Part 35: Dahlia

HMS Ark Royal

Yokohama City

Seated on the couch in Darjeeling's apartment, the St Gloriana and Saunders Commanders howled with laughter along with the studio audience of the panel show they were binge watching. Kay had never seen it before, since it was presented on BBC Two, but Darjeeling had been kind enough to quickly explain it. Six comedians on two teams offered jokes and stories related to topics presented by the host in different games. Most of it was related to British politics and news, so Kay was a bit bewildered at the start, but jokes she understood soon followed.

The current game involved the host sharing a news topic in the form of an answer, and the comics guessing at the question. The answer for the 'Home News' topic was 'One Third', and the girls erupted into fits of giggles at every question.

"HA!" Kay barked a laugh at a joke involving the World Cup, but her phone began buzzing on the table before she could hear the next question.

"Oh hey. It's Dahl! I gotta take this." She stood and scooped up the device, finding another missed call from her friend.

"Tell her I said, 'Hello'." Darjeeling said as her companion left the room.

Meanwhile, at Ooarai, Hachimiya Dahlia stood in the bathroom of her apartment, letting the smoke from her cigarette drift out of the open window. Her t-shirt did little against the cold January air creeping in, but she ignored it, letting her air of positivity do the work.

"Hey, hey!" Kay greeted her friend warmly. "What's shakin'?"

"Hi, Kay." Replied Dahlia. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, no. Just watchin' TV with the missus. Some comedy panel thing. You'd probably like it. What's up?"

"I just thought you might be interested in a friend update. Uh…" Hachimiya flicked some ashes out of the window. "I… talked to Nakajima today."

"Oh yeah? How'd it go?"

Dahlia glanced at the door, which was cracked open. "Well… considering that she's currently asleep in my bed… naked… I'd say it went well."

"Ha! Nice one! I'd imagine she's happy."

"Yeah. I mean… I think so. Nack was pretty enthusiastic about… ya'know, me… and all the wonderful benefits that come with my companionship."

"What's there to not like?...You don't sound very sure, if you don't mind me saying."

"Well, truth is, I'm not. I mean, I'm sure about how she feels. Just…" She trailed off.

"You're not sure how you feel about the situation." Kay finished the thought.

"Exactly." Dahlia took a drag. "I'd like a relationship. I think I've had enough of being single. It's just that… I'm not sure who I am to her. Which would have been a good thing to ask at the garage earlier."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Reira has a bit of a… shall we say… 'reputation'."

"So she's a slag?" Kay asked after a few seconds. Dahlia nearly dropped her cigarette.

"No!... No." She lowered her voice, glancing at the door again. "She's just had… a few relationships. That weren't serious. Kind of a… friends-with-benefits type of deal."

"Oh. I thought… never mind. Uh… how many, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Three that I know of. You'd never know it by looking, either."

"So you are in a harem." Kay teased, earning a scowl that she could only picture. "I knew it!"

"Fuck off. You know I'm not into that."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just playin'. So, what's on your mind? Let's have a little Fire-side Chat."

"It's just that… I like Nakajima. I really do. But if that's what she has in mind, then…" Dahlia shrugged and shook her head. "That's not what I want, ya'know?"

"Yeah, I hear ya."

"And I really hope it doesn't come to that."

"Of course. You're not the type for just fuckin' around." Kay said. "What are you gonna do?"

Dahlia took another drag of her cigarette, before looking it over for a time. "I'm going to talk to her in the morning. Before we head back to Tokyo."

"We?"

"Yeah. I'm bringing Leopon down to see the tanks… remember?"

"Right!" She heard Kay snap her fingers. "You did mention that. Huh… I guess if your conversation doesn't go well… it's gonna be a long drive."

"If that happens, she'll be in another car." Dahlia stated flatly. "I dunno, though. Something tells me that tomorrow will go fine."

"Optimism. That's not something we often hear from Miss Self-Deprecation."

"Very funny." Hachimiya shot back. "It's also not often we see someone getting blue-balled by Miss Playmate-of-the-Month."

"Oh, pff. I need to tell Darj that one." Kay said with a giggle. "You really think I could pull that off?"

"Sure. Just depends on how down you are with being naked around old people."

"True. In that case… I'll pass. So… in case I forget… Gimme a rundown of what Leopon is gonna do."

"Well, Miho is toying with the idea of expanding the team, when or if they start participating again. If there are any - and I mean any - tanks or vehicles that you're willing to part with, write down any number and she'll pay it."

"Ah, nanana." Kay interrupted. "I'm tellin' you right now that I'm not taking a cent from Miho. She has free reign to take anything off my hands. She'll just have to fight Alisa over them."

"What about stuff that's not in the official circuit? I know you guys have the Flying Tankers."

"Yeah, well… we haven't done the Tankathlon in a while. In fact, their shed got bombed to bits. You should see it! Pravda must'a thought it was the main garage, and dropped everything but the kitchen sink on it." Dahlia took a drag as Kay spoke. "That said, a surprising number of tanks survived. There's an M10 Wolverine, a couple of Greyhounds…"

"How about we figure out a day to come to Saunders?" Hachimiya offered before her friend could continue the likely packed list. "I'll bring the girls, you bring Alisa, and we'll go from there."

"Works for me."

"A-and no pressure. With trying to make the sale. We're going to be asking Maho the same thing."

"Please." Dahlia pictured Kay waving her off. "If you want any of these hunks of junk, take 'em. Shit, a couple'a my mechanics ran into some of Maho's last week, and she's in the same boat. Black Forest is up to their skirts in scrap metal, not including all the trash Pravda left behind. I mean… Pravda Republic has been down here a few times, but they haven't even made a dent."

"I distinctly remember Duck and Rabbit marveling at the IS-2s they got to use. Miho might try to snag one or two."

"Take 'em all, man. There's not much we can do, other than cut off pieces of armor and hammer 'em into shape. That's how Hotel got off the ground."

"Ah… we'll figure it out. I just wanted to check in, is all." Dahlia took one last puff before flicking her cigarette away and closing the window.

"Any check-ins from you are welcome. And I won't tell anyone, unless you don't really care."

"Don't. Not yet, anyway."

"Hehe. Yes, ma'am."

"Kay."

"My lips are sealed, babe."

"They better be. I'll tell Darj to yell at you."

"Pff. Well, she won't if I talk to her first."

"Alright then. Later, Kay. See you, uh… when I see you."

"Yep! G'night, Dahl."

"Night, Kid." Dahlia grinned.

"Ah, ha ha ha. Later, hot stuff." beep

With a sigh, the Carpenter returned to her bedroom, stopping briefly in the kitchen for a glass of water. When she finally arrived and climbed back into bed, she found Nakajima dead asleep, a quiet snore escaping from her open mouth. Dahlia simply stared at the spinning ceiling fan for a time. Despite how tired she was, her eyes refused to close. For the next hour, she opted to try calming her racing mind by creating a script for the looming conversation. Hachimiya stole a glance at Reira, who appeared to be in a deep sleep. Still out cold, she smiled and giggled quietly, before smacking her lips a few times and lulling back to sleep again. Dahlia sighed, rubbing her sore eyes, and rolled away to face the opposite direction. Finally, her eyelids began to weigh themselves down, to the extent that by the time they closed, she was gone to the world.

So gone, in fact, that she didn't notice Nakajima lazily wrapping her arm around her.

A/N: Hi, universe. I'm back from the dead

Crazy few months, here in my neck of the woods. Spent a week in Vegas (For business, and a bit of pleasure). I've been getting more involved in local politics, and my town's upcoming mayoral race is heating up. AND I'm about to become a parent

But you didn't come here to hear about my life

You came here to read about the lovely GuP cast, and the trials and tribulations that come with surviving a war

Speaking of, I very highly recommend a work on AO3 called Red Tide, by Phoenix_T70, AKerensky1820, and John_Dax. I've mentioned this in my profile bio, but the work, and the spinoffs, are fantastic. If you're interested in a Cold War gone hot scenario, where nearly everybody dies in a horrifying fashion, give it a read. You might see me in the kudos and comments sections

I may even ask permission to write my own continuation of the story, but that's for another time

Until next time, folks!