A Certain Lady Part 22
Hiei returned to consciousness with a slow, easy pace. She shook off the fog and the cobwebs of sleep as she sat up with the kind of lazy grace more comparable to a well fed predator. While she quite enjoyed the soft lapping of the waves against her hull or the serene calm of the docks, she would readily admit they did not quite compare to a warm, comfy bed. Particularly one replete with the feeling of home.
It was one of the better perks of having been granted a form capable of experiencing the sensations of the body and the ability to comprehend and appreciate them. That she was still a fully capable and qualified Kongou-Class battleship made it even better. Well, there were the obvious downsides. A body capable of feeling pleasure was equally capable of feeling pain as well. Joy and despair to boot.
She rolled her shoulders before arcing her back and reaching towards the ceiling with her remaining hand in a long stretch. That tense feeling of taut muscle brought a satisfied moan from her lips. A grunt and another moan accompanied formerly misaligned machinery and slightly off-kilter joints easing back into their appropriate places.
With a gasp she released the breath she had been holding and relaxed, slouching over before flopping back onto the bed.
"Nnn..." She stared upwards for a few moments, letting her mind drift to the past few days. So much had happened in such a short span of time. Things were already a bit of a madhouse before New Jersey had been summoned by the Americans. But then it seemed as if everything had kicked into high gear. Hmm... Kinda like back in the forties. And then Arizona of all ships had showed up!
In Japan no less!
It made her head hurt when she tried and wrap her mind around it. Maybe if she'd seen the summoning herself? Her Admiral had a way about having strange things happen in his life, so that probably had something to do with it.
"Hmm... thoughts for later. I have things to do!" declared the battleship to no one but herself.
She sat up and all but bounded out of bed, landing on her feet with a slightly unsteady thumping sound. Balance... would be an issue for a while. She was missing a few hundred tons of herself mostly on one side after all.
"Step one, getting dressed." Hiei strolled over to the closet and began rifling through the myriad clothes hanging neatly pressed upon hangars of varying colors and designs. The only ones with any sort of uniformity were, reasonably, the ones sporting uniforms. "Nope. No. Hmm... Not in the mood for white. Or a button down. Oh bugger, this one has a hole in it. ...And that one does too."
It took her a few minutes of searching, grumbling, and tossing of most holey garments before finally grabbing a grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she deemed suitable. Plus, they were easy enough to put on. The shirt was quite baggy, so it didn't irritate her wounds any more than it had to. And the same went for the jeans. Though that was less about any easing on her screws than it was they were really, really comfortable. She might be bereft a bra or her bindings, but she really didn't want to try putting the latter on with one arm and all her sports bras were probably going to be a bit too tight on her shoulder. Something of Mutsu's might work. Or if she could find one of her camisoles…
Well, there weren't any here, so she'd need to go hunting through the laundry to find a clean one. And while perfectly capable of simply going through most of the day without, you never knew when you might need to run out unexpectedly or who might stop by. She wasn't that kind of ship after all!
One way or another she'd get it sorted out.
But she actually had to get dressed first. And therein lay the trouble. At least she didn't need to get undressed first.
Sometimes just sleeping in nothing but your knickers was really comfortable.
"Oh, fiddlesticks," Hiei remarked as she held out the shirt by a sleeve and tried to grab the its pair with her other hand, only to realize that hand wasn't there anymore. This would definitely take a lot more getting used to than she initially thought. Conceptually, no problem. In practice… very real problems. "Right. Okay. I can do this!"
She contemplated the upper wear for a few moments before nodding sharply and tossing it into the air. With a deft hand, she caught it by the lower end and draped it over her head. With a bit of struggling and nearly putting her head through a sleeve she managed to finally adorn herself with the shirt.
Backwards.
One frown and a mild curse later, Hiei had managed to right the apparel and no longer looked quite so silly. Well, no more silly than anyone wearing a shirt saying '#1 Dadmiral' on it. It was also a bit large for her. At least it was a bit easier to manage thanks to that. Well, sort of.
"Hiei-mama?"
"Oh! Jane!" Hiei blinked and turned to face the littlest Richardson, a smile blooming on her face until it was plain as day. "Good mor-guf!"
Hiei found herself interrupted as Jane barrelled into her stomach with the most bearish hug that could possibly be delivered by a child. And either she was way more drained from her ordeal than she thought, or Jane was channelling some deep mysterious reserve of power. Probably the former.
"Well, someone's full of energy this morning." She ruffled Jane's hair affectionately and was rewarded with a bright smile. It was good to be home.
"Of course I am! Everyone came home and Daddy said he'd take me on an outing tomorrow and Mutsu-mama finally came back and Ari-mama made breakfast for me!" She released her hold on Hiei and bounced around the half-clothed battleship like an over-enthusiastic tugboat.
"Lucky. I want to try some." Hiei pouted as she realized she'd missed a nice, home cooked morning meal. And one made by Arizona no less. As a ship who prided herself on her culinary exploits, she was always up for trying new foods. Or even everyday things made by different people. Lots of new experiences and ideas to be had there.
"She said you needed your rest." Jane paused in her dashing to and fro to pose sternly with a hand on her hip and a finger raised as if she were some sort of humorless instructor. "The Lieutenant needs as much time to recover as possible if she is to return to her duties."
Hiei snickered openly at Jane's attempt at imitating Arizona.
"But Ari-mama did leave you some leftovers to warm up. And she gave me instructions and everything just in case you couldn't find them before she left." She dropped the attempt at acting imposing and grinned. "I think she's worrying too much."
"Probably. She's got a ton of spirit and I bet she doesn't know what to do with it all. So she just fusses over every little thing. In her own, grumpy way." Hiei laughed alongside Jane at the good-natured ribbing of the absent Standard. Arizona did get pretty wound up about things. Some with plenty good reason, too. But if the redhead were home, she'd probably have heated words about her current state of dress. Or a conniption fit. Maybe both.
Speaking of dress…
"Jane, is all of the laundry clean?" She rolled her wounded shoulder subconsciously as she asked.
"Hmm…" Jane placed a finger to her lips as the thought about it. She was pretty sure it had been done. It was Daddy's turn and he was usually really good about it. She had clean clothes at least. But what got washed with what tended to be up in the air at times. "I… think so?"
"Would you help me out and go find one of my camisoles or one of Mutsu's bras?" Her shoulder was really starting to ache right now. Not painful, per se. But definitely uncomfortable.
"Okay. But why do you need one of Mut-oh! Oh! Sorry. Yeah!" Jane's expression went from confusion to realization to shock before arriving at determination. All in the span of a swiftly spoken sentence. "I'll be right back!"
"Don't run down the stairs!" hollered Hiei as Jane bolted from the room. At least she didn't need to explain the why about needing certain undergarments to Jane. The girl was pretty quick on things sometimes. However the rapid thumping of footsteps made her briefly reconsider that thought. Really now.
"Next up… pants."
By the time Jane had returned, a sizable brassiere in hand, Hiei was a barely decent tangle of limbs and denim laying on the floor.
"...Mama? Are you okay?"
"I've been better?" Hiei flopped onto her back with a huff, her shirt hiked up and pants only partially up to her knees on one side. "I really overestimated what I can do like this."
"Can I-may I help?" Jintsuu-mama's lessons were not for nothing!
"I… Yeah." She was not above asking for help. But it didn't make her feel any less silly about the whole situation. Objectively it's really easy to tell that missing an entire limb is going to change your life in all sorts of ways. But in reality it was a bit harder to wrap her head around just how deep those changes went. The shirt should have been her first indication if last night hadn't hammered it in. Maybe she was just too happy to have been home to really notice or remember all of the advice and warnings she'd been given by Parkson.
"Then sit up so I can get you dressed," Jane ordered in the same tone of voice she normally used when she was playing Ensign.
Hiei somehow managed to sit up and salute without laughing at the sight of a determined Jane barking orders with a bra in hand.
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you ma'am." Okay, so she was grinning like a buffoon. She didn't have that much restraint. But at least she could keep it together better than Mutsu. Mutsu would have been on the floor trying to breathe between laughs.
If the Abyssal menace really wanted to stand up to the Nagato-Class, then they should hire a comedian.
Fortunately humor seemed to be beyond them.
"Okay! First is..."
It took some work and a fair amount of pinched skin as Jane wasn't exactly the most gentle of assistants, but Hiei was ultimately able to find herself fully dressed with the requested help. Even though the child didn't do more than pull on the clothes or help steady the battleship at said battleship's request it was still enough. And sometimes enough was all you needed to get through the day. But she would definitely need to get used to doing this on her own.
Hiei rolled her shoulders with an approving look on her face. Yeah, some bits could be better off. But she was dressed and all good to go.
"Alright. Much better! Thank you, Jane!" She reached down and pulled Jane in for a hug that was reciprocated quite readily.
"Anytime, mama." Jane smiled before disengaging and dashing over to the door. Her smile turning into a smirk that was all too reminiscent of her father. "But I bet Daddy could do it even better!"
And with that she ran off, laughing all the way.
"Wh-You little-! Get back here, Ensign Jane Elaine Richardson! Don't make me come after you!"
Hiei sighed and let a slightly wistful smile grace her lips after her outburst. Well, that was fine. The teasing and the laughing and all the madness. Her sisters might not be here, running around across the Pacific as they were, but it was still home. Her home.
"Gotta catch me~!"
...And now it was time for her to have some fun of her own. She smirked ominously. Catch her? Did she think to flee from a Kongou? Surely Jane's words were in jest.
"I don't know. Hide and seek might be a bit tough for me right now. I'm just so hungry. Ari's breakfast might not be enough," she called out in reply as she strolled out of the bedroom. Her blue eyes twinkled with mirth. "You know what? The Major sent me that really good recipe for cinnamon rolls. I should probably make some. But I don't know if I can do it on my own."
Hiei could almost feel Jane's gaze from her hiding spot.
"I might have to pass on making those giant, gooey cinnamon rolls, dripping with frosting and piping hot." She looked down at her side where Jane had all but magically appeared, tugging at her shirt. Hook. Line. And sinker.
"...The Major's recipe?"
"Gotcha." Hiei laughed at Jane's look of embarrassment before ruffling the girl's dark hair. It was fun to do. "Come on. With all our spirit and hearts full of love, lets get cooking!"
"To the kitchen. All ahead flank!"
It was a warzone that decorated the pile of baked goods some hours later, but they were the best cinnamon rolls anyone had eaten in a long time.