"Eugen?" I called, knocking on the door of the galley.

From the back, she popped up and momentarily thought about what I was going to say. "Ah! My report—sorry, it's on the bridge. Shall we go get it?"

"Please," I nodded politely, gesturing at the door for her.

Swiftly taking the cue, she walked out past me, and I followed. It wasn't three minutes before we arrived, and she grabbed the printed document from on top of one of the consoles. As she handed it to me, she had a question. "Why don't we transfer these to each other electronically? I'm sure we all have computers here."

"We do," I replied, "but having real handwriting is the best way to verify the authenticity of a report. Then, we can just scan it for our digital backups while the hard copy plus a photocopy can go straight into the archive without much hassle."

"But then, why not just have the author sign off on a printed copy?" She said.

I opened my mouth to respond but slowly realized that there hadn't been a provision that accounted for that. "…Bring that up with Commander McConnell," I answered less readily. "I just borrowed the idea from him. This 'secretary' thing isn't exactly a standard-issue affair."

Snickering, she nodded. "Sure."

Leveling out the stack of papers and sliding them neatly into a folder, I nodded. "Thank you, Eugen. And it's nice to see the hit you took yesterday hasn't…" I paused, noticing the bruise that still lingered on her left cheek. "…injured you all that bad."

The cruiser pouted playfully. "It still hurt, Kapitän," she admonished.

At her expression, I made a feeble attempt at backtracking. "Well, yes, I wasn't saying it didn't hurt, it's just—" I ran out of my words and inhaled sharply instead, biting my lip. "Whatever, you get the idea. It's good to see you alive. There we go."

"Danke," Eugen replied, bowing a little to play out the joke. "Where's Howe? Isn't she usually the one carrying you around?"

I rolled my eyes and did my best to detract any attention from my blush. "Yes, yes. She's down there at the deck, see? She figured she'd just wait me out since I shouldn't take too long gathering some documents," I knocked the folder in my hand.

"Right, makes sense," Eugen nodded. "Very well, then. I'll see you at lunch!"

"Yep," I replied, heading for the door. "See you, too."

It didn't take very long after I stepped out of the superstructure for Howe to wave at me. "All good here?" She asked.

"Yeah, we got it," I affirmed. "One down, five to go."

She laughed in a bubbly mood before turning about-face and showing me her back. "Right, come on!"

"Yep," I replied sarcastically, shaking my head as we set off.


"I got word that Javelin and Vampire are just hanging around here with Zed. Keeping her company and such," Howe explained as we walked through the corridors of the German destroyer.

"Ah," I nodded, "copy that."

We got to the door of the sickbay, and Howe knocked on it gingerly before stepping back in anticipation of a greeting.

Javelin was the one to open the door. "Oh, Captain! Miss Howe! Come in, come in," she gestured politely into the room.

Vampire was engaged in pleasant banter with Zed while Javelin pulled up chairs for the two of us.

"So, I assume everyone's doing well," I said, looking around at the homely setup they had going. The lampshade was on as the skies outside were still a bit cloudy. Three cups, two with tea and the other with some coffee, sat on Zed's bedside table. Zed herself, thankfully, looked like she was alright.

"Yeah, of course!" Javelin replied as she resumed her seat. "I do have a question though, sir."

I exchanged glances with Howe. "Go ahead."

"Is it alright that I wrote Zed's report on her behalf? I mean," she added quickly, "I've still used her words, it's just that I typed it up and edited it for her."

Pausing to think, I pursed my lips and leaned back in the chair. "Should be. What d'you think," I asked Howe.

She put a hand on her chest and chuckled. "Why are you asking me?"

"I don't know," I replied, quickly picking up the mood. "I don't get the ins and outs of Azur Lane files fully yet." I quickly recalled Eugen's question in my head.

"Well," Howe smirked, "as it stands, you are still the CO, and all final overseeing decisions go up to you."

I sighed. She had the point. "Yeah, alright. It should be good, Javelin. Just make a note that you were the one who transcribed it."

"Yes!" Javelin was quick to give Zed a high five. "Thank you, sir!"

"No problem," I grinned. "And how're your reports coming along?" I shifted my gaze between Javelin and Vampire to let them know I was addressing both of them.

"Aye, sir, they art all complete. H're," Vampire said, producing a collection of papers from the drawer of the bedside table and handing them to me promptly.

Taking them and skimming through, satisfied that they were up to shape and looking good, I nodded and commended them. "Alright, well done, guys! Thanks for the cooperation."

"Aye, sir!"

Giving the reports to Howe for later, we stood up and made our farewells before heading out the door to the next one.


"Ah, Captain," Charybdis greeted us just as we got onto her deck. "My papers, I presume?"

Smoothing out my uniform and walking up to her, I gave a thumbs up. "Yep!"

Tittering, she gestured with her hand. "Just a moment!"

As she disappeared into her ship to go retrieve the files, Howe came up alongside me.

"A clean one, this," I observed, looking at the shockingly slick flooring of the deck. "Can't believe her sweeping actually works."

Howe giggled. "That girl is something else when it comes to…livelihood. She may not look it, but when you give her an assignment, she will work it to completion. Though, to her credit, she does know how to control herself."

"Absolutely," I replied. "Seems like someone who keeps to a structure."

"Mhm! She's the one who taught me how to really commit to a schedule."

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

"Yep," Howe said. "I used to have this problem of being all over the place with my exercise and maintenance timetables, missing deadlines everywhere and such. So, she showed me that, while being intentional about finishing work is a good thing, it's better when the designated time for each bit of work is abided to the second."

"Interesting."

"Yeah. It sounded counterintuitive to me at the time because I thought that if I wasn't able to finish something within the time I'd allotted, if there was only a little bit left to go anyway—," Howe replied.

"—You might as well just go overtime to finish that last bit," I finished for her.

"Exactly," she nodded. "But Charybdis does things differently. Her calendar is fixed to timeslots, and when she doesn't finish something within the allotted time, then that's alright. She moves on to her next thing and reschedules to finish the other one. The system works, but it takes some real getting used to. At least, it did for me," Howe laughed.

"You're the one talking," I quipped. "We both remember my cockup."

"Ah, yes," she shook her head and leaned on my side. "You should probably try it. Be intentional about a schedule. It might work!"

"I think I will, as a matter of fact," I said. Looking at her with a grin, I added, "Thanks."

Smiling, she replied, "Of course."

Right on cue, Charybdis reappeared with her own stack of papers, causing Howe to swiftly get herself off of me. "Here you go, sir! Collated and clipped together. I was afraid to staple them because you might need to separate them anyhow," she said.

"Yeah, sure thing," I replied, perusing the documents. I paused when the title of the second stack caught my eye. "Oh, this is the weapon report, is it?"

"Yup!" Charybdis chirped. "I decided to arrange getting both done simultaneously so that I'm free to work on other things the rest of the trip back. You never know when you'll be needed!"

I nodded approvingly and looked at Howe. She keeps to a structure. "Alright, that's awesome! I'll forward it to the Admiral when we get back."

"Absolutely," the maid replied.

We then exchanged farewells and set off for the Howe.


Before I could get to helping prepare for lunch, there was still one more person to visit. Howe decided to let me take this one solo, seeing as we were on her ship anyhow, and she had to start heating the food. I knocked on Tirpitz's door and waited patiently.

It wasn't two minutes when the battleship opened up and nodded politely. "Kapitän," she said. "My report and testimonial?"

"Yep!" I replied.

"One moment," she said, shutting the door briefly before returning with a stack of papers similar in thickness to Charybdis'. Handing them to me for my perusal, she said, "Forgive me, but I think my skill for standardized writing has rusted to an extent over time. If there are any changes or amends that you'd like me to make, just let me know."

Smiling reassuringly, I replied, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine. In all honesty, I'm still working out the kinks of Azur Lane's filing system myself."

"Ah," Tirpitz chuckled. "I see."

"Yeah, it's all good. I will let you know if we see something, though," I said.

"Jawohl," she affirmed. "Danke, Kapitän. For your efforts."

"Of course," I replied. "I'll be seeing you, then!"

I'd already turned, but before I could leave, she made me freeze in place by grabbing my arm timidly.

"And um…" She hesitated.

I looked back and waited for her.

"The song was…nice," she finally said.

"Hey!" I grinned. "Good to know. What was your favorite line?"

She laughed and shook her head, leaning on the doorway. "Little darling," she quoted as her eyes grew wistful, "I feel that ice is slowly melting."

In my head, I clicked my fingers in satisfaction. "I just knew you'd like that one," I smirked. As she blushed and giggled softly, I held the papers up. "Right, I've got to get these to Howe and help her with lunch."

"Ja, Kapitän," Tirpitz replied. "See you."


Later, in the afternoon, Commander McConnell popped in once more for an update.

In the room, I sat politely on my seat and waited for him to start talking.

"Soo," he finally said, smirking and craning his neck as if to imply something. "How'd it go?"

"Yes," I sat up and already had my reply on the tip of my tongue, but I halted it just in time. "Sorry, the mission, or…my love life?"

He snickered merrily and shook his head. Recollecting himself, he clasped his hands together and leaned toward the camera. "Bit of both," he replied eagerly.

"Right," I chuckled, scratching the back of my neck. "Well, the mission is a success. Tirpitz is doing well, though I think she's still having to make some adjustments—she opts to eat alone for the most part right now. And we—," I paused before I could blurt out the whole ordeal with the Sakura. "Were able to get everything sorted neatly," I finished as nonchalantly as I could.

"Nice! And yeah, that makes sense," McConnell replied, then shook his head. "Can you imagine what it must've been like?"

"I don't believe either of us would be able to, sir," I joked darkly. "I'm glad we got her out."

Giving me an approving thumbs-up, he said, "For sure. That's why we do this, isn't it?"

"Absolutely," I said.

"Yeah," he nodded, remaining silent for a bit to—I supposed—let him segue topics.

I supposed correctly.

"Anyway!" He clapped his hands together, "Can't wait to meet Tirpitz. But now," he leaned in closer to the camera, rubbing his hands in anticipation, "tell me about what I'm here for."

Accepting the mood shift and laughing, I acquiesced. "We've agreed to give a date a shot once we return. Perhaps an afternoon out or a supper. Can't decide yet which."

"Hey, hey!" McConnell declared triumphantly. "What'd I tell you? Does George know?"

That made me blush faintly. "I…don't know, actually," I stuttered. "Maybe?"

"Well, she'll find out one way or another," he joked. "Siblings, you know?"

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement. "That's true."

George simpered gleefully on her side of the camera, leaving Howe a flustered mess. "Would you like some recommendations as to where you should go, ma'am?"

Howe blushed profusely, darting her eyes around the room as if James would suddenly appear behind her. "Oh, please, can we talk about anything else?"

"Why?" Her sister asked playfully. "Aren't you excited?"

"Well," Howe hesitated, "Yes I am, but I feel like I should leave it up to him where we should go first."

"Alright, alright, that's fair," George relented, leaning back. "Just remember you can always hint him in the right direction."

"Yes, yes," Howe chuckled, wanting to move on.

"Anyhow, it's good to know you've all gotten along nicely. I look forward to being able to meet up with you once you get back," George said. "Your next assignment is already decided, in fact. I think you'll be quite excited abou—whoops, I've said too much!"

Howe's interest ignited anew, causing her to sit up and raise her brows. "Really? Where? Goodness, I don't usually get postings this often…"

"Indeed, but you might want to get used to it," George said. "What you pulled in defense of the port along with your being chosen for this mission have been enough to make you a very in-demand 'operator,'" she quipped.

"Ah," Howe chuckled. "I see." She'd already thought of a follow-up question, but her face burned even at the thought of asking it.

Still… Looking into her sister's eyes, she decided she had to know. "Has…has Captain Leighway's next assignment been decided on as well?"

George smirked teasingly. "That depends. We'll see in time where James ends up."

Knowing that was all she'd get—and shrugging off her sister's stubborn insistence on keeping that James joke up until they were introduced—, Howe contented herself with the response for now. "Alright," she said. "Then, I'll see you when we return."

"Indeed. Until then!"


"Hey, Howe," James greeted as he walked into the galley where she'd been waiting. He paused when he saw the assortment of ingredients and cookware laid out neatly into arrays on the table. "Wow, you really got things sorted," he said, peering closer at the little bits and bobs.

"Yes," she giggled. "I've been waiting for this!"

"I can see that," he said. "But first, I just want to ask how your report's coming along?"

"Ah," Howe nodded, walking along as she replied, "The thing is…I've still got to start writing it."

Laughing, James followed her with his eyes until she stopped right in front of him. "That's ironic, isn't it? What happened there?"

"It seems as though you've forgotten, Captain, that I've been helping you with your duties much more proactively than usual," she replied mischievously, sticking her finger on his chest. "So now I'm the one playing catchup."

"Ah, right, right," James nodded, much less sure of himself as he looked down at her finger. "Well, if you'd like me to help with that, just say the word."

"Sure," she smiled softly. "But for now, we're making these!"

"Right," James replied, rubbing his hands together. "What…are these, exactly?"

Howe grinned. "Peanut butter cup cookies!"


After roughly an hour passed, our cookies were made.

"Ooh," I said, chewing one of them and making sure to get a real feel for the taste per Howe's instruction. "That is quite good. Such a simple recipe as well!"

"Right?" She said excitedly. I noticed how her eyes glittered as she giggled, munching on a cookie herself. "Now, I wonder. Instead of using my own peanut butter cups," she paused, "what if we used Reese's instead?"

I widened my eyes and nodded at the thought. "Now that, we have got to do."

"It's another date!" She declared triumphantly, having successfully roped me into another cooking lesson.

Not that I was complaining about being roped in at all. "Sure thing!"

I paused to have a look at the cleanup situation. There were the mixing bowls, the spoons and the whisk, the utensils, and the tray that was put into the oven, on the list of many other various things that needed to be washed.

Perhaps sensing what I was thinking, Howe made to pipe up.

For once, I was faster. "No, no. As you said, you've fallen behind on your papers because of helping me," I held a hand up so that she'd let me finish. "I truly appreciate your sacrifice, so let me show that to you by handling the cleanup. You can go have a break and finish what you need to."

She looked down at the floor, but the soft smile on her lips was unmistakable. "Alright," she said. "I'll…put these in a container while you get started on that."

"Sure," I replied reassuringly.

With the cookies stored on the countertop, ready for everybody's enjoyment come supper, Howe left me to my devices. For once, I had no fear of where my mind might barrel towards thanks to a crucial fact. All I could think about was her.

I would recount the moments we had while making the desserts. How soft her hands felt on mine as she showed me how to work the dough. The way her eyes would light up when I got something right, and she'd clap happily, encouraging me for a new skill learned. Or the way she'd squeak when something abrupt happened that wasn't quite according to plan. Or even her disappointed glare when I almost laminated the kitchen in a thin layer of flour.

Yet, what I appreciate and perhaps will remember the most out of any of that is the genuine enthusiasm and passion she so keenly displayed to me. Passion for her craft, and enthusiasm that she was getting the opportunity to finally share it with me in full, from start to finish.

What sets my heart aflutter thinking about that is the strange sense that she was more engaged than she usually might be because she'd been sharing her passion with me.

Now, maybe I'm reading far too much into that, I thought to myself, but I somehow get the feeling that I'm not.

Meditating on it, it would still be nice to find out. 'I've never been one to be indirect,' she'd said. Perhaps I should just ask her.


After supper, Howe and I found ourselves in very familiar circumstances. As I went about stowing utensils and other unused dinnerware, she took care of washing the plates. When the unused things were packed away, I proceeded to help dry up what she'd washed and pack those away, too. As the workflow smoothed itself out, I slowly built up my courage to ask her the big question.

Courage that was almost shattered when she gave me the sweetest smile, saying thanks for the help.

I say almost, though. Clearing my throat, and securing the plate in my hands to make sure I wouldn't drop it with the cloth, I began hesitantly, "…Hey."

"Hm?" She hummed, not looking up from the glass container in the sink.

"How did…" I tried finding the right way to express the sentiment. "How did…we happen?"

I froze when she froze, turning the tap off and setting the plate down gently. She looked at me and peered me in the eye. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…I know how I ended up becoming a little attached to you," I explained slowly, "but what made you decide to reciprocate?"

She exhaled and put a hand on her hip, nodding as she thought. Finally, she said, "You know, there were definitely times I asked myself that, too. But," she emphasized, "I've come to realize something."

I put my own plate down and geared to listen. "What's that?"

"There are three flavors of romantic interest, the way I've observed it," she said. "There's attraction, infatuation, and love."

I nodded.

"Attraction is based on what you see," she explained. "Usually, though, the problem comes up that what you see isn't always what you get."

Chuckling, I inclined my head. "Yeah, that's fair."

"Yeah," she replied. "Then, there's infatuation. It's similarly based on what you see, but it's a step up from attraction in that it comes in the way you feel about what you see at that moment."

"Right," I said, having to put in some thought to understand. "So, attraction is surface level preference based on what you see. Very shallow kind of interest, and it may go away quickly."

"Yes," Howe said.

"Okay, and infatuation happens when attraction leads to an impulsive action," I said. "Essentially, it's based entirely on how one feels."

"Essentially," she replied.

"Alright," I nodded before making a quick observation. "That's kind of like how those cheesy romance novels portray love, isn't it?"

She giggled. "The cheesy ones, yes. But there are ones that know what they're talking about."

"Yeah, of course," I nodded. "I don't mean to bundle the whole genre in. But anyway," I waved my hand, "I just had to make sure I got that. You can go ahead."

"Right," she said. "Now, love—the real kind of lasting love—is based on neither what you see nor what you feel. Love," she gestured to her heart, "is based on what you know."

She then went to take hold of my hands and pulled us closer together so that we were inches apart. "And of course, I still have a lot to get to know about you," she continued softly while still retaining her poignance, "yet that prospect excites me."

She looked me straight in the eye. "And even now, going beyond what I feel…I'm certain that this emotion you spark in me is something far more than infatuation. That much, I know."

Not knowing what to say and being unable to control myself, I pulled her gently into my arms and held her. This person…is something else. Howe giggled sweetly as she returned the gesture and rested her head on my chest, keeping us that way for a single, perfect moment.

As she broke our hug slowly, Howe said, "I'll take it you're satisfied with that answer?"

"Yes," I replied with no hesitation, a warm feeling on my cheeks and butterflies in my stomach. The galley around us was serenely silent as we stood face to face with each other.

"Now, how about I negotiate before getting back to these dishes?" She continued, her usual playfulness coming back in.

"What are you negotiating for now?" I asked with a slight sense of knowing.

"What's the spider story?"

Dammit. "Okay, okay, fine," I chuckled, looking around to make sure no one else was around to hear. "Listen closely. I'm only telling this once."

"My ears are open, my lips are sealed," she declared.

"Right," I sighed. "Back at our place in the Philippines, effectively my childhood home, Rendall and I shared a room. We had beds against adjacent walls." Howe nodded, listening intently. "Now, one night, as Dall was fast asleep, I got up to use the loo. On the way there, did not notice anything weird."

She snickered a little. "Right."

"When I went to walk back, I noticed a little splotch on his face," I continued. "Upon closer inspection, it was the nastiest spider I'd ever seen."

"Oh!" Howe scrunched her face up.

"Do not ask me how he stayed asleep as that thing was doing its business crawling all about him," I shook my head, chuckling. "The point is, my mind went into a state of pure panic, and I screamed probably the loudest I've ever in my whole life to this day."

Howe slowly palmed her face.

I went on, "Of course, Rendall woke up to my banshee screech and then finally registered there was a massive spider on his face. When he shot up out of his bed clawing at his face like he had a particularly stabbing case of hives, the thing fell on the floor and vanished."

"Goodness, that is horrifying," Howe agreed as she laughed. "That, I relate to."

"Yes," I replied. "Anyway, now we're making this huge racket. Mum and Dad rush in to see what's happening. We both try to push past our shock to inform them of the foul beast that had spawned in the bedroom. Thankfully they understand, and mum comes back with a broom to swat it."

"Okay," Howe nodded enthusiastically. "So, did she get it?"

"Right, see, this is where the story just gets fascinating," I spat drily, making her giggle harder. "I could say either, the thing vanished and that was that, or Mum killed it and that was that. But don't worry, we've just gotten to the rising action." She broke into laughter as I continued, "Now, mum has her broom. The spider reappears on the rug in the center of the room, so she of course swats it, and kills it."

Howe recollected herself, abruptly stopping her laughter and holding her palms out. "Oh! So…that's that! Right?"

"Right?" I said, "No! No, no, no, this thing was not going to let us off that easy. What it started, its successors would finish."

It took her a moment to register what I was hinting at, but when it did, she cupped her mouth in disbelief and recoiled. "You're joking."

"I absolutely am not," I reassured her. "Now, Mum swats the spider and kills it dead, but lets all the millions of itty bitty baby spiders come spilling out."

"Eurgh!" She groaned, her face scrunching up so much it resembled a prune. "Sodding…"

"Basically, at that point, we just had to concede defeat and hope that the master's bedroom would remain safe for the night until we could get some exterminator to clean up the mess," I said.

Howe shook her head and kept laughing in disbelief. "Right, okay. Give me closure now! I need to see justice!"

"Right," I chuckled, "the next morning, they had the room cleaned up and some walls ripped apart to get the little critters that had made their way into the nooks and crannies, and finally, that was that."

"Okay," Howe sighed, seemingly genuinely relieved at the conclusion.

"And that's how I developed my absolute fear of spiders," I finished. "Arachnophobia, I think it's called. I can handle basically any bug, but when it comes to spiders…"

"Right, okay," she said, some semblance of sympathy entering the blend of her tone. "Well, when a spider pops up, I'll be right next to you."

"Thanks—"

"Not to help, just to record."

"Oh, flip off," I retorted drily before breaking into my own fit of laughter. "Don't help, just film? Is that what that is?"

"Yes!" Howe replied, "It's a fine philosophy to have!"

"No!" I played along, shaking my head. "Anyway, there you go. The Spider Story."

"I see, I see," she replied, collecting herself as she picked up the plate and resumed her handwashing. "Thank you for telling me, James. It's always fun…learning more about you."

I could only grin fondly. "Thank you, as well."

I'd gone back to picking up plates and glasses gingerly from the rack, wiping them off carefully, and putting them back into cupboards and drawers.

I nearly dropped one when I felt Howe's lips peck my cheek.

With great surprise, I looked at her to see a rich rosy blush across her face. "H…Howe?"

She cleared her throat, somehow signaling to me without a word that I should just take it and move forward.

Although my mind had been knocked into hyperspace, cooking up a billion things and one to say in a split second…I heeded her request. Gladly and contently.


A/N: Not gonna lie, I'm quite happy with this chapter. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! One more thing, I'm starting university tomorrow, just to keep you aware. Until the next one!

Jarvis