Skol

by MetusR

A one-off for October for now at least, I may come back to this one at a later date, once I figure it out more. This one covers the summoning of Agir and a Commander on the edge of his sanity.

Skål

It was dark by the time I had a chance to stop at the covered dry-dock to take a look at the new hull that had been completed, and go figure it had started to rain. Just as I reached for the door to open the way in, lightning flashed behind me, and for an instant, I saw a shadowy outline on the wall beside my own. Yet this one looked almost like they had horns on their head. The sudden appearance of the shadowed outline made me jump and look around, but it was just me here. I sigh out loud, "Sometimes I hate this assignment, being around these girls for so long has left me a little jumpy."

Pulling the door open the first thing I see is the massive bow of the hull, looking regal and fine, her grey paint looking fresh and refined… Wait for a second; I see some distortion in the paint and a change of color. I hurry over and see what looks like some kind of dragon or serpent in red. Again another crack of lightning and I see that shadow beside me again and this time I could've sworn I saw one of those red serpents move on the hull. I take out my phone and make a quick recording of it; I'll need to show this to the tech team later.

I just about jump out of my skin with the next lightning strike and that shadow appeared again, along with a blowing in my ear, spinning around I expected to see Eugen, but again I saw nothing. I grit my teeth and curse myself for letting this get to me, sure it was getting near all hallows eve, but that's a North American thing. With another deep breath, I take out of my pocket the last SSD full of combat data for this project and go over to the data port, slipping it in and letting it run before I turn and leave the dockyard.

Pulling my overcoat tight around me and my cap down a little there is another flash just as I feel hands slip up under my arms before there is a nip on my earlobe, causing me to both jump and let out a call of surprise, and I feel the arms let go a second later and I spin around to see to nothing again! I need to get out of here and I hurry off to my quarters for the night.

XXXX

The entire trip home, I could've sworn I could see something out of the corners of my eyes, but every time I'd look there would be nothing there! [I was feeling increasingly nervous as I walked into my darkened bedroom for the night, so I decided it would be best to lock the window and close the blinds. After securing the lock I looked up to see a pair of glowing yellow reflected in the glass over my shoulder. I spun around with a shout, but was once again greeted with an empty room! With another deep breath, I close the blinds and tuck in for the night.

XXXX

It was partway through the night and I sat bolt upright in my bed, looking around the room and I rubbed my chest and up to my neck, it had felt like someone or something had been touching me in my sleep and nibbling on my neck. Again I look around the room and find I walk to my window, throwing it open again, just as a flash of lightning lit up my room and in the reflection on the glass I saw a horned woman with yellow eyes and silver hair on my bed, I fell onto my rear at that sight before I got up and went over to the light switch, turning it on and again, it was just me!

Turning the light off again, I went over to my bed and tucked back in, pulling the blankets around me tightly, I needed to try and get some sleep before my alarm went off and I had to get started with my day.

XXXX

It was around lunchtime and I had been so engrossed in my duties that I hadn't noticed my secretary come into my office, that was until she blew a little air in my ear that got me to jump and round on her as I call out, "Eugen, what the hell!?"

She laughed and asked me, "Why so jumpy Kommandant?"

I sigh and shake my head as I say to her, "Nothing, just a rough night."

A smirk played at the edges of her lips as she asked, "A few night raids?"

I groan and lean back in my chair as I say to her, "No, and you know that! I've tried to keep it in my pants the entire time I've been here."

Eugen gives me a suggestive look as she rubs her hands up and down her sides as she teases, "Maybe that is your problem, getting a little backed up." I glare at her for a moment and she shrugs before getting a little uncomfortably close to whisper in my ear, "I could help with that."

"Not funny Eugen." I say in a sharp tone.

Eugen stands back and shrugs as she says, "Who said I was joking?"

"Then you're being a tease." I retort.

"Name one time I was a tease?" She demands.

"The Christmas party last year, the New Year's party we just had, Valentine's day, independence day, and Octoberfest this year." I say in a dry tone.

She folds her arms under her bust as she pouts out, "I said name one."

I lean back in my chair and pinch the bridge of my nose as I toss my pen onto my desk and say to her, "Sorry Eugen."

"Apology accepted, now come Kommandant, it is time for the midday meal." She says and pulls me by the arm down to the mess hall.

XXXX

As I walk back to my quarters after what had proven to be a very, very long day again, I thought I saw some movement in the shadows. Again I spun to try and see it, but between the rain and the dark I couldn't see anything. Just as I turn to continue my walk, I see it, a pair of yellow orbs in the shadows! I pick up a rock and give it a toss as I yell, "Stop messing with me!"

I expected someone to call out in pain, yet all I got was the meow of a Meowfficer yowling as it sprinted out of the shadows and off down the laneway. I sigh to myself it must've been a Meowfficer I saw last night, but that still doesn't explain the Eugen look alike I think I saw last night. I run my hands down my face and continue on my way home, if I don't get this squared away soon, I'm going to lose my mind!

During my walk home I was so lost in thought, trying to figure out what it was that I kept seeing that I found myself standing in front of Agir's dry dock again. Since I'm here, I might as well check and see how things are going with the combat data.

XXXX

Stepping inside the covered dry dock, it's somewhat eerie in here; there is a strange substance that is emitting amber light that seems to be oozing its way out of the hull plates and down to the floor. I cross over to it and run a couple of fingers through the liquid, it's thick, warm, and has a very metallic scent to it, yet I know it's not blood. I look up to where it seems to be oozing the fastest from; the mouth of one of the serpents. I fully turn my attention to the serpent and for an instant I see one of its eyes flash an amber color before returning to the grey of the hull paint, and again I'm on my stern, my breathing rapid as I yell out, "I hate this job!"

I don't know why I waited like I was expecting an answer, but I got myself up and went to board the hull. I needed to find out where this leak was coming from and see if it can be patched, I want to get Agir ready for sea trials by the end of the week after all.

Once I was on board, it wasn't much better in the hull, the same eerie amber glow was all through it, the lights in the hall that should've been white light was all amber, more of that amber fluid oozed down the walls, but the worst part was the groaning of the steel, there was no reason for it to be making noise. As I make my way down this hall way, I felt something land on my left shoulder, I slowly lifted my hand to touch it, and it was warm and goo like. Slowly taking my hand towards my face I could see more of this thick, viscus fluid was all over my hand, it took everything in me not to wretch on the floor. To steady myself, I put out my other hand on the bulkhead, and it was warm to the touch, not hot like metal, but warm, like touching some else's body. As I touched the bulkhead, a moan emanated from deeper in the hull, this moan was both eerie and arousing in equal measure, and now I started to wonder if Eugen was having a go at me.

I make my way deeper into the hull, trying to find the source of this fluid and eventually, I find myself standing in the captain's quarters, on the floor is a wisdom cube, pulsing that same eerie colour of yellow, looking around I call out, "Alright Eugen, enough is enough!" I bend down to pick up the cube, as I have never, ever, seen one do this before. As soon as my hand touched it, it went dark and I heard a moan from the hull before a wave of energy sent me flying across the room and into a bulkhead, sending me into the black.

XXXX

XXXX

I don't know how long I was out, only that I came around to the feeling of someone or something rubbing against my chest and pressure on my lap. When I opened my eyes, I could see a pair of amber eyes were looking back at me; I blink a few times and try to focus more on the face, she looked a lot like Eugen, right down to silver hair with a red stripe. But it was the horns that left me wondering as I said to her, "Not funny Eugen!"

She seemed to watch my lips move for a moment as if she was taking in my words. After a moment she adjusted how she was sitting on me and I could see she wasn't dressed like Eugen. This one had an almost see-through body glove on with little flaps of what looked like black leather hanging down over her bust and what looked like a black leather corset and skirt. I felt her drag her fingers down my chest as she sat back and looked at me sideways as she said, "Well met, I am large cruiser Ägir. Your will is my command." She paused to laugh a little as she continued, "Now let's find out what you can accomplish with my arsenal of talents."

I blink a couple of times, I knew that a few of these kansen had been built around the world and given life, but I had always heard that they came out half-formed and unable to fully speak. Before I could respond she leaned forward, pressing herself against me and tracing my neck with her nose as she whispered, "I know this smell… I could smell it beyond the veil."

"The veil?" I ask as I started to feel a little awkward with her pressing her full body weight against me like this.

Her nose tickled my neck before she sat back up, dragging her hands down my chest again as she says, "That which separates the physical world from the Aether."

That touch she does sends a shiver down my spine, and her weight feels too real. I reach up with one hand and pat her on the head, between the horns, and she gives me this puzzled look and asks, "What?"

"Nothing," I start to say as she gets off of me and I push myself up a little and continue, "Well, maybe I wanted to know if the horns were fake."

She puts her hands on her head, touching the backward-pointing horns as she says, "Very much real."

"huh." I say with a bit of surprise before adding, "Guess you really aren't Eugen then."

"That is the second time you have mentioned that name, who is this Eugen you keep mentioning?" Ägir asks me as she starts to walk around the cabin.

I get off the bed as I contemplate on how to answer that question, after a moment I say, "Eugen is complicated, but she is always there, like a bird circling around me."

Ägir took on a grin as she looked back at me and stated, "Eugen sounds like your own personal raven!"

I hang my head as I correct her and say, "More like my own personal albatross."

A rumbling in my belly told me I needed to find something to eat and I ask, "Ägir, how long was I out?"

She shrugs and says, "I do not know, I crossed the veil shortly before you awoke."

"Okay, but where did you show up?" I ask looking around the room, and I notice that the amber fluid is gone now.

Ägir for her part moved to the center of the room, where the wisdom cube had been and she says, "Here, this is where I crossed over."

I nod, it made sense, the wisdom cubes seem to be what anchors the kansen to their ships and the world at large. After a moment I heard another rumble, this time it wasn't from me, rather it came from Ägir. Her hands flew to her belly as her cheeks became red for a second before stating, "We should find sustenance and ale!"

I blink a couple of times, food sure, but alcohol this early? I don't get much of a chance to ponder that as she is already off, not knowing where to go.

XXXX

XXXX

I had left Ägir in the care of Z23 and Gneisenau, thinking that they would be the least likely to cause serious damage with a freshly summoned large cruiser, allowing me to get into the office. After I had signed off on a few documents I went over to my couch to catch a bit of a nap, I was exhausted, between not sleeping well over the last couple of days and I don't know what happened last night, I just needed fifteen minutes.

It honestly took no time for me to be in the black once my eyes shut, I don't know how long I was in the black before I awoke with a start as I felt a weight on my lap that was grinding against me and someone making lewd noises in my ear. As my eyes flew open I saw someone with white hair and a red stripe, leaning back, their fame in a black body glove. I can't see the top of their head so I try a name, "Ägir?"

As soon as that name left my lips, I knew I had it wrong. They stopped what they were doing, and brought their head down to look me in the eyes, their rust-red eyes, and I heard her ask, "Ägir isn't complete yet. So why would you think she is me, Kommandant?"

Eugen, of course, only Eugen would be this bold.

I slide my hands up her thighs as I ask, "The better question is Eugen, what do you think you're doing?"

She rocks and rolls her hips against me and gives me a look as she bites her lower lip before taking out her phone and leaning forward to take a selfie of the two of us like before whispering in my ear, "Leverage if I need it."

I sigh and ask her, "Could you get off?"

Eugen leans back up and laughs as she gets off of me as she says, "I was working on that."

I run my hands down my face as I sit up and say to her, "Not you too. The kansen of the Ägir manifested fully this morning… after a really strange couple of days."

I watch as Eugen walks to the center of my room as she slips off the body glove, giving me a clear view of her stern in her undergarment while she slipped on her grey uniform as she asks, "What do you mean, 'a strange couple of days'?"

I sigh and tell her all about how I thought I had been seeing things, hearing things, and just, in general, going insane, when I describe how Ägir looks, Eugen gives me this sideways look before dismissing it as impossible as she says, "Each of us looks unique, even among sisters."

I was about to say something to her when I heard a commotion outside my office door, moments before it was flung open and I heard Ägir issue a statement, "I will not be denied my trolovet, now unhand me!"

I looked and Eugen and she looked at me before we both shrugged at one another and leaned towards one another to see what was going on in the secretary's office. I wasn't totally prepared for what I saw, Ägir, with Z23 around her legs from behind and Gneisenau around her waist from the front as Z23 called out, "But you can't just barge into the Kommandant's office!"

"Is that?" Eugen asks me, her eyes locked on Ägir.

I nod as I say, "See! I told you she looks a lot like you! I'm not crazy!"

When Ägir spotted me and Eugen leaning like that, she relaxed a little before turning her attention fully to Eugen as she called out, "Forførende! I will not let you tempt him with your wiles!"

Eugen blinks a couple of times and asks me, "Do you know what she just called me?"

I shrug as I say, "Not a clue, but I don't think it was good."

Ägir places both hands on Gneisenau's shoulders and pushes her back enough to pull a leg up and out of Z23's grip and start to come forward, her eyes glaring at Eugen, Z23 being dragged along behind her. As she entered my office, Ägir pushed Eugen aside, putting herself between me and Eugen as she says to me, "Come, Kommandant, let us go and find that drink!"

Eugen tilted her head to the side and smirked as she said, "Oh, this I've got to watch."

XXXX

XXXX

Ägir all but forced me into a chair in the pub before she went over to the bar and I began to wonder just how she understood this and I turned to look at Eugen as I ask, "The data you gave over for Ägir, did it include drinking?"

Eugen makes a dismissive hand gesture as she said, "Never mind that for now, I want to see how this turns out."

A few moments later, Ägir came back with a few steins and a pitcher of beer; she placed a stein in front of me, once she had filled mine and hers she sat close beside me, lifting her stein as she said loudly, "Skål!"

I watch as she drinks the entire stein down, before slamming it down on the table and filling it again, beside me, Eugen smirks as she says, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

After Ägir finished her second one, she fixed her attention on Eugen as she said, "Forførende, let us see who can drink who under the table!"

"Oh no." I say as I worry about where this is going to go.

Eugen lifts her stein, pausing at her lips before she says, "If I win, I get the Kommandant for the night."

"Wait for a second, I don't agree to that!" I protest.

"Done!" Ägir says with her left hand slamming down on the table and she chugs down a third stein.

XXXX

XXXX

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this short for now, I may come back and add more later.