Toybox
Opening the lid to a metal container in the ordnance locker at Hickman, Aidan whistles as he looks at the canisters inside of it and he asks, "Are these the right ones?"
Looking at the remote interface device he sees the message:
The Container should be labeled M-nine-nine-six depleted uranium bolts. Inside the rounds should be contained within sleeves of led-lined nickel-iron canisters.
"How many rounds do you carry for a full combat load?" Aidan asks as he drags the crate onto an ammo trolley.
Two crates should do, one for each cannon.
"That's not an answer." Aidan pants as he drags a second crate onto the trolley.
I contend that it is an answer. I just did not state the number of rounds in each crate.
"Fine, what about missiles?" He sighs as he bends at his hips.
Mission profile dependent.
Rolling his grey eyes Aidan sighs, "Multi-role, if you had to do a little bit of everything."
Two AGM-Three-Zero-One Halberd anti-shipping missiles
Two AIM-Four-Six-Zero Stiletto long-range air-to-air missiles
Four AIM-One-Eight Diamond Back short-range self-guided air-to-air missiles.
"Great, are there any in here?" Aidan asks as he stands upright and rubs his lower back.
Checking inventory… twenty remaining AIM-One-Eight are listed.
"What's the weight of those things?" Aidan asks, looking at the screen.
Two-hundred-and-twenty pounds each.
"Nope. Those crates of rounds were enough weight-lifting for me today." Aidan says as he picks up the screen, places it on top of two ammo containers, and starts to push the trolley to the Hellcat.
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Closing the ammunition loading port on the starboard side of the Hellcat, Aidan stops and turns to look out at the blond woman walking towards him, dressed in a simple black camisole and leggings, her blue eyes on the Hellcat as she says, "So this is where ya hide out, huh?"
"Not so much." Aidan admits as he wipes his hands on his shorts and walks towards her asking, "What brings you by North Carolina?"
She stops and looks at the Hornet as she says to him, "I brought ya something." She puts her hand into her top, takes out a folded piece of paper, and hands it to him as she adds, "It took some time, but I got a list put together for ya."
Shoving the list into his shorts, Aidan looks off to the side as he says, "Thanks, but, I don't know, don't want to be seen as taking advantage of my position."
North Carolina reaches up and behind herself lifting her blond hair as she runs her hands through it before saying, "I'm not saying they'd spread their legs for ya at the drop of the hat, I'm just giving ya some idea of girls that might be open to the idea."
"Why though?" He asks her as he leans against the Hellcat.
She turns to face him, folding her arms under her bust as she leans against the Hornet, looking off to the side as she says, "Because I want to avoid another Braxton situation."
"You know about that?" Aidan asks with a head tilt.
"I had suspicions, but nothing confirmed till after he disappeared and Lou came to me, asking to call Helena from the deep, she told me everything that had happened." North Carolina admits as she brushes some blond hair behind an ear, her brow furrowing as she continues, "I'm not saying ya are bad as that, I'm just saying that I want to avoid getting the possibility of that happening, again."
Bobbing his head up and down Aidan shrugs as she says, "Trust me, that isn't happening."
"Good." North Carolina tells him with a nod as she smiles, "Ya been here almost two whole months now, and aside from the odd little issue, you've done good to keep your impact on us to a minimum."
"Thanks?" he responds in a confused tone of voice before asking, "So, I was wondering, before Braxton, did you girls have more freedom to move around the port?"
North Carolina looks up and places her hands behind her head, her lips pushing off to the side as she says, "My memories from then are a little hazy, but I remember standing on the island in the middle of the harbor, I remember standing on this path, looking east to see three white human-made islands and the port, but that's about it."
Bobbing his head Aidan asks, "And after Braxton, you girls couldn't go on the island?"
She nods, "Yeah after he decided to make his home there, we couldn't go there anymore."
Rubbing his chin Aidan muses, "Then there must be a place that limits what you girls can do."
"If there is, I don't know about it." North Carolina says with a shrug.
"I bet it's on Ford Island someplace." Aidan says with a shrug before adding, "I'll just add it to the list of things to check out later."
"Must be a mighty big list by now." North Carolina winks at him.
"You have no idea." Aidan chuckles as he grabs the remote interface and starts to leave the hangar.
North Carolina follows in steep with him as she says, "But seriously, at least look at the list I gave ya, ya might find someone to help ease your time here."
With a heavy sigh and slipping a hand into the pocket where he shoved the list, Aidan says, "Yeah, yeah."
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Getting out of the inflatable boat, and pulling it ashore at Ford Island, Aidan's phone started to ring again in his shirt pocket. Finishing pulling the boat onto the beach, he takes the phone out and answers, "I'm on Ford Island again, Brooklyn."
"Well, uh, thanks?" She says a little puzzled before asking, "Why? And don't you dare say curiosity and a little light exploring again."
"Oh, nothing light about this one, I was talking with North Carolina this morning and she mentioned being on the island before Braxton moved in, but after no kansen could go to it." He starts to say as he starts climbing the old ladder up the side of what was left of the bridge.
"You think there is something there, that is stopping us from going to it?" she asks.
"Has to be, there is something that has been puzzling me, ever since I got here. You girls seem so, well human, but there is just something artificial about you all, so," he says as he gets to the top of the ladder.
"So, there must be an artificial reason why we can't do something." She finishes for him.
"Exactly, and I'm going to find it." He says as he starts to walk down the road towards the ruins of the military structures on the island.
"Well, good luck then, remember we cannot help you on that island for now." She sighs.
"I know. Oh, how's Lou doing? I haven't seen her at my place for the last week." He asks as he comes to a stop at the lot that had been his home.
"She's doing alright, she and Helena are working things out, I just never expected Lou to act like that, towards a human, let alone Helena." Brooklyn sighs and she pauses before speaking to someone else, "No! Not over there, it needs to go over there!"
"Busy?" Aidan asks.
"We're starting to rebuild some of the drydocks that we haven't needed before." She tells him.
"Why?" he asks as he moves past his old lot.
"Why not? Being able to repair more hulls is always good." She says.
"Fair point, oh, yeah, I wanted to get your thoughts on something." Aidan says as he stops and starts to dig in his right pocket, looking for the list from North Carolina.
"You want my input? In other words, you are going to do the exact opposite of what I say." She sighs.
"Maybe." He chuckles as he looks at the names on the list, "Anyway, North Carolina gave me a list of girls that I might want to get to know, if I'm in a position to want, as she put it, comfort."
Brooklyn groans on her side of the connection, "I'm not sure I want to hear this."
"Too late! On the list I got a," he starts to say.
"Let me stop you right there, am I, Lou, or Helena on that list?" she asks.
"No?" he answers.
"Then I don't want to know." She states before adding and hanging up, "Have fun exploring, and don't get into trouble."
Sighing and putting away the phone, Aidan puts his hands behind his head and starts to check out various buildings.
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Night had fallen by the time Aidan got back to the port and had made it back to Nimitz House, just as he crests the hill, he sees a woman with blue hair, a white camisole, and a white pleated skirt sitting lengthwise across his porch swing, a datapad against one leg, the other down off the side of the swing, her toes being used to slowly rock the swing in and out. Her left-hand reaches down and picks up a darkly colored bottle that she sips from before putting it back down.
Just as he puts his feet on the porch he asks, "What brings you by, Lou?"
Keeping her attention on her datapad she says to him, "I had nothing better to do, and I love Brook, but sometimes I need a bit of space."
"Okay, but why here?" he asks as he leans against one of the posts by the stairs.
She looks up from the datapad and her reddish-purple eyes twinkle with a bit of mirth, "I like the view."
With a chuckle, he says, "While thank you, but I know you mean the port."
She smiles, shrugs, and looks back at her datapad as she says, "True. Did you find anything on Ford Island?"
Lifting her foot as he sat down and started to rub her foot he says, "I saw some interesting things, but nothing I was looking for. Then again, I don't know what I'm looking for exactly."
A little moan escapes her lips as the pleasure she is feeling from the foot rub, "Mm… wish I could help with that."
"I'd take the help, but I'll shelve it for now, how are things going with Helena?" he asks as she places her other foot in his lap.
"Complicated, she has a crush on you, and really doesn't like the idea that I was kissing you." St. Louis sighs happily.
Aidan sighs, "I should figure out how to let her down gently, but she's not my type, she seems way too young for me."
St. Louis chuckles, "You know we don't age, right?"
"No, but I didn't mean physically, I mean like she's too innocent for me." He admits as he switches feet.
"Mmm, well what would you be looking for?" she asks with a pleasurable moan.
He shrugs and takes out the paper from his pocket, "I don't know, but don't know any of the girls on this list North Carolina gave me."
"What list?" She asks, her relaxation leaving her in an instant.
Handing her the list he tells her, "She suggested I try to find a girl to help deal with any, 'needs' I start to feel, but strongly suggested I get to know them first. Today she gave me that list, and I honestly don't know how I feel about it."
St. Louis looks at the list and frowns as she says, "All of these girls are good girls, I could help you narrow it down if I knew what you like."
He shrugs as he says, "I like maturity, a good sense of humor, not clingy, but most importantly, I just want to click with her."
"And what would you consider 'clicking with'?" she asks as she sips her drink.
Looking out over the port, Aidan shrugs again as he stops working her feet and places his arms across the back of the swing, "Being able to just sit and talk to her, not feeling any pressure to do anything."
St. Louis gives him a sly look as she asks, "Kind of like what is happening right now?"
He chuckles, "Yeah, more or less."
St. Louis tucks the list into her top and asks, "Why do you think she put those girls on the list?"
"Can I get it back?" he asks and she shakes her head as she sips more of her drink. Aidan sighs, "She said they'd be open to something if I got to know them."
"I see." She says as she slips her legs off his, shifting her weight and leaning into his space as she says, "And what would you do?"
"I don't know, I don't know them, like at all." He sighs as he leans back against the swing.
"What if they do this?" she asks as she gets off the swing and walks into the house.
Aidan follows her with his eyes and sees her starting to head up to the second floor, getting off the swing and following her inside as he locks the front door he asks, "Lou?"
"Coming?" she asks as she tosses her skirt over to the stairs from down the hall.
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"Huh, it's locked." Aidan heard the voice of Brooklyn from outside.
Blinking away the sleep, his eyes full of the color blue, something that was both soft and hard pressed against his front, memories of last night flooding back, being intimate with St. Louis in the bed. He smiles and hugs her tightly from behind, and whispers, "Last night was good."
"It was." St. Louis sighs happily, "A much better experience."
"Admiral?" The voice of Brooklyn called out from down the hall.
"I thought you locked the door?" St. Louis asks Aidan.
"I locked the front door." He tells her.
St. Louis asks, "Does she have a key?"
Aidan is about to respond, when the door opens, standing in the doorframe is Brooklyn, her red eyes going wide, darting around the room, taking in the clothing strewn around and she asks, "Are you two naked?"
Hiding his face in the blue hair of St. Louis, Aidan mumbles, "Yes."
St. Louis pulls the covers back to flash Brooklyn as she says, "We are."
Brooklyn drops a to-go coffee cup as she shouts, "You could've just said yes!"
"Where is the fun in that, Brook?" St. Louis asks.
"Lou!" Brooklyn protests as she pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head from side to side.
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A/N: The full adult content version is found on AO3.