January 3, 2015

"So Hood you excited? Nervous? Tired? All the above? Either way you're lucky you arrived during the weekend so you can sleep off the jet lag. Your roommate arrived a couple of hours ago. Both of you will be in check-in together on Monday. Is your dress blues still ready to go? All new personnel report in their dress uniforms but then again you probably already knew that from talking to your sponsor."

Robin hadn't been listening to the 2nd Class Petty Officer who was escorting her to her barracks room. She had arrived in Greece an hour ago and was still trying to comprehend that she was in Europe. It was only four months ago she ever left Washington for the first time and now here she was on another continent completely.

"Here we are, Hood!" Robin couldn't understand how this woman was so bubbly, but she blamed the jet lag. "This is your home sweet home for the next three years. Now let's meet your roommate!"

The 2nd Class had opened the door to Robin's room and walked in as if the room was her's. "Herman! Your roommate has arrived!" The 2nd Class dumped Robin's garment bag on the ground and pulled one of the two gorilla containers into the room. Robin glared at the 2nd Class for the treatment of her stuff.

"Just a sec!" someone yelled from the room who Robin safely assumed was 'Herman'.

Even from the hallway Robin could see it was a simple dormitory style room. Two twin sized beds, two desks, mini fridge, and microwave. The closets were off to the side of the entryway with the half-bathroom opposite of the closets.

Robin placed her remaining luggage in the entryway. She barely closed the door when she heard a high pitch squeal and was enveloped into a bear hug from behind.

"Oh my god! Robin! I didn't know you joined the Navy!"

She broke from her roommate's hug and turned ready to punch the other girl in the throat if she tried hugging her again. But her fire immediately diminished when she realized who was her roommate.

"ALEX?!"

"Oh, you two already know each other?" The 2nd Class asked.

Alex answered before Robin could make a sarcastic response. "Yep! Childhood friends. Don't worry I got the boot from here."

"Sure. Okay with me. Remember both of you will be reporting in Monday. Message me if you need any help. Bye ladies!" Robin swore the 2nd Class was practically bouncing as she left the room.

"Aw, Robin. I almost didn't recognize you with the short hair." Alex ran her hand through Robin's hair a few times before it was swatted away.

"Yeah, well I wasn't about to chance a Boot Camp haircut from the Dragon Lady with the Hair. Don't get used to this; I'm growing my hair back out." She looked between the two closet doors. "So which one is mine?"

"Don't worry about that now. Now you smile. Say 'H-Town'!" Alex wrapped Robin in a one arm hug and took a selfie of them. She pointed to the closet furthest from the front door. "That one is yours. It correlates with our sides of the room. You know I was dreading what my potential roommate was gonna be like, but now It's going to be the best three years!"


"Robbie, I'm glad to hear you made it to Greece safely. You sure you don't want me to get Mom?" Roland asked.

"No, absolutely not. You're the only one my mom doesn't have an issue with me calling before her. I'll never hear the end of it if she heard Aunt Regina got a video call before me."

"Facts. What's the time difference between Seattle and Greece?"

Before Robin could answer she was silenced by her roommate's yelling. "FUCK YOU! YOU PEOPLE DON'T HELP EACH OTHER! THAT'S WHY WE DIE! WHY DID I DIE? BECAUSE YOU LEFT ME! YOU LEFT ME! I HATE EVERYONE! I HOPE YOU DIE! I HOPE YOU SUFFER LONG DEATHS! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!"

The silence in the room was broken when Roland started laughing. "Wow! Was that your roommate?"

"Yep…"

"Raging at a video game?"

"Yep…"

"What game?"

"Uh… I think it's The Last of Us: Remastered. And I think she's doing multiplayer mode. Her team left her to die."

"Oh, sounds like my kind of woman."

"Yeah, well, get this. My raging gamer roommate is Alexandra Herman." Robin revealed.

Roland's eyes widened. "No way! ALEX?!"

"That's my name." Alex replied when she heard her name.

"Robbie, tell her I say 'hi'!"

Robin looked over at Alex who as probably rage texting someone on her phone. "Roland says, 'hi'."

Alex tossed her controller to the foot of her bed and hopped onto Robin's so she was in the video call. "Rollie boo! How are you? Holy shit! What happened to your hair?"

"Roland joined the Marines." Robin answered.

The three chatted and filled each other in about their lives since they last saw each other. Alex had been in Japan for the last three years and chose to extend her sea rotation to travel to Europe. Robin ended their video call with Roland so she could call her mother.

"Well, I'm off. Tell your mom I said 'hi'." Alex announced as she got up and headed for the door.

Robin looked at the time on her computer. "Where the hell are you going? It's after midnight."

"It's not A-School, Robin. Barracks are literally like dormitories in college. Also the MWR Lounge is open 24/7, but I'm going to my girlfriend's room for the night. The first calls home are usually hard so I figured you'd want the privacy. Especially it being a call with your mom." Alex winked and left before Robin could respond.


January 4, 2015

The next morning, Robin had just finished filling out her information on the meal sheet when she felt someone wrap their arm around her shoulder. "Morning! Did you sleep well?" Alex asked as she began filling out her information.

Robin grunted as she tiredly glared at Alex. Her line of sight continued past her friend to the girl standing next in line for breakfast. The first thing Robin noticed were the girl's vibrant blue eyes. She was a few inches shorter than Alex and a reverse bob cut chestnut hair.

"Oh, that's right, intros! Robin this is the GF, Aqua Hamill. Aqua, this is the childhood friend, Robin Hood." Alex announced before gently guiding Robin to the chow line. "I already filled out your info, Babe."

"Thanks, Al. Your friend isn't a morning person, huh?" Aqua handed out the food trays for all three of them.

Alex shook her head. "She never has been. Ironically she did a lot of hiking and other sports that required her to be up at ungodly hours. But she usually just grunted like she's doing now until she got moving and was more awake."

The couple chuckled when Robin grunted at them before telling the chef what she'd like on her plate. Robin went for a basic hot meal: hash browns, scrambled eggs, and sausage links. They ate in silence because neither Aqua nor Alex wanted to bother Robin while her only responses would be various grunts and Robin was still trying to wake up to talk to the her roommate and roommate's girlfriend. It wasn't until Robin was on her second mug of coffee did Aqua start up a conversation.

"So, Robin… I'm sorry if you get this a lot, but your name is actually 'Robin Hood'? Named after the famous outlaw?" Aqua asked.

"Actually I'm Robin West. Robin Hood was my father. Legally you could argue I'm Robin Hood as well since my last name is Hood-West, but I've gone by Robin West in name for as long as I can remember. And I'm assuming my dad was named after the outlaw. I was named after him."

"Got it. Any siblings?"

"One brother and one cousin/step-brother." Robin replied before downing the rest of her coffee.

Aqua looked at her confused. "Cousin/step-brother?"

"Yep, long story short. My parents were never married when I was born and my dad later married my aunt therefore making my cousin, my aunt's son, my step-brother. Now enough about me." Robin nodded towards Aqua and Alex. "How did you two meet? And Aqua do you have any siblings?"

"We were both in Japan together." Alex replied. "I was land side while Aqua was in harbor. She's one of the reasons I extended my sea rotation since she transferred here on harbor orders a few months ago."

"To answer your other question, I have two siblings. An older brother who is in the Army and a younger one in the Air Force. Normally I don't say this when I meet someone, but since we're probably going to see more each other, you being Al's roommate. My brothers and I aren't blood related, all three of us are adopted and we have a half-Japanese father." Aqua answered.

Robin nodded. "Noted. What are their names? My brother's is Roland and my cousin's is Henry."

"The older one is Terra and the younger one is Ven."

The lighter brunette tilted her head. "Wait… did you three join the branches that matched your names?"

Aqua laughed. "Caught on to that, huh? Yeah, we did." Suddenly Aqua became serious and leaned into the table. "Now, onto the more serious questions."

"Babe, no! Too early for her to get those questions." Alex protested.

Robin looked between the two confused. "Should I be worried about these questions?"

"No… if anything these were the questions she asked me when we met. Who would have thought they would have worked as pick up lines for her?" Alex explained. "But, she does make a point that could potentially end a friendship."

Aqua held up one finger. "Question 1: Do you put your cereal in the bowl before milk or milk before cereal and why?"

"What kind of question is that? Who would put milk in their bowl before their cereal? Of course you put the cereal in before milk to get the proper amount of milk in bowl so your cereal isn't too dry or too soggy." Robin replied.

"Question 2:" Aqua held up two fingers. "Peanut Butter then Jam or Jam than Peanut Butter."

"Jam than Peanut Butter. You can easily wipe the jam off before using the same knife to spread the peanut butter, but if you do the peanut butter spread first it's a bitch to remove before spreading the jam."

"Alright, friendship still in tack." Aqua winked to Alex. Alex jokingly rolled her eyes. "Question 3: Do you wet your toothbrush then put the toothpaste on or do you put the toothpaste on then wet your toothbrush?"

"Neither." Robin laughed. "Wet the toothbrush, put the toothpaste on, and then wet the toothbrush again."

Aqua leaned back satisfied with Robin's answers. "Okay, she passes. Bonus round: Sweetened or unsweetened tea?"

"Unsweetened. Sweetened tea is an abomination to tea. It's one thing to add honey, but sugar?" Robin stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Alex laughed. "Robin has always been a tea snob. She and her mother hate tea with any extra flavors, it has to be pure tea. No fruity flavors, no sugar, no ginger, etc. Though I'm surprised she's defending the honey."

"I'm only defending honey because whenever I feel sick I have black tea with honey and milk." Robin replied defensively to her preference of tea.

"But, doesn't milk congest you more when you're sick though?" Aqua questioned.

"Maybe for most people, but for me and my mom it helps us if it's mixed with our tea. Plus it's a nice soothing flavor to help irritated throats."

"I'll have to try that next time I'm sick then." Alex replied. "So, Robin what do you plan on doing the rest of the day?"

Robin looked at Alex knowing her friend had something up her sleeve. "Sleep?"

"Sleep later. I'm dragging your ass on the tour of the base that Aqua will provide us."

"I am?" Aqua jokingly asked earn a smack in her arm.

"Yes, you are. I told you last night, Robin is our baby Boot. We need to look after her and get her adjusted to the actual Navy. Not that Boot Camp/A-School shit." Alex raised her eyebrow towards her girlfriend.

"Uh, hello? I'm right here." Robin waved her hand towards Alex for emphasis for being ignored.

"Not now, sweetie. Mom and Mommy are having a discussion. Babe, do you trust anyone else to look after her with good intentions?"

Both Robin and Aqua sighed in defeat knowing Alex was right. "Yes, dear." Aqua conceded.

"Good." Alex leaned over and peck Aqua in the cheek. "Oh, think we can go to the beach today or tomorrow?"

Robin shook her head smiling. While she had been nervous about what was in stored for her in Greece, she's glad that the universe gave her an old friend to look after her. It definitely helped ease her mother's worries. Now she was excited to for whatever was in stored for her the next three years.