The late-morning sun was out today, taking some of the chill from Alex's morning commute. It couldn't offset the harsh winds that always buffeted his bike on the ride by the airport, but he was willing to withstand it.

For once, he was looking forward to his day at work.

Alex had spent a good portion of the weekend on Friday's purchase: the US Navy Legacy Starter Set. He wasn't particularly history-savvy, but every American knew USS Wisconsin. Her stalwart defense of Norfolk, rising from the ruins of her wrecked hull to repel the Battleship Princess and save the port, were a desperately-needed glimmer of hope among the horror and grief that surrounded La Palma. Images of the battered, weary, and beautiful battleship seeming to ignore grievous wounds to help in the aftermath's rescue efforts were still burned into his mind. A few mediocre memes he'd made about her were still sitting on his cheap desktop's hard drive.

Part of him wondered if Wisconsin, or any of the other former museum ships in the set he'd bought, got a cut of the profits Dream Pod 9 made from his purchase. He'd have to google it later.

Over the weekend, he'd been pouring over rules, watching battle reports, and assembling his models. He wasn't going to get paint on them until he'd bought some new colors next friday, but he had thrown a coat of primer onto them yesterday afternoon. Ignoring Intrepid's aircraft, the starter set only housed about eight figures in total, meaning he didn't have enough to try and feel the rules out by playing against himself.

Hopefully, he'd be getting a chance to try the system out soon. He didn't know what Sarah had bought, having only seen the branding on the side of the box from glancing into the paper bag she'd had next to her, but judging by the bulk in said paper bag it had to be another starter set. Alex couldn't wait to ask what kind of fleet she'd gone with. Maybe some sleek steel-hulls were her fancy, considering one of those must have rescued her from the abyssals? He wouldn't press, but his coworker's escape to civilization must have been one hell of a story.

The overpass signaling the final stretch of his ride came into view, and he redoubled his efforts. By the time he'd dismounted and locked his bike up behind the Jack In The Box, he was breathing heavily, a faint burning lingering in his legs. Maybe he should be finding some more time to exercise, as he hadn't pushed himself that hard, but that was a concern that could wait for later.

He had a job to do.

Surprisingly, Sarah was manning the register, her silver eyes lighting up as she met Alex's gaze. She nodded and smiled at him, sending a shock down the College Student's spine and preventing him from forming a proper greeting. Instead, he weakly waved to his coworker, smiling back as he passed her and moved to drop his backpack off in the breakroom. The smile faded once he entered the kitchen, however, and a different employee greeted him.

"Hey." Clifton grumbled, nodding to him as he passed the grill. "You've got the drive through today."

"Gotcha." Alex acknowledged, keeping his face straight. It was good they had another body to fill positions at the kitchen, but he knew that the thirty-five year old was going to be doing as little as possible. If he hadn't been a friend of Shannon's family, Alex was sure he would have been shown the door years ago. At least he showed up today, although a part of him thought the reason for that could be working at the register right now.

"Milkshake Machine's been fixed, by the way."

"Oh." Alex replied, giving his coworker a thankful nod. "That's great."

At least he was good for something. Alex didn't like Clifton, but he'd acknowledge when he actually contributed to the team.

Sighing, he dropped his backpack in a corner of the breakroom, withdrawing his folded-up uniform and carrying it to the restroom. He shouldn't have been in such a hurry. Both Sarah and Himself were going to be busy until lunch, meaning he could have arrived at his normal time and nothing would have changed. Sarah was working with a customer as he clocked in, meaning he took his post several feet away without exchanging another word.

Well, at least he'll be making a bit more money today…

Trinitite sighed, idly rocking on her screws as she glanced over at her coworker. She'd thought it was great to have Alex to rely on if she forgot something, but yesterday's 'training' had left her with few questions to bother him with. It was good to know he was there in case something happened, but...

The door swung open, and the abyssal returned her attention to the present. The dreaded lunch rush was approaching, so that might have been the last break she'd be getting for a few hours. For someone used to hours-long submarine hunts and days of constant raids from aircraft, it shouldn't have felt like a major deal, but the process of constantly talking to new people was exhausting in a unique way.

The newcomer was a shorter woman, her dark hair partially obscuring her rangefinders as she hurried into the restaurant. The Abyssal braced, giving the human a well-practiced smile as she rattled off the standard greeting.

"Welcome to Jack in The Box, can I take your order?"

"I'll take a number twelve." The human boredly rattled off, her attention only momentarily drifting from her phone.

"Alright!" The Wo-class acknowledged, forcing enthusiasm she didn't have into her next question. "Would you like a drink with that?"

The human bit her lip, looking up from her phone at the menu behind her. Only one other customer had entered the store since then, and they were also focused on the menu behind her. The human in front of her had time to think. A previous customer had left his seat and set a course for the counter approaching, but-

"What the hell is this?"

The previous customer had waited until Trinitite saw him before shouting his protest, but the sudden noise still caused her to jump. The human, a male with prominent dark blotches growing from under his eyes, glared at her, his hamburger clutched in one of his hands.

"I'm… sorry?" The abyssal asked, confused. He'd seemed happy enough back when he'd first gotten his Double Jack. Had she done something wrong?

"I said..." he started, his voice low. The man would have shoved the timid customer aside if she hadn't stepped aside to give the furious human room. "...no tomatoes."

As he growled, he shoved the partially-disassembled hamburger towards the abyssal's bridge. The partially eaten meal never got that close to the Wo-class, but she still flinched away from the dry, pink slices that weren't supposed to be there.

"I- uhh, apologize, sir." She scrambled, meeting the enraged human's gaze with an expression honed by years of dealing with Abyssal Princesses. This was bad. Really bad. Had she made a mistake, or had her fleetmates behind her failed their customer? She knew she'd punched the 'no tomatoes' qualifier into the register, but couldn't recall if she'd actually passed that on to the kitchen! Sure, Trinitite couldn't comprehend why extra fruit was so terrible, but The Fleet's reputation had just been jeopardized!

That was right. Blame could be found later. Now, she had to do some damage control. The enraged customer was probably a lost cause, but there still was the newcomer. A rapid response to the mistake might mitigate the damage to their reputation.

"I'll get you another one right away!" She reported, before turning around and shouting "Number five, no tomatoes!"

That seemed to placate him, as when Trinitite turned back to see if he'd accept the second burger, he'd already left for his table.

Did that mean he was alright with her offer? Trinitite wasn't certain she'd resolved the situation properly. The encounter was nothing compared to an enraged princess, but it had come out of nowhere, and there was the chance that she had made that mistake. Sure, he couldn't physically harm her for any number of reasons, but what if he complained to Shannon? If the abyssal did enough damage to Jack In the Box's reputation, then Shannon might just kick her out, before she got paid! Trinitite might not have the money or supplies for another weeks-long job hunt!

She shook her head, refocusing on the present. If she lost focus on the task at hand, she'd definitely be in trouble!

"I'm sorry," The Carrier apologized to the more reasonable human, checking the register to help her remember what she'd ordered, "you wanted a ranch chicken club, right?"

The lunch rush came and went, the dozens of faces and orders blurring into a single experience that simultaneously seemed to last the entire day and almost no time at all. Soon, the high schoolers (how many fleets could a human serve at once?) had arrived to relieve Alex and Trinitite, leaving the two free to take their much-needed break.

She'd clocked out a little after Alex had, allowing him plenty of time to get started on his meal, but when the abyssal arrived the food had been untouched. He had been waiting for her?

"So, how was friday?" He started, failing to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "Did you have fun?"

'Fun?' The abyssal would have to look that word up later. Around most humans, failing to understand a major part of the question would make her hesitate, but she felt pretty comfortable trying to give her fleetmate an answer anyways.

"Oh, it was pretty good." She replied, nodding as she reached into her hull. "Now that I understand how it works, I think I'll find it a bit more interesting."

"Awesome." He replied, taking a bite of his own hamburger. "On a similar note, I bought a Valkyries set that… is that ramen?"

Trinitite looked down at the meal she'd withdrawn from her hold. The package of ramen was small enough that she could have reasonably fit it in a pocket, yet had enough mass that it would hopefully keep her hunger at bay until she could get off work. Still, was it suspicious that she wasn't eating the fleet's expensive food? Or did the question come from the fact she was blatantly ignoring the directions on the back?

Look, she wouldn't have access to boiling water for a while, and she still needed to eat something...

"...Yes." The Wo-class admitted, unable to find any excuse for herself.

"Are you doing alright?"

Alex's question was devoid of suspicion or accusation. Trinitite looked up from her brick of ramen, seeing an expression she was familiar with, but had never seen on a human before.

Alex was concerned about her.

"I'm doing fine." She lied, her turbines briefly slowing as pressure from her boilers dipped for a second. "I'm just a little low on cash right now."

To demonstrate, she nonchalantly tore the ramen package open, taking an enthusiastic bite of the uncooked noodles.

Crunch.

"Oh…" Alex replied, trailing off. The two focused on eating for a minute, the crackle of dry ramen intermingling with the noise of work from the kitchen and the music being constantly broadcast over the building's 1MC. After that minute, however, her fleetmate spoke up again.

"So, if you don't mind," he hesitated, looking away from the abyssal when Trinitite glanced up from her meal. "I saw you got a starter set of your own…"

The abyssal's mood abruptly soured. The Mistake was still resting in her hull, untouched since her breakdown last Friday. Had he bought a set to play with her?

"I did." Trinitite acknowledged, her own gaze falling. The fact that not only did she waste her own money, but that of her comrade as well, made her feel even worse. "Can't afford to build and paint them, though…"

"That's fine!" Alex hurried, drawing Trinitite's attention back to his placating face. "We can get some paint and glue after we get paid on Friday!"

That got her attention.

"We get paid on friday?" She only had to endure a few days of this?

"Of course! Sixth and Twenty-First of every month." Alex reported, his own mood clearly boosted by Trinitite's relief. "I can help with putting your fleet together the day after."

"Yeah. That would be great!" She replied. Not only was recovery from her misdeeds not particularly far off, but she'd be getting the fleet she'd wanted after all! She'd known preserving that poor purchase had been a good idea! "Thank you!"

The abyssal would have to find a way to repay him for his help, but that was a future problem.

"It's… uh…" Alex suddenly looked away, part of his cheeks darkening to a salmon red. "It's no problem."

Was this a human blush? No matter. With that huge weight off her decks, Trinitite dove back into her ramen. The brittle noodles didn't have much of a taste to them, but now she found it much easier to focus on.

Blegh, Tomatoes... but I would have just taken them off.

Anyways, I have to apologize about the lack of updates. I've been writing new chapters, but both of my laptops bricked about a month ago, so I could only really post and write on mobile. Good enough for the relatively simple forums this story's been cross-posted to, but posting on added an element of haste that I didn't really want to deal with on top of going through military training.

It's a pretty bad excuse, but whatever. I have another laptop now, so now I can post here again! Expect weekly updates until we're caught up here.