Part One – Glory of the Royal Navy
Sitting at my desk and enjoying a small gap in my schedule while the girls were out exercising, I had a model kit of the pre-refit Courageous class battlecruisers, well my second one anyway. I already completed one in the nineteen sixteen configurations, and I had a kit of the post-Washington naval treaty refit. But this kit, this kit I wanted to see if I could make it look like a Courageous class undergoing refit. I was sanding down some of the mold lines when my office door flung open, making me jump and drop the hull to the floor. Looking at my now open door, I see that bob of pinky-purple hair and bright green eyes of my current secretary and she calls out at me with her Scottish accent, "Commander! It happened again!"
I close my eyes and lean back in my chair as I sigh out, "Really? Is she all right?"
"Just minor repairs, again, but as for being all right, I don't know." She says to me.
Shaking my head from side to side I get out of my chair and cross my office, stopping to pat my secretary on the head as I say to her, "Thanks for the update Javelin."
Rubbing her hair a little I hear her giggle out, "Commander, I'm feeling all energetic!"
With a light laugh, I take my hand away and tease, "Then go do some laps, I can't have you bouncing off the walls. I'm going to go and check up on her, and try to find out why, she did this, again."
Crossing the base didn't take that long, at least as far as getting to the medical ward, still, I enjoyed this posting it was always interesting. Stopping at the door to a room I reminded myself that as interesting as this posting is, I had someone that really brought up the meaning behind, 'may you live in interesting times'…
Knocking once, I hear the sweet-sounding voice from the other side with her Irish accent call out, "I'm decent enough."
Sighing to myself I side open the door, closing it behind me and I reach over to pull the curtain back to see a blond woman with a tattered-looking blue and white uniform. She was using her long hair to try and hide most of it, but I could see the bandages on her arms and legs. Pinching the bridge of my nose I ask one question, "How?"
"If I had my fifteen-inch-" she started and I held up my right hand before cutting her off as I say, "But you don't."
Releasing my nose and looking at her, I can see her cheeks getting red as she turns to look out the window before looking down and sighing, "I know. But I forget sometimes that they're gone."
"How can you forget they're gone? You've got a flight deck!" I say as my heads go up into the air.
She turns around and gives a sheepish smile as she says, "Past glories, I guess."
Rubbing my chin I take a relaxing breath as I say, "Well at least it wasn't looking for a good picture spot this time."
"That only happened once!" she protests, her hands balling a little as she leans forward, her tattered uniform fraying a little more and showing a little more skin in the process.
"And when you fell out of the tree?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
She leans back and taps her index fingers together as she mumbled, "Ark Royal pushed me out of the tree."
Shaking my head from side to side slowly I sigh, "Just, get better Glorious, I need to have you out there, being the carrier you are, not the battlecruiser you used to be."
"Yes sir." She mumbles.
As I turn and reach for the door, I stop and say to her, "Till you're cleared for duty, again, you are free to engage in your hobby, just don't bother the destroyers, okay? I get enough reports about Ark Royal as it is, I don't need them adding Glorious to that list."
"I'll do my best, sir." She says with a bit more pep in her voice.
"Good." I say to her before leaving her in the medical ward and heading back to my office to wonder what am I going to do with her.
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Once I was behind my computer again, I started to type out the safety report to whoever it was that actually read these things, I was honestly starting to wonder if anyone at command actually read my reports, mostly since I submit them and then hear nothing back. As I'm typing away I see some movement of long silver hair out of the corner of my right eye, I say to them, "Is it that time already, Belfast?"
"Sorry, Commander Wilks, but Miss Belfast is off today." She said with a Scottish accent, causing me to turn in my chair to see the tall woman with her long silver hair and black maid uniform.
She held her serving platter against her belly and looked down as I said to her, "Sorry about that Hermione, thank you," I pause and take a sip of the glorious liquid inside of the mug before adding, "for the coffee."
Hermione smiled a little before shifting back and forth on her feet a little and saying, "I know Miss Belfast wouldn't approve, but afternoon coffee is becoming more common here, and I thought you would prefer it."
I smile at her as I nod and turn back to my work and say to her, "I do, perhaps you can leave a note for, Belfast?"
On the screen of my computer, I see Hermione's eyes go wide before she nods and says to me, "Of course, Commander."
I keep watching as she moves off out of the reflection, causing me to look up and watch her leave through the side door in my office. When she was gone, my brow knit together and I say, "I really need to remember when I give days off to the girls."
Leaning back in my chair and sipping this coffee, I start to roll my chair from side to side as I muse out loud, "What am I going to do with Glorious?" When no immediate answer came, I shook my head and got back to work, getting these reports filed.
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As I was leaving my office for the day I saw a blur of yellow, white, and red sprint past me, just as I heard something I never expected to hear from that voice, "Get back here you dodgy wanker!" Turning slowly to where it came from I see Lady Hood, an arm across her chest, almost like she's trying to keep something supported, she's bright red in the face and has one hand up in the air, shaking a fist.
Tilting my head to the side I ask, "Lady Hood?"
She lowers her hand from the air and adjusts her hair while going a deeper shade of red and using a very refined voice and speech, "My apologies, Commander, it is rather unsightly for a lady to speak in such a manner. However, Abercrombie has taken something of mine while I was in the shower, something that I would much rather she didn't do, in an attempt to play a prank on me."
Raising an eyebrow I just have to know now, "What did she do this time?"
Hood's face paled when I asked that and she cleared her throat before scolding me, "Really, Commander, a gentleman should not ask about a lady's unmentionables."
Oh, oh!
Rubbing the back of my head I look off to the side, now it made more sense as to why Hood was holding her chest with one hand, after a moment I offer out, "I'll see what I can do, without looking at the nicked item, alright?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her give me a sideways look before she says, "Well, that would be helpful, thank you, Commander Wilks."
"Just stay here, I'll be right back." I say while motioning for the stairs leading into the Command Center.
Once Hood took a seat on them, still holding her chest with one arm, I went around the side of the building and called out, "Abercrombie, I'm going to count to ten. When I get to ten, I either need to see you, or I'll go and get Ark Royal to find you."
I hear snickering in a bush, so I clear my throat and say, "One."
Nothing.
"Two."
Still nothing.
"Three."
"Fou…" I didn't finish that word, as she burst out of the bushes, and my eyes went wide at seeing the bra she had on her head, I knew Hood was big, but I didn't think she was that big! I look away and hold out my hand and add, "Hand it over."
"Fine, but Granny Hood needs to take a joke." She responds just as I feel the fabric land in my hand.
From around the corner, I hear Hood call out, "I'm not a granny!"
Sighing to myself I make a gesture telling Abercrombie that she better run for it to which the little blond girl sprints off and out of sight. Closing my eyes again and letting out a sigh, before turning and coming around the side of the building, making a point to look up and away from my left hand, I make my way over to Hood and hold out my left hand with the bra. I feel her tug on the material and I release my grip on it as she says to me, "Thank you, Commander, I'm also trusting you didn't look at it."
"Of course not, Lady Hood." I say it with as much conviction as I can, even if I'm not being honest about it.
I feel her pat the side of my cheek as she says before she started to walk away, "Such a gentleman."
Yet there had been something in her tone of voice, almost like a hint of disappointment, did she know I lied? With a shrug and a shake of my head, I continue towards the pub to grab a bite for dinner.
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I was almost there when I felt someone come up beside me and link arms with me, looking to my right I see another blond, but this one has green eyes, she winks at me and asks, "So, Commander, you've been 'ere a few months now, are you starting to fancy anyone yet?"
Oh, fuck my life.
I raise an eyebrow and tease out, "Why do you ask, Fiji? Are you suggesting something?"
Her cheeks go bright red and she slaps my upper arm with her free hand before laughing it off with, "Come on now, don't get your knickers in a twist, I can keep a secret."
Rolling my eyes I say to her, "Not at the moment, this place is too insane as it is."
Fiji laughs and pulls my arm tight against her bust and rubs her left hip against my right one as she purrs out, "Are you sure, that no one has caught your fancy yet?"
"I'm sure, Fiji." I try and reassure her.
Fiji lets go of my arm and shrugs as she says, "Looks like I owe Javelin five quid."
I blink a couple of times and ask, "What are you talking about?"
She shrugs and keeps walking away as she says over her shoulder, "I bet her five quid that you were chasing someone's skirt, looks like I was wrong."
Looking skyward and shaking my head from side to side I sigh to myself, "I swear, it's like being surrounded by a bunch of honry teenagers."
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Pushing my way through the door of the pub, I can hear the girls singing and laughing, generally having a good time; it was nice to see them with their hair down so to speak. Looking around I can see a lot of the girls have collected in their usual friend groups, but one of the groups draws my attention, one with a bob of brown hair, tied back short blond hair with a red uniform, one with a bob of grey hair, but it was the one with long blond hair in a blue outfit that was getting up on the table, holding her pint glass high towards a picture of The Queen as she slurs out with an Irish accent, "To another glorious day in Her Majesty's Navy!"
Tilting my head to the side I watch as she wobbles a little on the table as she adds, "But could you give me back my guns?"
The one in the red uniform reaches up and tugs Glorious back into her chair, just as she lands, her head goes forward, landing on the table and shutting her blue eyes, just as the one in red says with a Welsh accent, "Really, Glory, that's too many pints now."
Making my way over I see her wave a hand dismissively as she says while flipping up her index and middle finger, "Sod off, Wales." The brown-haired one's eyes go wide when she clues in I'm coming over, she leans forward and nudges Glorious and Glorious asks, "What is it, Repulse?"
"The Commander." She says.
Glorious sits up and leans back in her chair as she says, "What about him? He scolded me today about charging in without my guns."
Sighing to myself, that's true, I did scold her a little about it.
Glorious keeps leaning back, her chair leaning just a little too far over and she starts to go down, landing at my feet looking up at me, her blue eyes blink a couple of times and she says, "Commander, your floating?"
"You're drunk." Wales counters as she sips from her pint.
Helping Glorious up off the floor I say to her, "I think you've had enough tonight," I pause and direct this to the other girls, "I'll get her home."
Wales lifts a hand and gives me a wave, while I pull one of Glorious' arms over my shoulder and start to lead her out of the pub.
We were halfway to the girl's dorm, when Glorious said to me, "Carry me, my feet are sore."
I raised an eyebrow, I knew that their feet didn't get sore, they rarely got tired, but I'd rather not deal with an angry drunk kansen. Letting go of her I turn and lower myself down and offer my back to her. I feel her get on, slipping her legs through the loops I made with my arms, she presses her front against my back, and just as her thighs touch my hands she giggles out, "Commander, you're holding the glory of the Royal Navy."
I was about to respond, but I feel her head lean against my shoulder and she lets out a happy sigh, a second before the snoring starts.
The things I do for these girls…
Adjusting the weight on my back I push on to get her home for the night.
XXXX
I was thankful that Chaser let me in, and took out Glorious' key that she had kept stashed somewhere that I didn't see. Opening the door and using my nose to turn on the lights in the room, I saw a really nice camera, pictures of a younger-looking Glorious, with different-looking rigging. Looking around a bit more I saw a stack of pictures that seemed to be pictures of Acasta and Ardent. I felt Glorious shift a little on my back and she mumbles, "Ardent and Acasta did the best they could, but I…"
Shifting her back to a steadier position on my back I make my way to her bedroom, pushing the door open and my mouth drops open. It's a pigsty! Makeup, laundry, empty food containers, and empty cans are all over the place! Sighing to myself and making my way over to the bed, turn and lower her down onto it. Just as I lay her down, she giggles and says, "Mail? It's in your tea, Commander."
I start to back away, and I feel her take hold of my hand, rolling away from me and pulling me down onto the bed beside her, forcing me to be in the awkward position of spooning her. Glorious pushed her rear into me and rocked her hips back and forth against me as she mumbled away with a little giggle, "Oh, Commander, I couldn't possibly."
I think she's dreaming, at least I hope she's dreaming.
I stayed like this for a while, I'm not sure how long really, but once she let go of my hand I slipped out of the room, and left her dorm. As I quietly closed the door, I turned to see Wales standing there; she arched her right eyebrow and asked, "A night raid, Commander?"
"No." I say as my forehead knits together.
Wales shrugs as she says with a knowing smile, "You went home with Glory, quite a while ago, and now I see you leaving her room in the middle of the night."
Pinching the bridge of my nose I say to her, "Nothing happened."
"Sure. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you're into boarding actions." She teases, patting my left shoulder before walking away down the hall.
Running a hand down my face, I turned and left to my quarters, so much for getting pub dinner tonight.
During my walk home, I started to wonder what happened with Glorious, Acasta, and Ardent. I mean it has to be something that Glorious feels bad about, then again, why is it I've never seen Acasta or Ardent? With a shrug, I pushed it out of my mind, nothing I can do about it now, anyway, but I'll be sure to look into this at some point.
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A/N: Chapter one done, in an attempt to bringing Glorious more into the spot light.
