Part four – The glory of an honest smile
"Why didn't you tell me, we were going to be picking these up!" Glorious yelled at me over her shoulder with her Irish accent full of joy. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, the long blond-haired carrier almost dry humping a barrel of an old BL fifteen mark one as she added, "Oh how I've missed you!"
My head tilted to the side as I called out, "We've been sailing together for two days, what do you mean?"
Glorious spun herself around on the barrel to face me before leaning forward on it as she said, "Not you, Commander," she paused and gestured behind her as she said, "This is my old X turret." She paused again and pushed herself upright and looked to her left, grinning broadly when she found what she was looking for and slipping off the barrel and making her way over to a second one that had a damaged barrel. She started to stroke the turret as she said, "We never got to show what we could do, my old friend."
I made my way over to stand beside her and to my surprise, Glorious took my right hand and placed it on the turret as she said, "You've touched a lot of me before, Commander, but this, this is a part of me that no one has touched in so long."
Smiling at Glorious I say to her, "I much prefer you as you are now."
That alone was worth it to see her blue eyes go wide and her face go bright red and she let go of my hand to brush some of her hair behind an ear as she gave me a shy smile back before asking, "Do you know why we need to move them?"
Pulling out the documents I had signed when we arrived and reading them I said to her, "We're taking four turrets from Scapa Flow to HMNB Devonport for the fitting out of a new kansen."
Glorious' shoulders slumped a little before she rubbed her blue eyes and said, "Well, I hope they will serve her well enough, though my A turret is going to need a new barrel on the left side."
"Speaking of that," I say as I start looking around and add, "where are the spare barrels?"
"In a different warehouse, maybe?" Glorious says to me in a tone that suggested she was trying to be helpful.
"Maybe." I respond before moving on to the next storage facility.
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"What do you mean, they're gone!?" I call out in disbelief as I look at the empty warehouse, the manifest said eight fifteen-inch barrels were stored in here.
"This is bad…" says the ensign that stood with me with her London accent.
"You think?" I say with alarm in my voice.
"You don't think?" Glorious asks as she walks into the empty warehouse, stopping to turn and look at me, her head tilting to the left.
My eyes went wide and I say in a low tone, "No… they wouldn't be that bold, would they?"
Glorious shrugs and the ensign asks; "What?"
Running a hand down my face I gesture to the empty warehouse as I say, "Someone nicked eight fifteen-inch barrels, right under your nose! This needs to be reported." I pause and look at Glorious and ask, "Can I go on your hull and place a secured call?"
She nodded as she said, "Aye, I'll stay here."
"Thanks, I hope I'm wrong, but if I'm not…" I trail off and Glorious says for me, "It could get very bad."
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"Thank you for this report, Commander Wilks, I will reach out to my counterpart in the Iron Blood to confirm this." The Admiral on the other side of the radio responds to me after I fill him in on the encounter with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as my suspicions that they stole the leftover barrels of the BL fifteen turrets. After a long pause, they added, "Regardless, Commander, we need those turrets down here for finishing up Vanguard, we want to get her ready."
"Yes, sir, I'll get them down there as soon as I can." I respond, before the transmission is ended from their side. Closing my eyes and leaning backward I hit something soft and I hear a squeak of surprise, opening my eyes I see blue ones looking back at me, wide with surprise and I ask, "Glorious?"
"Co… Commander Wilks…" she trails off and I nod my head slowly, in the process I get a good look at her face and see that she's bright red before she asks, "Would you be so kind as to take your head out of my bust?"
Oh!
Sitting upright I turn the chair and look off to the side as I apologize to her, "Sorry about that, Glorious."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her adjust her blue and white outfit, with a stern voice she says to me, "Commander, best be mindful when you do such actions, many of us would not appreciate it." she paused before adding, "But I will forgive you this time."
"Thanks, Glorious, I appreciate that." I mumble out while trying to avoid eye contact still.
Glorious moves over to the windows on her bridge, folding her hands behind the small of her back as she asks, "So, her name is Vanguard?"
"Who?" I ask a little puzzled for a moment.
"The kansen that will be getting mine and my sister Courageous' guns, her name is going to be Vanguard, correct? At least that was what I thought I overheard." There was a hint of sadness in that Irish accent of hers.
Oh, yeah.
Standing and moving to be beside her as the first of the turrets are placed on the flight deck I reach out with a hand to squeeze her right shoulder, however, I pause just short of actually touching her shoulder and I ask her, "Should I have recalled and waited for another carrier for this?"
Glorious wipes her eyes with her left hand before returning it behind her and shaking her head as she said, "Not at all, though it hurts with the reality that I will never mount them again, this gives me a sense of closure." She pauses and looks at me and gives a smile that I can tell is forced especially after seeing her smile at the sight of the turrets again and she adds, "So, thank you for this Commander Wilks."
Seeing her smile like that actually kind of hurt, so I risk her ire and pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. To my surprise Glorious didn't fight it or offer out any protest, no what she did was slip her arms up my back to grip my shoulders. I felt her take a deep breath through her nose as the air moving past my neck, almost like she was trying to take in the scent of my aftershave. After a moment I whispered to her, "You don't have to put on a brave face if you don't want to. I know you've had a rough couple of days on this trip."
Glorious squeezed me just a little tighter for a moment and then let go as she ended the embrace while saying to me, "It's okay, commander, really."
"If you're sure then." I say to her while stepping back a little and putting my attention on watching the turrets getting strapped down on her deck. My forehead wrinkled and I mused out loud, "I wonder why the Scharnhorst sisters wanted those barrels?"
Glorious moved to stand beside me, surprisingly close I might add, her left hip was touching mine and out of the corner of my right eye I see her shrug as she suggests, "Maybe they are getting a retrofit for fifteen-inch guns, or maybe the Iron Blood are making a new battleship?"
Frowning I sigh out, "God I hope not, to either possibility."
Glorious looks at me, and touches my right hand with her left as she says, "Either way, Commander, we will be ready for them."
I smile at Glorious and nod as I say, "I'm sure you're right."
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That night, before I turned in for the evening, I gathered a couple of more mattresses and put them out in the center of the cabin I had taken over, on the off chance I had another bedmate. Not that I was against the idea of sharing a bed with Glorious, it'd just be nicer if it wasn't a rack that was barely enough for one person, let alone two. I had just tossed a pillow down on the left side of the makeshift bed when I heard the door behind me crack open and that Irish accent asked, "Are you decent, Commander?"
"I am." I respond before pulling off my shirt and crawling under the blanket I had as I add, "But I was about to go to sleep."
I'm not sure what I expected, on one hand, I thought she'd go to her room and on the other, I kind of hoped she would come into this one. The door opens more and I adjust how I'm in the makeshift bed to watch as Glorious comes in, a mattress under one arm, a pillow, and a blanket under the other. Her long blond hair was unbound and stood out as almost golden against the white lacy lingerie she was in. When my mouth dropped open, she went bright red and pulled the pillow and blanket in front of her as she said, "Staring like that makes me feel uncomfortable, Commander."
Blinking a couple of times and shaking my head a little, I look off to the side as I mumble, "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. You look very beautiful, by the way."
"Thank you, Commander." She paused there for a moment then continued, "I was wondering if I could spend the night with you again. I hadn't slept that well in years."
I smirk and give a slight laugh as I say to her, "I figured that would happen tonight, it's why I made this bed."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her face light up with a smile before she let go of the mattress she brought and said while turning out the lights, "I'm starting to think you know me." Reaching over I pull back some of the blankets while sensing her come over to the makeshift bed and she crawls into it. Just like last time she pressed her stern against me and reached over to pull my arm across her, a happy little sigh escaping her lips as she did so. I took notice that she hadn't let go of my right hand yet and she asked, "What is it about you, that makes me feel so safe?"
"I don't know." I mummer before asking my own question, "What is it about you, that lets me be willing to do this?"
"I don't know." She murmured back, rocking her hips back and forth, I felt her let go of my hand a little, but only for a second before lacing her fingers through my hand as she asked, "Can I ask you a question, Commander?"
"Anthony," I whisper into her ear, "when we are alone like this, Anthony is fine."
Even in the dark, I can tell she's blushing as she whispers, "Anthony."
I smile and whisper in her ear, "I like hearing you say my name."
"Anthony," she pauses, the word clearly still very new to her as she continues, "can I ask you to settle the bet back at base?"
I wondered what said bet was going to be, and against better judgment, I asked, "And what bet is that?"
"Among the more mature kansen, we are trying to figure out if you prefer breasts or sterns. So I was wondering if you could share that information with me?" she asks, her hips still rocking back and forth.
Rolling my eyes I take a deep breath before whispering in her ear, "I look at the whole package; bust, stern, thighs, but most importantly, personality."
Glorious lets go of my hand and she rolls over to face me, with what little moonlight is coming through the window, I can see her blue eyes shining in the dark as she asks, "And what kind of personality is it that you fancy?"
Out of reflex, I slide my right hand down her back to her hip, then down and back up her left thigh as I whisper, "I'm finding I might have a fancy for someone with a big heart that cares deeply for others."
"Careful, Anthony, you don't want to say or do something you cannot take back." She warns me as she reaches up and strokes my right cheek.
I lean in a little and touch the tip of my nose to hers, it was almost magnetic, this attraction I was feeling towards Glorious at this point and I whisper, "What if it's something I don't want to take back?"
"I…" she pauses and rolls away, but still keeps herself pressed against me as she says, "Let us go to sleep."
Sighing inwardly I shut my eyes and take in the scent of her shampoo before saying, "Alright." I know tomorrow morning is going to be awkward still, just hopefully slightly less so this time.
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When I woke up the next morning, I'm surprised to see that it was just me in the bed, looking around I see that she left the pillow, blanket, and mattress she brought with her. Taking a moment I lift the pillow and give it a little sniff, finding that simple act brought a smile to my face, the sweet scent of primrose and lilies. Dropping the pillow back down, I bring my knees to my chest as I ask myself, "Am I starting to see Glorious in a way beyond how I see the other girls?" I knew no answer would come right away, so I shrugged before grabbing my toiletry bag and headed for a quick shower and shave before going to get the day going at sea.
Not long after my morning routine, I went down to the galley to see if there was anything made to eat or if I'd be having a cold breakfast. As I got there, is stopped at the entrance and leaned against the hatchway, and smiled at the sight. I saw Glorious sitting at a table in the sunlight, but she wasn't in her usual uniform, no, she was dressed in one of my shirts. The sunlight danced on her fine features and golden hair while she looked out the porthole, a free hand holding a teacup, she rested her chin on her other hand, a smile on her lips, clearing my throat a little I say to her, "Good morning, Glorious."
The poor girl, that seemed to catch her by complete surprise as she was startled by my sudden appearance, her teacup crashing to the floor, while she went bright red, her blue eyes going wide and darting around the room as she squeaked out, "Commander?! H… how long have you been there?"
I smirk a little before getting some tea and giving it a sip before I tease her, "Long enough to see that you're in my shirt."
Glorious, still bright red sat back down in her spot, brushing some hair behind an ear as she mumbled, "Sorry."
Waving a hand dismissively I say to her as I sit down and try to reassure her, "It's alright, but don't go trying to get me to wear something of yours." The look of utter confusion on her face was priceless, doing my best to suppress my amusement I sit down beside her and ask, "So, why are you in my shirt?"
Glorious got up and started to clean up her spilled tea as she said, "I was having trouble sleeping, but I didn't want to get dressed, I saw this and put it on."
Raising an eyebrow I ask, "You were having trouble sleeping? I guess whatever I was doing for you has worn off."
"No, I slept fine, but something kept poking and rubbing against me this morning." She says with a brighter flush to her cheeks as she looks over her shoulder at me while she finished cleaning up.
With a smirk, I sip some tea and tease her, "Well, someone kept rubbing against it, and I've got no control of what it does when I'm asleep."
I watch as Glorious goes over and gets more tea and she asks me, "Well, how do you deal with, it?"
I shrug as I say, "Find a partner, cold shower, or sheer force of will usually. I normally go for a cold shower or sheer force of will, since you know finding a partner for a meaningless toss isn't my style."
Glorious sips her tea and I can see just a hint of a smile behind her cup before she comes and sits beside me, leaning her head against my right shoulder as she says, "Good to know."
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A/N: A shorter chapter this time, but I think it moves things forward for Wilks and Glorious at a good pace.
