It felt good to finally get some fresh air. Standing out in the courtyard, I looked up at the vast blue sky as I felt the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. My companion immediately decided to give me her unasked, unvarnished opinion.

"You look like an idiot," Z24 announced. "You know that, right? Foolish mortal."

I didn't even bother opening my eyes or facing her direction before I responded. "Nobody told you to come out here with me."

"If I hadn't and something had happened to you, August would be most displeased with me," she huffed. "You mortals are frail, weak things. You were almost dead when we found you, who knows what trouble you'll get into if left unsupervised."

"Well, I'm trying not to make a habit of falling overboard, so there's a start," I quipped. "Besides, it's a courtyard, what could happen in a courtyard? Do you have it booby-trapped or something?"

"What if her aide sees you and decides to make you a midday snack?"

Okay, that one got me to open my eyes and look down at her. "Pretty sure he doesn't fly around eating people…right?"

The destroyer looked up at me and gave me a wicked grin. "Do you want me to go inside so you can find out?"

While I was reasonably certain that the dragon doesn't need food to sustain him and that he knew who I was, I wasn't about to bet my life on that just yet. "Nah, I'm good," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.

It didn't work. Z24 grinned triumphantly as she pointed an accusatory finger at me. "Ah-ha!" she crowed, "So you can feel fear!"

"Of course I can," I scowled, "There aren't a whole lot of people who don't feel fear. I'm just not afraid of you."

That brought her good mood to an immediate screeching halt as she placed her hands on her hips and harumphed mightily at me. "And why not? I'm an immortal demon, all-powerful! You should quail in fear before me! I could destroy you in the blink of an eye."

I smiled and leaned close to her as if I was sharing some great secret with her. "But you won't," I quietly declared. "You know, and I know, that if you were to harm me, you'd get in a lot of trouble. More trouble than it's worth, I'm sure."

While she didn't agree with me verbally, I could see I'd hit the mark. She folded her arms over her chest and looked away. "And the dragon?"

I grinned and savored this small victory for a moment before I looked back up at the sky. "He's a bit more of an unknown. Our riggings back home don't possess any real intelligence or independence so I don't know what he can or can't do. And he's certainly gotten hostile with me in the past, so I just can't say for certain what he'll do."

"And that makes him dangerous?"

"Yes," I said, then quickly backtracked. "No." Realizing that I wasn't making much sense, I took a deep breath and composed my thoughts before speaking again. "It's more than just being dangerous," I explained. "You're all dangerous. The dragon, you, August, Eugen, Graf Zeppelin, hell, even Enterprise or Sumner back home. If any one of you decided to end me, there's not a whole lot anyone could do about it. But I know, deep down, none of you girls will. The dragon, on the other hand, I don't know, and there's a distinct possibility he may wish me harm. And that's what makes him frightening."

If Z24 had a response, she never voiced it as we were both distracted by a low drone that was growing ever louder. The closer it got, the more it sounded like a squadron or two of airplanes. I turned to the destroyer and asked, "Where's August?"

"Dunno," she shrugged as she looked around, trying to determine which way the planes would come from. "She said she had something to take care of."

I think I had an idea of what that "something" was, and my suspicions were swiftly confirmed as the first BF-109 roared overhead. A flight of four, followed quickly by two more, all of whom began slowly circling overhead. "Let me guess," I called out to Z24, "Those are her planes, aren't they?"

"Nothing gets past you, mortal!" she called back with a sardonic grin. "What was your first clue?"

"The camo's kind of a giveaway." Instead of the historic grey and yellow camouflage scheme, August's 109s were black and grey, with a white stripe on the fuselage and red control surfaces. "Any idea why she didn't keep something a little less… noticeable?"

"She rides a fire-breathing dragon into battle, she's not exactly going for subtlety here, sheesh!" Z24 snapped with an exasperated sigh that was lost in the roaring overhead. "Besides, Siren ships don't have eyes so it's not like camo really does much."

"Fair," I shrugged as the 109s gracefully peeled off one by one, presumably headed back to August. As soon as the last one disappeared beyond the castle walls, a veritable swarm of BF-110s took their place, with twice as many of them in two distinct groups. Each one began circling us, giving me a good view of each paint scheme. While both kept the black fuselage and wings, one seemed to eschew any light colors aside from the identification markings, with the control surfaces in a dark red along with an all-red shark's mouth painted on the nose. The other group had gone with a similar paint scheme to the 109s, with grey on the nose, and a white stripe around the tail. The shark mouth scheme was also in full color as well, with the white and red standing out against the black and grey.

Z24 didn't seem quite as impressed as I did. "Hrmm…" She frowned as she crossed her arms and shot a dirty look at them. "Those planes circling overhead are like flies... annoying and won't go away... Don't you agree?"

"Afraid not," I shook my head with a rueful grin. "I think they're absolutely beautiful."

The roar of the engines drowned out her exasperated sigh, but I could still clearly see her frustration. I chuckled and looked back up at the circling planes overhead, waving up at them, certain that August could see me.

My assumptions were proven correct as one of the 110s broke formation and swooped in low over the courtyard, waggling its wings as it passed overhead. The others broke off to follow it eventually leaving us alone in the courtyard, with the drone of aircraft engines rapidly fading away.

"Well that was fun," I announced, much to Z24's continued annoyance as she huffed and shook her head.

"Probably gonna hear about this from the local Burgermeister again," she muttered.

That piqued my interest. "She's done this before?"

She shook her head, then shrugged. "Not with her aircraft, but her dragon used to fly over quite a bit. It terrified the puny mortals of the little town and they eventually sent a message up here politely requesting that she stop. So she did, until today."

I supposed having a giant mechanical dragon flying over your quiet little town would be a tad intimidating, especially if you weren't terribly familiar with how Iron Blood riggings operated. "By the way, what's in that little town over there, anyway?"

"Not much," she replied. "A bistro, a couple of clothes shops, but it's all suits and dresses, really boring stuff, and oh!" She suddenly gasped, her eyes wide and bright as she looked up at me. "They do have a bakery that sells the most delicious black forest cake!"

Her enthusiasm was a refreshing change of pace from her usual muttering and attempts at intimidation, as adorable as they were. "I take it that's your favorite?"

She nodded eagerly before putting her haughty airs back on. "Black is the mark of my infernal nobility— yes, black coffee, dark chocolate, and black forest cake... are all things within my domain! Surely even human scum such as you recognizes this."

"Of course, of course," I nodded as I played along. A plan was formulating in my mind now, one that would require her help. "So, if I could get you some black forest cake, o dark and deadly demon, could you help me out with a few things?"

Her smile swiftly faded and her eyes narrowed. "What sort of favors?"

I glanced around, making sure nobody was around before I leaned in and began to whisper in her ear. "Well…"

August returned that afternoon where she found me relaxing in the library, my leg propped up on the couch. "I expected to find you here," she smiled, as she strode around the couch. "Tell me, did you enjoy my little show for you today?"

"I did," I replied as I set the book aside for now. "As I told Z24, you've given them a rather…striking paint job."

"Indeed I did," she grinned as she carefully lifted my leg and sat on the couch, placing the leg back down in her lap. "Hard to be nostalgic about a time I never existed."

I inwardly winced and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to-"

"It's quite alright," she cut me off, holding up a hand to stave off my apology. "You meant nothing by it and I was not looking for pity, simply stating a fact. I actually enjoy the freedom that comes with never having existed before now. I am not shackled by neither memories nor doctrines, and I prefer it that way."

"That's a unique way of looking at things," I said, rather impressed by her interesting point of view.

"And what about you? Would you feel unshackled if you didn't have your memories?"

"I'd feel more unhinged than unshackled, I think," I answered honestly. "I wasn't born fully formed knowing how to do my job. It takes time, patience, learning, and going back over both your successes and failures alike to see how you could do better. And yeah, they can define you, shackle you, as you put it, to a specific kind of thinking. But you've got to learn to overcome it as a human, otherwise, it can spell disaster for you."

She listened intently before she smile softly. "Fascinating. You humans are such interesting creatures."

"It's weird that you refer to us as a separate species…"

August looked somewhat surprised, although I could see a spark of mischief in those violet eyes. "Are we not, though? We may look the same, and we may share many of the same traits, but we are very different creatures underneath."

Her words were right, but they still didn't sit well with me. "True, but…I dunno, I've always thought of you all as just people. Extremely powerful people, but still people. We still have the same wants, dreams, desires, and needs."

Her smile turned devilish as she leaned in, her hand tiptoeing up my thigh. "And what are your…needs, my familiar?"

Oh, that was a bad choice of words. "O-oh, the usual," I stammered as her fingers continued their way up. "But enough about me, let's talk about you some more, what are your needs?"

"You," she breathed, shifting her position on the couch as she crawled atop me. "And more importantly, your ears…"

That was not the answer I was expecting. "Wait, what?"

Before I could attempt to object any further, she whispered softly into my ears, her lips brushing gently against them as she did so. "To help you relax, my familiar…"

Immediately, I felt a shiver go down my spine and the tingling, relaxing sensation spread across the back of my head. "I th-thought we were…we were gonna do this later…" I breathed, trying to keep the focus on my thoughts.

She lifted her head, smiling down at me, her eyes alight before she lowered herself to my other ear. "I simply could not wait, dear William…"

Another shiver ran through me and a soft sigh escaped my lips as I sank further into the couch. She draped herself over me, her soft curves pressing against me in ways I wasn't even the slightest bit prepared for. She giggled softly in my left ear, intensifying the tingling feeling in my brain. Part of me knew I should resist, should push back lest I fall completely into her trap, under her spell. "Should…wait…" I murmured.

She giggled again before switching to my right ear, her silvery hair draped across my face as she leaned back down. "Here you are, getting exactly what you asked for, precisely what we discussed, and yet you still resist."

Back to the left ear now, her lips brushing against it once more, sending more tingles throughout my brain and shivers down my spine. It was so blissfully relaxing, so wonderfully calm. For once, my brain wasn't thinking about what to do next or what important meetings I have coming up, or the constant recitation of facts, figures, and movie lines. Everything was blissfully calm. And it made me a little afraid.

Of course, August could pick up on it. Either with her Unhulde powers or the far more plausible explanation that she could read me like an open book. "I can sense your apprehension, my familiar…" she breathed. "Why are you so afraid? Is it because you fear you won't want to escape this feeling of being pampered? Trapped, here, in my loving embrace, for all eternity.

"Calm." She moved to the right ear.

"Relaxed." Then back to the left.

"My perfect." Right.

"Pampered." Left.

"Familiar." Right.

At this point, all my resistance(along with most of my higher brain functions) had melted away, leaving me in a wonderfully relaxed state. I shuddered once more, and she giggled again in my ear. "I love feeling you beneath me," she purred, keenly aware of the double entendre she'd just made. At that point, I was too far gone to care. It was genuine bliss. If I was damned to an eternity of this, well…there are far worse ways to spend forever…

I don't know how long I was out, but eventually, I became aware August's voice was no longer in my ear and the tingles had subsided, leaving me with only a warm, relaxed feeling I hadn't felt in…I honestly couldn't remember. As I stirred, I immediately realized August wasn't draped atop me anymore, and I felt a sudden pang of loss. Had it been so easy for her to ensnare me? Perhaps, but she wasn't going to get me without a fight. I opened my eyes and saw August back on her end of the couch, my leg in her lap and a book in her hands.

When she noticed me looking at her, she smiled warmly and set the book down on the end table next to her. "Ah, not out for as long as I suspected you would be. Still resisting, my familiar?"

"Little bit," I grunted as I shifted to a more upright position. "That was still…very relaxing. I honestly don't know the last time I felt so at peace. Thank you."

Her smile grew just a tiny bit more triumphant as she bowed her head. "Thank you for letting me try it on you. I always wanted to, but I never found anyone worthy of my words."

"Glad I could help you out with that." There was an awkward pause as I didn't know what to say next, and my mind was still partially in that blissful torpor.

Fortunately, August took advantage of the pause to change subjects. "I see you've been reading up on the 109 as well," she said, hefting the book. "Which one interests you the most, Commander?"

"The 110," I answered. "Never heard of it before now, but I think everyone's heard of the 109 by now."

"A fair point," she conceded. "Perhaps you would like to view one up close once your leg has healed?"

There was something in her tone that made me think she was talking more than a walkaround of the aircraft. "How close?"

"A full tour, inside and out," she answered.

I was legitimately surprised she'd let me climb around inside one of her aircraft, given how precarious this truce was. "Think you could give me flying lessons, too?"

Her victorious smile told me I'd played right into her hands on this one. "Commander, I never thought you would ask…"

A/N-Quick note: ASMR is a bit tricky to write, hopefully I nailed the feeling. And yes, I did get August's ASMR recording. It is highly effective. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!