Virgin snow

I was standing just off to the side of Erik who was facing Bismarck, having just slipped the wedding band on her finger; her dress was amazing, conservative yet provocative. I kind of wondered just how much influence Prinz Eugen had in the dress design, yet that did nothing compared to when I learned that it was Hipper that actually made the dress. Speaking of Eugen, she was just off to the side of Bismarck, looking both happy and not happy at the same time, likely because there was someone else, a little closer than she was. I found myself smiling at the tall woman with a white bob of hair, as she held a bouquet of red and white flowers, her red dress looking so much simpler compared to Bismarck's, even if it was simpler, you could still see hand-stitched flowers into the fabric that were a slightly different red. Even if this dress was simpler, it was still a step above the one that Eugen was in, it lacked the hand-stitched flowers. The woman with the white bob noticed I was looking at her and her cheeks flushed and she gave me a shy smile.

I know the entire room was looking at Erik and Bismarck, but I was looking at her and she was looking at me. The cheering and hollering pulls me from my thoughts and I notice Erik and Bismarck turning from the alter and starting to make their way down the aisle, I move quickly to offer my arm to Tirpitz, to which she links arms with me and we follow the newlyweds out into the summer air, hard to believe it was already the second week of June. More surprising is that I had been here, in this place for seven months already.

Getting into the second car after Tirpitz, I smile at her as we sit beside one another, I then look to the front seats of the car and see a blew haired meowfficer as she slips on an old leather flying cap, then some heavy leather gloves, and finally slips the goggles down over her eyes. With a gulp I wonder who is on the pedals right now, Tirpitz reaches over to touch my leg as she says, "It will be fine, Steel is the second-best driver among the meowfficers."

First I pat Tirpitz's hand, then I grip the handle above the door as I say, "That doesn't fill me with confidence, I remember Oscar's driving."

Tirpitz adjusts her dress, folding her hands in her lap as she looks out the window and says, "My sister looked so happy today."

I nod as I say, "I've known Erik a long time, I've only ever seen him look at someone like that once before, so I know he loves your sister."

"You are talking about your sister, being the other, yes?" Tirpitz asks me.

I nod and sigh, "Yeah, Syd would want Erik to move on and be happy, so I'm glad Erik has found someone. Do you have any idea where they're going to skip off to on their honeymoon?"

"I think I heard Bismarck talk about some resort in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Sardegna Empire." She pauses to smirk, "As happy as my sister seems, the bikini that Aurora gifted her for the trip made her rather flustered."

"Do I want to know?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Tirpitz takes out her phone but stops before looking down and shaking her head as she mumbles, "Perhaps not."

Changing the subject I ask, "So, what are the chances I can get you to dance tonight at the reception?"

Tirpitz looked out the window as we made our way through the base, her cheeks bright pink again as she brushed some hair behind an ear and mumbled, "I'm not sure, James."

I reach across the seats to squeeze her right hand as I say, "I'm only asking as the last time we were at a party, you all but refused to dance and wanted to duck out."

"I'm not much of a party person, but this is a function I cannot escape this time." She sighs.

"Hey," I say to get her attention, when she turns to look at me, I kiss her. I can sense she's less tense this time, relaxing quicker, and still makes that happy little noise before the kiss breaks and I continue, "We can always stay, make our speeches, then make an excuse to try and duck out."

Tirpitz was glowing pink and tried to hide her face behind some flowers in the bouquet as she mumbled, "I cannot do that, Bismarck wanted me to stay for some traditions, the toss of the bouquet, and a garter belt toss?"

I raise an eyebrow at that, I mean I'm like the only other guy in attendance for this, well single guy anyway. The mayor of the town outside the base and some higher-ups in the command structure are going to be there too, but they're all married. Tirpitz tilts her head to the side and asks, "What is it?"

"It's ah, well…" I say while tapping my fingers together before closing my eyes and sighing, "Tradition has it meaning that whomever the single man is to catch the garter belt is the next to be married, just as with the bouquet toss, the single woman to catch it is the next to get married."

"Oh." Was all she said as she hid her face behind the flowers more.

I found myself starting to chuckle as I say to her, "You are so adorable when you're flustered like this."

All Tirpitz could do was make a squeaking noise as the car came to a calm stop before my door opened, I slid out of the side and held a hand out for her as I asked, "Coming?"

Tirpitz lowered the flowers, but she was still glowing red as she took a few breaths to calm herself down before reaching over to take my hand and allow me to help her out of the car. Ahead of us, I could see Erik and Bismarck vanishing into the hall, I smiled at Tirpitz and lead her up the stairs and to the dining hall.

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Never got that dance with Tirpitz, she was feeling really awkward during the reception, but I noticed she was making small talk with some of the other girls at least, so that was good. When the MC called for all single ladies to the dance floor, I knew deep down the real entertainment was about to start. I couldn't help but remember the insanity of Syd and Erik's bouquet toss, I remembered seeing Syd's maid of honor grab a girl by the back of her dress and pull her to the ground to stop her from getting the bouquet. Apparently, the woman didn't have anything keeping the top of her dress up as she flashed the entire ballroom in the process. I wonder if these girls will be better behaved…

Beside me, I see Tirpitz is staying seated so I nudge her and motion to the floor with my head and she simply shakes hers and looks down. However, Aurora comes over and takes her by both hands, starting to pull her up, while Hipper gets behind her and starts to push her toward the dance floor.

When Tirpitz was out on the floor, she was surrounded by Eugen, Aurora, Hipper, Twenty-Three, Yorck, and a few other girls I didn't know, one of them was super tall with long dark hair and red horns, honestly, I figured if anyone was going to catch it, it'd be the one with the horns, she was just so much taller than the rest.

Bismarck turned her back to the collection of ten kansen, Erik standing in front of Bismarck, making little motions with his right hand, almost like he was directing her shot. I kind of wondered how this would work for them; I mean they usually have unbelievable accuracy with throwing things. After a moment Erik makes a gesture, letting Bismarck know everything is perfect. Bismarck makes one fake toss, as Erik counts down with his fingers, once he hits one, he winks at me and Bismarck tosses the collection of flowers over her shoulder.

The tall woman with the horns, put her hands on the shoulders of Aurora and Eugen, dragging them back, Twenty-Three latched on to Yorck, while Hipper pulled another girl back, leaving Tirpitz, standing in the center, alone. The bouquet rolled slowly in the air and came down, bouncing off of Tirpitz's bust then coming to a stop in her hands that she hadn't lifted above waist height.

Mother fucker, this was planned!

Tirpitz goes bright pink before she comes back over to sit down beside Bismarck's chair, her blue eyes looking at the collection of flowers in her hands.

"Next up, the garter belt toss!" screeches the MC.

Fuck me.

Rather than go out there, I watch as Erik slips his hands under Bismarck's skirt, causing her to flush a bright pink before he slips the white and blue lace ring off of her leg. I watch as he rolls it around his index finger and comes right up to the head table, smirks, and hands it to me as he says, "We all know you're the only guy not married here."

Son of a bitch.

I mean come on, me and Tirpitz had only really started trying this whole dating thing in the last month after I kissed her on the docks and now it's been implied that we're going to get hitched next? Fuck, I know Erik has been trying to be subtle about this, but this feels more overt than his normal nudging things along a path he wants. I risk a look over at Tirpitz, her eyes are locked on the garter belt, her cheeks having taken on more of a glow. Leaning over I whisper to her, "It doesn't mean anything, just a silly tradition."

Tirpitz nods, but her cheeks maintain their bright color.

Thankfully the rest of the evening passes fairly simply without any further issues.

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The next day, after seeing off the happy couple, complete with a 'just married' sign and streamers hanging off the stern of the hull of the Bismarck, I couldn't help but shake my head and feel the sudden weight of responsibility I was being saddled with. Granted it was only going to be a month, but still, it was a whole month where I'm going to be responsible for the girls here and the base at large. I kept watching till I saw the hull slip past the breakwater and I felt assured they were well and truly underway.

With them gone now, I let out a heavy sigh before turning to walk towards my quarters; I still have a whole evening to go before I had to go to the big office tomorrow. Lifting my phone to my nose and tap it a couple of times, before I send a message to Tirpitz if she'd like to come over tonight to have a movie night with me, it'd become a bit of a thing we do on Friday nights, but well, this past Friday got hijacked for bachelor and bachelorette parties. I'd understand if she turned me down, I mean we both have to work in the office tomorrow, bright and early, she's covering for Bismarck and I'm covering for Erik.

To my surprise, after a few heartbeats, I got an answer back with a smiley face and she offered to bring food and the movie this time, with a shrug, I text back that I'm looking forward to it and suggested around nineteen hundred.

XXXX

Putting the dishes in the sink after the movie, I turn around to see the living room was empty and I call out, "Tirpitz?"

From down the hall, I hear her say with a mix of nervousness and excitement in her voice, "I'm in here."

Heading down the hall, I see that my bedroom door is cracked open, but the light is off, sticking my head inside I ask, "Tirpitz?"

"Y…yes." She responds with a pause before adding, "Are you coming to bed?"

Bobbing my head back and forth, this would be the third time she slept over, the second time since we decided to really try and give this a go. Looking over my shoulder at the lights still on, I tell her, "In a sec, I just need to turn things off."

Switching off the last of the lights, I return to the bedroom, Tirpitz had made it pretty clear she likes me being around it makes the night much more enjoyable, less night terrors. Stepping into the bedroom, I reach for the light switch and she asks, "C…could you leave the light off?"

With a shrug I leave the lights out, pull off my shirt and take off my pants, leaving my underwear on as I ask, "Is everything okay?"

"Mmph." She tells me with just a noise.

Getting over to the bed I go to pull the covers back, but I can feel that she's holding on to them tightly, I know she can be a little funny when it comes to things like us sharing a bed, but really, the only part of her I haven't see naked is her boobs at this point. As soon as I'm in the bed and pulled the covers over me, I feel Tirpitz scoot close, like she likes to, usually to take in my scent before she falls asleep. As soon as I feel her face make contact with my chest, I place a hand on her side and notice I'm not touching any fabric. I slide my hand up and down her side, and she makes a little sound of pure surprise, but not an unwelcome one.

The next thing I know, she's kissing my chest, and I ask, "Tirpitz?"

She stops kissing my chest and mumbles, "I want to try."

I held my breath, and I could hear both of our heartbeats, beating in the dark, I let my hand wander down to her hips, not finding a waistband, I then wander up to check for a bra strap, but again nothing and I ask, "Are you sure?"

She presses herself against me as she whispers, "I know you are good for me, and I want you to be my first, I hope I will not disappoint you, James."

I stroke her cheek with one hand as I say to her, "I doubt you could."

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A/N: This is the version that does not contain explicitly adult content, that version is found on the AO3 version of the story.