When the doors opened upon a large, lavish dining room, Nanami was quite impressed. For a dorm it seemed excessively nice. Again she had to ask, who approved this expense. Then again, knowing the Royal Navy, they probably paid for it themselves. Who handles the purse strings over there?
Shaking her head, she was greeted by the sight of an entire team of maids finishing up their preparations for an immense breakfast. The food was all traditionally Royal Isles breakfast stuffs. She really had not eaten a meal since the breakfast the previous day, and she was suddenly made very aware of her hunger by her stomach's protests.
"I hear you are hungry, please sit here Mistress, Enterprise. I will bring you your plates. Before you even protest, because I can see it in your eyes, if you were to go to the kitchen you would merely get in the way, so sit please," Belfast ordered the pair. Hood took the chair to Nanami's left, while Enterprise sat on her right.
"I understand that Lady Hood, Miss Enterprise, and Mistress are to be dining with us this morning? We hope you enjoy our humble meal. Ah, where is my etiquette. I am Curlew, a Ceres-class light cruiser. It is my pleasure to meet you officially Mistress. May I ask what you would like to drink?" Curlew introduced herself. She had long, braided light-purple hair, and light blue eyes. She seemed to carryh herself with dignity at all times.
"My usual tea please," Hood requested. Nanami decided she knew what was best, so went with that as well. Enterprise asked for a glass of orange juice, having had her fill of tea at the impromptu tea party.
After only a minute, Curlew returned with the drinks, and placed them in front of each person, one by one. She curtsied and retreated as Belfast arrived with plates of food on push cart.
"Wonderful, Curlew performed impeccably. Here is your food, Lady Hood, Mistress, and finally Miss Enterprise, " she said as she doled out the plates.
Then she leaned over and whispered into Enterprise's ear, "I got you some extra meat, since you've only been eating those ration bars." Enterprise blushed at the closeness of the beautiful Head Maid. Nanami offered her thanks in the Sakuran way, and Enterprise mimicked her, seemingly used to the habit now.
Hood bowed her head before eating, as did Belfast. As Enterprise ate, she received several comments from Belfast on etiquette.
"We really will have to put you through etiquette courses the next two weeks. If you are to dine with Her Majesty, you must be suited for the occasion. Take Mistress for example. Look at how she performs," Belfast noted. Enterprise looked to Nanami for help, but she shook her head. Belfast was right. Etiquette was of dire importance in situations with royalty.
Nanami may be a little rusty and could probably do with some refinement, but she had gone through the same routine as a kid. Being as highly ranked as her father was, he routinely had to dine with big name individuals. That included one family occasion when she was 8 where they met the Sakuran Emperor and his family.
Nanami hadn't thought about that in a long time. It was weird how simple offhand comments and actions can trigger memories like that. Seeing that she was staring at her food and not eating, Hood intervened.
"While the food is fine cold, it is much better warm Commander," she quietly chimed. Nanami shook out of her reverie and stared at Hood for a moment before her words sank in.
Her face burned a little as she responded, "Ah, thank you Lady Hood. My mind got away from me there. Memories are an odd thing, popping up at the most inopportune moments." Hood smiled at her honesty, constantly even tone, and her continuous use of Lady. She was the picture of a gentlewoman.
"Please just call me Hood Commander. And I agree, sometimes memories come up and ambush us. Please do not feel you cannot lean upon me in times you need to share these memories. Oftentimes I find that the best way to deal with them," Hood agreed, extending an offer of a friendly ear.
"Hood it is then, I may take you up on that offer. I also extend the same offer to you. As for names, please call me Nanami," the Commander quickly replied.
"Well then Nanami, please do eat. Belfast is right that you should not subsist on rations bars alone. We also have many maids to meet after the meal. Doubtless they will be enchanted by your presence," Hood advised, and Nanami listened, eating her food with the grace expected of a Lady.
Once they were done, meet the maids they did. Every one of them that was present wanted to take a moment with their new Mistress. She could not get them to stop calling her that, so she assumed it was part of the maid's rules. As far as she could tell, Nanami ranked somewhere slightly above a traditional Lady. This meant that she was to be treated with the utmost respect.
Once the introductions were finished, Hood pulled Nanami aside, "Nanami, would you be willing to take me on a tour of the base?" As she was asked this, Nanami realized she had to meet with Akashi and Yuubari. She had an idea about something that would let her better command in the field, and if anyone could pull it off, it would be those two. Yuubari especially seemed like the kind of person to always have a new idea or experiment, and as a fellow engineer, Nanami liked that. However, that could happen after a tour. Playing host was more important.
"I would love to Hood, shall we?" Nanami agreed to the tour. Hood took her outstretched arm, and with care they excused themselves. This left Enterprise to the fate of etiquette lessons with Belfast and the maids.
As they walked, Hood admitted, "To be honest Nanami, I was looking to speak to you a bit more, and the tour seemed a good pretense for such a conversation." Nanami managed a small smile, her emotions not really working at the moment.
"Well, you were certainly right, there are large swaths of the base with nothing of interest. What was it you wished to speak on?" She asked Hood whose face stayed utterly serene.
"You and Enterprise seem very close, as do you and Amagi. Nanami, pardon my breach in etiquette, but are they your significant others?" The question stopped Nanami in her tracks as they approached the piers, and blush crept up her face, her emotions suddenly working again.
"N-no nothing like that. They are just my close advisers. Nothing more," Nanami denied the inquiry rather vehemently. Too vehemently in Hood's eyes, but she said nothing.
Instead, she said, "That is good, however I suggest you do not let Enterprise hear you say such a thing. I-" Just as she was about to say something else, she stumbled, her shoe caught in the sidewalk. Nanami caught her before she could fall, and Hood, the taller of the two, now looked up at Nanami from a lower angle. Nanami's face flushed red, and even Hood, who was the picture of elegance, burned slightly red.
"I apologize for that unsightly display Nanami. Please do keep that between the two of us," She apologized, standing up straight.
"Of course Hood," Nanami said, finding it increasingly hard to resist the urge to call her Lady Hood. Though Nanami had to wonder what she meant about Enterprise. There was no way that incredible woman was the slight bit interested in her in that manner.
Shortly they came upon the reinforced warehouse building. She didn't dare go near the door, especially not with a guest. However one thing did catch her eye, a huge dent in the side. It did not go unnoticed by Hood either.
"What is in this building Nanami? And what could make a dent like that. The plating looks on par with battleship armor after all. Whatever hit that was quite powerful," Hood commented on the dent.
Nanami's eyes widened when she remembered that was where she hit the wall. It had to have been there before. There was no way for a human being to punch a dent into battleship armor.
Having safely reassured herself that she wasn't the cause, Nanami responded, "I am not sure yet. I am doing my best to find out, but the door is sealed. And yes...whatever did that is strong, and potentially dangerous. I hope for our sake it no longer moves about the base."
"It is incredible nonetheless. Please do keep me updated on the status of your investigation. I would be interested to hear what it is, as well as to inform Her Majesty, since it could be a security threat. I imagine Sirius would have a fit, as much as she can, if she knew of something potentially dangerous on base," Hood spoke further.
Seeing Nanami's confusion at the name Sirius she added, "Sirius is the head bodyguard to Her Majesty, and part of the maid corps. She did not accompany us as she insisted on staying by Her Majesty's side." Nanami nodded in understanding. These girls really mimicked the structure of a real royal family. I guess they were a real royal family if you looked at it. But what about the regular human royals? How did they feel about this?
She shook her head to focus more on the person on her arm. Hood was still staring at the dent, and Nanami took a moment to really look at the woman. She was gorgeously elegant and graceful. The picture of nobility. Her face rarely seemed to betray her inner emotions. Suddenly she spoke.
"If you continue to stare like that Nanami, one might get the wrong idea. I might get the wrong idea," she implied. Nanami's head tilted to the side and her brow furrowed in confusion.
Oh my she's pure, Hood thought, seeing the Commander's confusion. She waved for the Commander to ignore what she said. Now that they had nothing more to discuss here, they stopped in at the office where she was asked to sign a few documents by Essex and Takao. Despite the pair reassuring Belfast they didn't need food, she had sent some anyways.
With the small amount of paperwork done, Nanami apologized to Hood, and they walked back to the dorms. Once there, they discovered the etiquette lessons had taken a turn.
"T-t-this is embarrassing! There is no reason for this! I was learning etiquette, how did I end up in this?" They heard from the other side of a pair of double doors. That voice was undoubtedly Enterprise, but it was so frantic that Nanami was unsure if she had heard such a sound from the carrier before.
"The best way to learn etiquette is to become a maid Enterprise. That's all there is to it," Belfast replied, as the pair opened the door. On the other side was sight that took Nanami's breath. Enterprise wore a maid uniform, and she was incredibly attractive.
Without thinking, Nanami raised her phone and-
*Snap! *
"N-na-nana-Nanami! Delete that! Please! I am a weapon, not a doll to dress up. I'm not supposed to be doing things like this," Enterprise requested, advancing on her Commander. Hood barely contained a smile, and Belfast didn't even try.
Nanami held the phone away from Enterprise who leveraged her height to try to reach it. She could feel her emotions rushing, but she had no idea what they were. Instead, she focused on the losing battle, and realizing this, she shifted tactics. Spinning, she placed her arm around Enterprise whose eyes immediately widened. The spin continued and despite the height difference, Nanami swept Enterprise off her feet, their faces inches apart.
"Either I keep this, you keep that and wear it whenever I want, or we keep both. Understood?" Nanami quietly offered an imperious ultimatum to her carrier. Enterprise nodded slowly, too shocked to even be embarrassed at what was happening.
Nanami asked, "Good, so which shall it be?" She wasn't above asking even in this state. Whether or not she listened was another story.
"Both," Enterprise whispered red-faced. Nanami smiled wickedly.
"Both, Mistress," she corrected, enjoying watching her adviser cutely squirm in her grasp.
"B-both, M-m-mistress," Enterprise repeated, somehow burning a brighter red.
"Good girl," Nanami replied, standing Enterprise back up, and looking around. Everyone in the room was red-faced at the display, except for Belfast.
Belfast slightly lifted her own skirts and said, "Why Mistress, if I knew you were into that sort of thing, I would have offered you my services!" This was somehow what broke Nanami out of her imperious state, and she cocked her head to the side confused as to what Belfast meant.
However, now that she had escorted Hood back to the dorms, Nanami did her best to excuse herself without further incident. Once she was away, she quickly made her way over to the place she was told Akashi's store was. It was on prime waterfront real estate.
There, she found a rather massive single story building for what it was. Walking in, she was greeted by a pleasant cherry smell in the air. She was almost relaxed when suddenly something popped out of nowhere.
"Welcome to Akashi's shop Commander! Nyaa! Do you have something for Akashi to do? Nyaa?" she greeted loudly. Nanami, her heart beating slightly faster, smiled and returned the greeting.
"How are you Akashi? Yes you are right, I do have something, but I need you and Yuubari together," she explained to the cat-girl. Akashi's eyes shined, a commission meant money, and one that required Yuubari required research, which required more money!
"Leave it to Akashi nyaa," the girl assured Nanami, before grabbing her by the hand and leading her into the back. There was a lot she saw along the way, some she was confused about, like costumes, but she ignored them. Before going to far, Akashi found Shiranui and put her at the front while they went further back then suddenly down a few flights of stairs.
Where they came out was a massive underground lab, and suddenly she felt faint. She stuck through it and didn't pass out, but she saw flashes of a room with sterile walls like this. A room decorated like a kid's. A room where Anne was! But she was so little! It was Anne though, Nanami would know that 7-tailed wolf no matter her size. Nanami had been there? Was this related to the painful dream? WHEN WAS THIS?
She calmed the fury that was building, she didn't want to take it out on the researcher. Especially when what she needed required that girl's help. As they approached a large room, a small explosion emanated from within.
"That's Akashi's Yuubari nyaa," Akashi praised as they entered to see the girl covered in soot.
Looking up from her tablet, the researcher noted, "The experiment failed. Commander? Are you here to help me with my experiments?"
"Not quite, or rather, maybe. I have a commission for you both," Nanami said vaguely before getting into the details. As she finished her explanation, Akashi and Yuubari could barely contain their happiness. However, Nanami couldn't understand why.
Akashi elaborated, "Akashi and Yuubari have already had such a thing ready in case a human dumb, I mean brave enough to try came along nyaa! Let's show her nyaa!"
Following the pair further in, they led her into a small room, barely larger than a closet, but a lot of wiring came in from the outside. When the lights turned on, in the middle, in a pod...
"This is exactly what I was looking for!"
A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters! I have been super busy with the snakes, and between my research and some home renovations happening, I just did not have the energy to write!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you all as always for your reviews!
Secrets Secrets Secrets. Also I know you are all waiting for the Akagi dinner...just a bit longer I promise you!
