Story 05 / Collection 3: Love shenanigans


Pest-be-gone.

The haul of supplies they got from Banadiya came with a few small surprises, and one of them was a rather decent camera that apparently the captain had requested.

She gave all sorts of reasons for its necessity—from providing additional support for the technical teams, to including better documentation in their reporting—but everyone knew ultimately it was for sentimental reasons.

Their journey so far had been a series of misfortunes, overcome only by the miracles their ragtag team of surviving officers and college students somehow pulled out of nowhere. If war taught them anything, life was indeed short and full of uncertainties, sometimes even deathly ones. It made perfect sense to take some snapshots as memorabilia of their endeavours, so no one really complained about her decision. If anything, some of the crew members were actually a little excited about it.

Knowing Miriallia's budding interest in photography, Murrue put her in charge of the assignment, and her first task was to take a photo of the crew currently on duty in the bridge, including Murrue herself and Natarle as the captain and executive officer of the ship respectively, their reliable helmsman Arnold, and CIC officer Chandra, as well as Mwu, the famed Hawk of Endymion.

Despite being a little anxious about the responsibility, Miriallia took her task seriously; afterall, this group consisted mostly of the senior members of the Archangel, and she definitely wanted to capture them in a light that showcased their dedication and professionalism. She thoughtfully positioned them according to their ranks and responsibilities, and gave detailed instructions on how to angle themselves towards her camera.

They were all compliant, except for Mwu, whom she suspected had ideas of his own but held back and said nothing. She was running short on time, and chose not to ask for his opinion—something with hindsight might not have been the best decision.

When Miriallia was finally all set, she started a quick countdown for the officers to ready themselves, and then the dreaded thing happened. On the literal count of 'three', Mwu cried "Surprise!" and pulled the two ladies on either side of him towards himself, sending their body language and facial expressions into ones of pure shock. Further down both ends were glares of contempt from the remaining two gentlemen, unquestioningly directed at Mwu—and this moment was now forever preserved by the click of the camera shutter.

Miriallia's first response was disappointment at how the photo turned out; she only had one chance, because they were on a tight schedule and both Murrue and Natarle needed to be somewhere else after this. But when she reviewed the details of the photo on the display screen, she decided she loved the shot. Apart from Mwu, all the other four officers had shown a side of them that she had never seen before, and she felt it was as good as hitting a jackpot.

Seriously, best photo ever.

She looked up to the officers, and it told a completely different set of opinions.

"Why would you do that?" Natarle was practically yelling at Mwu, all her usual care for decorum abandoned in her anger. Next to her, Murrue shared a similar reaction, and had her arms crossed in front of her as she glared at the tall blond in support of her XO.

"I just thought it'd be fun! I bet the photo turned out nicely, r- right?" He turned to Miriallia for help, the plea for some backup evident in his eyes.

Sure, Miriallia knew what he said was true, but she kept her mouth shut. Balancing all things, it was just safer to not share her opinion; she did not want to get caught in Natarle's wrath, and honestly, it was sort of fun to watch the seasoned pilot fret. Afterall, he was the one who decided he wanted to be a troublemaker, so he should have been prepared for the consequences. She returned an uneasy smile at Mwu, and to her surprise, Natarle came to her rescue.

"Don't try to put this on your juniors! Can you please act at least appropriately for your age, if your seniority in rank does not mean much for your self-respect!"

Mwu let out a tiny whimper, and Miriallia had to swallow down a snigger.

Amidst the ruckus, Arnold's composed voice sounded, "Lieutenant." He pointed to his wrist, signing for a watch to remind her of the time.

Natarle locked eyes with Arnold briefly, and calmed herself with a deep breath. "Thank you for the reminder, ensign. Captain, I'm afraid I need to go."

Murrue nodded. "Yes, of course. I'll come with you," she said as she walked past Mwu, intentionally ignoring him and followed Natarle out of the bridge.

The blond pouted to himself, evidently still unwilling to accept the blame. As soon as he the elevator door closed, he turned to Miriallia. "May I see-"

"Nope," came Miriallia's clean answer.

o-o-o

As Arnold walked down the hallway, he heard footsteps catching up from behind him. "Neumann!"

Arnold knew from the voice that it was Mwu, but he was not in the mood to socialise with him after the stunt he pulled during their photo session.

Unfortunately, Mwu did not catch the air of annoyance radiating off Arnold, lightheartedly commenting, "Woah, didn't imagine she would blow up like that."

"With all due respect, lieutenant commander, you kind of asked for it."

Mwu rubbed his thumb against his chin to indicate that he was making an attempt to reflect on his conduct. "Well, I guess she has the right to be angry, but don't you think it was a bit disproportionate to the harm done? It's just a photo."

Ha, he was one to talk.

It was not just a photo—not if it got into the hands of those gossipers who loved drama above all else, determined to find evidence for the nonsensical made-up story that said the captain and XO of the ship were competing for the affections for the MA pilot. Natarle knew the rumours going around, and she was immensely peeved by them. Every interaction she had with Mwu nowadays was cautiously measured to make sure it was strictly professional, with the hopes that one day these rumours would die down. But one wrong step and it could all come undone, and the MA pilot in question was behaving like a pest that they could not get rid of.

Yet he was still oblivious. "I mean, it's no big deal, right?"

From the corner of his eyes, Arnold saw that Mwu was reaching an arm over with the intention of hanging it over his shoulder. He ducked downwards and slid smoothly out of its path without ever letting it come into contact, then glared sideways at Mwu, who was looking at him with a face that told he was impressed and insulted at the same time.

"I wonder if they stock bug spray on this ship," Arnold asked loudly to himself, but clearly for Mwu to hear.

"W- what do you mean?"

"The lieutenant is going to need it."

"...What for?" Mwu asked warily.

Arnold's answer came in the form of a loathsome stare back at him.


Side story: The other photo

"Ensign Neumann."

Arnold turned around to see Miriallia walking up towards him with a bright smile on her face. She held up a white envelope and waved it in front of him. "I have something for you."

He took the envelope—from how thin it was, he could tell it did not contain much; maybe just a sheet of paper or two—and was about to open it up when Miriallia sounded a small "Oh!"

Arnold paused and looked at her quizzically. She proceeded to pull out a small USB from her pocket and showed it to him. "Also this," she added while dropping the device into his outstretched palm.

"I've tidied up the first batch of photos I took in the last two weeks. This is one of my favourites." The girl grinned proudly at him, and there was a hint of mischief in her smile. "Don't worry, yours is the only copy."

He had a vague idea of what she was implying; Miriallia was a clever girl, so she would have known what she was doing. He gave her a grateful smile, "Thanks."

"Enjoy!" She sent him a wink and turned around to go back the way she came.

As he watched her leave, Arnold carefully slipped the USB into his pocket, giving it a light pat to make sure it was stored securely, before returning to the envelope. Upon opening it up he found a photo, and immediately he understood why Miriallia thought it was necessary to give him ownership of its only copy.

Indeed she was a clever girl.

The photo was a shot of him and Natarle, but only showed his side profile as the main focus was on his dark-haired lover.

It was against the backdrop of daybreak out in the ocean, and she was holding onto his arm, leaning in with a beaming smile that he only ever saw once.

He remembered that morning they snuck out to watch the sunrise during their shared off-shift, thinking it was safe enough to not get caught in such early hours of dawn. He told a joke that made her laugh—it was the first time he knew she could laugh in such a carefree way.

Whenever he thought of that moment, he would only recall how he was caught up in the awareness of how profoundly in love he was with her. Yet looking at this photo now, he realised that she loved him the same.

She wanted him enough to take risks with him, to rather choose the daunting unknown than to not have known him.

She trusted him enough to show him the girl she hid within the depths of her core, and not the soldier she presented to the world.

She made him her exception, and this photo was proof.

Miriallia was right; this was his favourite too.


[Prompt title 16: お邪魔虫? / Annoying Pest?]

Author's note

The photo mentioned in the main story is the one shown in the second ending theme in Destiny. The photo in the side story doesn't exist; Arnold made sure it'll never see the light of day lol.

Notes on Twitter/X as usual.