many girls gasped. "Helping those guys?!"
"Yup, helping those guys. REALLY, girls, I prefer our mating rituals! Anyway, the vice-captain was counting so, militaristic-like, you know, one, two, three.....one, two, three.......step farther!..........one, two, three.....and every so often, the vice-captain-----"
"Yes, what about the vice-captain?" an alto voice asked behind the storyteller and the pileup of women.
"VICE-CAPTAIN!!"
"Well, you were saying?" the vice-captain had her arms folded in front, and her mouth in a challenging smirk.
"Um, vice-captain," Jura represented the group, "we were just wondering what the four of you were doing down at the male quarters last night."
She sighed, then eyed them mysteriously. "The men were practicing some tactical maneuvers last night."
"But vice-captain, those guys never fight together," Barnette reminded.
"And the doctor doesn't fight at all," Parfet added.
"You will understand, eventually," was the only information the vice- captain added. "By the way," as she looked behind her, "how are the preparations for the celebration?"
BC received a collective sigh.
"Meia already knows, the turkey is burnt, the cake needs to be done over, the streamers are all ruined, the confetti hasn't been cut......" Misty enumerated.
BC shook her head and tsked. "Women...." she muttered under her breath, then gave orders.
"You're not doing this systematically. Jura, take a complete report of the damage. Parfet, commence operations to salvage all usable parts. Barnette, re-evaluate how you understood your manuals, recipe books, whatever you call them. Get Gascogne involved, to keep you all in working order."
When said in that manner, much of the preparation suddenly made sense and had a pattern. Soon everyone was helter-skeltering, in the orderly manner used for battle operations.
"But, vice-captain, what about Meia?" someone asked.
"Let me handle that," the vice-captain assured.
"BC!!" the okashira's voice suddenly boomed through the speakers. "Where are our men? I need Bart on the bridge!"
"Probably, still asleep, okashira," she calmly replied. "We had a long night."
"Exactly WHAT did you four do last night? Now I'm as curious as the rest of the crew!"
"Patience, okashira. In a matter of hours," BC smiled at the monitors.
Below deck in the male quarters, the gentlemen were indeed still fast asleep at 10 in the morning. "Step, two, three, step, two, three, and turn, one, two, three," Hibiki muttered in his dreams. Bart was waltzing with a pillow. "You're a fine dancer, Miss Meia," he praised the pillow. Duero was out cold. The Nirvana would have sounded all its emergency sirens and he would still be asleep, arms folded resolutely over his heaving chest.
By noon, the females sent a representative below. They needed Duero's height for some streamers, others needed Hibiki for some final program plans, and Magno Vivan still needed Bart to steer the Nirvana into a better position.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!!" Dita banged on a pot. "Uchuujin-san! It's noon! Time for lunch!"
"Just five more minutes....." Hibiki murmured.
"Have a heart, vice-captain, we practiced until five in the morning...." Bart droned.
Duero answered with a snore.
Dita shook her head. "When that day comes, someday, Dita swears, she will not get Uchuujin-san THIS tired out! Dita will change the mating rituals!" She spoke with such resolution that she held out the ladle like a sword and the pot like a shield. "Dita will change the mating rituals for Uchuujin- san!"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, WOMAN?!?" that worthy alien protested, now fully awake.
"Aw, come on, Uchuujin-san," Dita came close and fluttered her eyes. "You've visited my room a few times already, but you haven't, um, um, you know, we're still not, you know, so we can't do THAT yet....But when we do, we'll change the mating rituals, right, Uchuujin-san?"
"And what makes you even THINK I'll consider marrying you, woman?!" He threw his most exasperated tone at her.
"Aren't you?"
"Why should I?" He raised his nose.
Little tears began to form at the sides of Dita's eyes, as she lowered her pot and ladle. She sniffed. "Dita is sorry she woke you up, Uchuujin-san. Lunch is ready at the rec room. Some of the girls want you to do something for them. See you tonight, Uchuujin-san." She left the male quarters.
"Dita.....Dita, WAIT!" the pilot ran after her. "That's not what I meant! Come back here, Dita!"
"Shut up and get back to sleep, Hibiki...." Bart muttered from the bed.
In the upper decks, more heltering and skeltering insued. The vice- captain eyed the preparations with only partial interest, and rather walked up and down the corridors deserted by the women.
In one of these corridors, she found Meia, gazing at the vastness of space through the windows.
"They locked all the exit points, and disengaged my Dread's engine. They've even locked all the escape pods," the Dread pilot said. "They want to keep me on the ship."
"Give them credit, Meia. They like you enough to go through all this trouble," BC replied.
"I have no objections to their doing it, vice-captain," she explained. "It's just that, I HATE being the center of attention. I don't know how to conduct myself during these celebrations."
"Maybe a change of clothes would help?" BC offered.
Meia shrugged.
"Come, the okashira knows more about clothes than I do. Let's give those women a little surprise of your own....."
"But why, vice-captain?"
"I want you to look extra special, Meia."
"For the chief navigator?" she asked in a flat tone.
"Do you object?" the vice-captain glanced at her face.
The chief pilot smiled slightly. "Not at all."
Two more hours passed.
"Good morning, everybody," Bart greeted with a yawn as he entered the bridge.
"Good AFTERNOON to you, too, Garsus," the vice-captain tapped him on the shoulder. "It's 2 pm already, and the party starts at 7."
Bart only stared at BC in panic. "Only five more hours! Vice-captain, what am I going to do?!"
"Drive the Nirvana, for starters," BC calmly replied. "The okashira has been asking for you all day."
"But, vice-captain, what about, what about, what about...."
"Stop mumbling, and get to work."
"Hai," he sulked, and popped into the cockpit. He appeared on the screens the next second. "But, vice-captain, what about my gift--------"
"It's fine, Garsus, don't worry. Now, get going!"
............
As promised, responses to two chapters:
Gundamhardcore:: Hi! So happy! GW is back! Duo is back! Man, I realize now that I've missed SO many episodes! I hope you liked this chappie.
Anonymous:: Hope you liked their reactions!
Iudex Acerbus:: I'm glad you finally got it! Thanks for the support!
Sabbie:: I like Duero/Parfet too. No, Hibiki has no regrets, but Dita can get on the nerves. ^^
Stizzo:: Aw, sorry for getting you in trouble. Thanks for the cookie!
Reiven:: Yeah, you're right about the ni-chan, but Magno also alternates if I'm not mistaken. ^^ Thanks for the support. Aoshi has nothing against me. I'll admit he's drop-dead gorgeous. ^^
CardCaptorHikari:: I have nothing much else to say to you. ^^ Thanks always for the support. I still say, I'm sorry. I only watched the end part of D3, so I'm in no position to write for it. I might try my hand at GW, but only after the whole series is done. ^_^
Sir G:: Thanks much! Nope, I'm not a doc, YET. That'll be in four years!
Rx79guntank:: Thanks!
Cat H:: NO kidding, about Hikari. ^^ She asks at least once a week when the next chapter is coming out. ^^
Megane-san_87:: Really? Must've been a human anatomy atlas, since I remember it's a thin book! ^^ Oh, yes, I voted for Movement Stage! I hope it wins!
Dragon-wing-master:: Opo, Pilipino po. ^^ Keep pestering me, I'll try to read your fic one of these weekends. ^^
Still so many readers, thank you so much. You make a med student happy. ^^ This got done on a free night. Spoiler warning for those who still don't know, after 7 crazy chapters, because at this point my pronouns might be hard to follow.
........
"I got to peep in there!" one of the less prominent girls confided the next morning at the rec room.
Soon she was surrounded by not less than fifty young women. "Well?"
"They were all just standing there, holding each other at the shoulder and the waist..."
"Standing? Must be tiring!" Dita commented, as many other girls nodded.
"And they were SO, SO stiff!" the informant continued. "The vice- captain was counting so monotonously-------"
"The vice-captain!" many girls gasped. "Helping those guys?!"
"Yup, helping those guys. REALLY, girls, I prefer our mating rituals! Anyway, the vice-captain was counting so, militaristic-like, you know, one, two, three.....one, two, three.......step farther!..........one, two, three.....and every so often, the vice-captain-----"
"Yes, what about the vice-captain?" an alto voice asked behind the storyteller and the pileup of women.
"VICE-CAPTAIN!!"
"Well, you were saying?" the vice-captain had her arms folded in front, and her mouth in a challenging smirk.
"Um, vice-captain," Jura represented the group, "we were just wondering what the four of you were doing down at the male quarters last night."
She sighed, then eyed them mysteriously. "The men were practicing some tactical maneuvers last night."
"But vice-captain, those guys never fight together," Barnette reminded.
"And the doctor doesn't fight at all," Parfet added.
"You will understand, eventually," was the only information the vice- captain added. "By the way," as she looked behind her, "how are the preparations for the celebration?"
BC received a collective sigh.
"Meia already knows, the turkey is burnt, the cake needs to be done over, the streamers are all ruined, the confetti hasn't been cut......" Misty enumerated.
BC shook her head and tsked. "Women...." she muttered under her breath, then gave orders.
"You're not doing this systematically. Jura, take a complete report of the damage. Parfet, commence operations to salvage all usable parts. Barnette, re-evaluate how you understood your manuals, recipe books, whatever you call them. Get Gascogne involved, to keep you all in working order."
When said in that manner, much of the preparation suddenly made sense and had a pattern. Soon everyone was helter-skeltering, in the orderly manner used for battle operations.
"But, vice-captain, what about Meia?" someone asked.
"Let me handle that," the vice-captain assured.
"BC!!" the okashira's voice suddenly boomed through the speakers. "Where are our men? I need Bart on the bridge!"
"Probably, still asleep, okashira," she calmly replied. "We had a long night."
"Exactly WHAT did you four do last night? Now I'm as curious as the rest of the crew!"
"Patience, okashira. In a matter of hours," BC smiled at the monitors.
Below deck in the male quarters, the gentlemen were indeed still fast asleep at 10 in the morning. "Step, two, three, step, two, three, and turn, one, two, three," Hibiki muttered in his dreams. Bart was waltzing with a pillow. "You're a fine dancer, Miss Meia," he praised the pillow. Duero was out cold. The Nirvana would have sounded all its emergency sirens and he would still be asleep, arms folded resolutely over his heaving chest.
By noon, the females sent a representative below. They needed Duero's height for some streamers, others needed Hibiki for some final program plans, and Magno Vivan still needed Bart to steer the Nirvana into a better position.
"Rise and shine, sleepyheads!!" Dita banged on a pot. "Uchuujin-san! It's noon! Time for lunch!"
"Just five more minutes....." Hibiki murmured.
"Have a heart, vice-captain, we practiced until five in the morning...." Bart droned.
Duero answered with a snore.
Dita shook her head. "When that day comes, someday, Dita swears, she will not get Uchuujin-san THIS tired out! Dita will change the mating rituals!" She spoke with such resolution that she held out the ladle like a sword and the pot like a shield. "Dita will change the mating rituals for Uchuujin- san!"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, WOMAN?!?" that worthy alien protested, now fully awake.
"Aw, come on, Uchuujin-san," Dita came close and fluttered her eyes. "You've visited my room a few times already, but you haven't, um, um, you know, we're still not, you know, so we can't do THAT yet....But when we do, we'll change the mating rituals, right, Uchuujin-san?"
"And what makes you even THINK I'll consider marrying you, woman?!" He threw his most exasperated tone at her.
"Aren't you?"
"Why should I?" He raised his nose.
Little tears began to form at the sides of Dita's eyes, as she lowered her pot and ladle. She sniffed. "Dita is sorry she woke you up, Uchuujin-san. Lunch is ready at the rec room. Some of the girls want you to do something for them. See you tonight, Uchuujin-san." She left the male quarters.
"Dita.....Dita, WAIT!" the pilot ran after her. "That's not what I meant! Come back here, Dita!"
"Shut up and get back to sleep, Hibiki...." Bart muttered from the bed.
In the upper decks, more heltering and skeltering insued. The vice- captain eyed the preparations with only partial interest, and rather walked up and down the corridors deserted by the women.
In one of these corridors, she found Meia, gazing at the vastness of space through the windows.
"They locked all the exit points, and disengaged my Dread's engine. They've even locked all the escape pods," the Dread pilot said. "They want to keep me on the ship."
"Give them credit, Meia. They like you enough to go through all this trouble," BC replied.
"I have no objections to their doing it, vice-captain," she explained. "It's just that, I HATE being the center of attention. I don't know how to conduct myself during these celebrations."
"Maybe a change of clothes would help?" BC offered.
Meia shrugged.
"Come, the okashira knows more about clothes than I do. Let's give those women a little surprise of your own....."
"But why, vice-captain?"
"I want you to look extra special, Meia."
"For the chief navigator?" she asked in a flat tone.
"Do you object?" the vice-captain glanced at her face.
The chief pilot smiled slightly. "Not at all."
Two more hours passed.
"Good morning, everybody," Bart greeted with a yawn as he entered the bridge.
"Good AFTERNOON to you, too, Garsus," the vice-captain tapped him on the shoulder. "It's 2 pm already, and the party starts at 7."
Bart only stared at BC in panic. "Only five more hours! Vice-captain, what am I going to do?!"
"Drive the Nirvana, for starters," BC calmly replied. "The okashira has been asking for you all day."
"But, vice-captain, what about, what about, what about...."
"Stop mumbling, and get to work."
"Hai," he sulked, and popped into the cockpit. He appeared on the screens the next second. "But, vice-captain, what about my gift--------"
"It's fine, Garsus, don't worry. Now, get going!"
............
As promised, responses to two chapters:
Gundamhardcore:: Hi! So happy! GW is back! Duo is back! Man, I realize now that I've missed SO many episodes! I hope you liked this chappie.
Anonymous:: Hope you liked their reactions!
Iudex Acerbus:: I'm glad you finally got it! Thanks for the support!
Sabbie:: I like Duero/Parfet too. No, Hibiki has no regrets, but Dita can get on the nerves. ^^
Stizzo:: Aw, sorry for getting you in trouble. Thanks for the cookie!
Reiven:: Yeah, you're right about the ni-chan, but Magno also alternates if I'm not mistaken. ^^ Thanks for the support. Aoshi has nothing against me. I'll admit he's drop-dead gorgeous. ^^
CardCaptorHikari:: I have nothing much else to say to you. ^^ Thanks always for the support. I still say, I'm sorry. I only watched the end part of D3, so I'm in no position to write for it. I might try my hand at GW, but only after the whole series is done. ^_^
Sir G:: Thanks much! Nope, I'm not a doc, YET. That'll be in four years!
Rx79guntank:: Thanks!
Cat H:: NO kidding, about Hikari. ^^ She asks at least once a week when the next chapter is coming out. ^^
Megane-san_87:: Really? Must've been a human anatomy atlas, since I remember it's a thin book! ^^ Oh, yes, I voted for Movement Stage! I hope it wins!
Dragon-wing-master:: Opo, Pilipino po. ^^ Keep pestering me, I'll try to read your fic one of these weekends. ^^