A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to the edited versions, let's get to responses.
drake202: Thank you, I'm glad you've been enjoying it.
Now, onto the story!
Enterprise struggled from within her binds, unable to do much else but struggle with how tight they were and wonder how she got here after her sortie.
The first thing Alex did upon stepping out of the catwalk of the Unicorn was gape at how… different the Naval Base was from his experience. Lacking any of the usual soldiers, instead, it resembled a small town rather than an actual base, but he could still recognize the various installations.
It was shy of being a base but wasn't either, almost as if it was meant for civilians who could fight.
The next thing he did was choke on his breath and nearly fell off the catwalk. Because hot and beautiful cannot even begin to describe the women waiting for him.
One of them was a blonde in a bikini with a cowboy hat, the other was another blonde with stars and stripes stockings, another seemed to be wearing a British uniform while the last one is in a white dress, for some reason, with a gravitational pull around her chest that pulled his eyes a foot under her eyes.
She had a big chest. Like really big. Like big enough that if he kept staring, he might fall into the gravity that was generated from the mass.
Unicorn tugged at his sleeve, reminding him where he was as he glanced at the lavender-haired Kansen. She seemed to be pouting before joining the woman with the large chest and a white theme, followed by Javelin, Long Island, and Laffey, with the former standing beside the blonde in a British uniform and the latter two standing by the other two blondes.
...If these Kansen were designed by someone, they must have a thing for blondes.
"Big Sister!" Unicorn said, hugging the woman who smiled kindly at the younger girl's words.
"Good job, Unicorn, you worked hard, huh? So, this must be the 'Big Brother' you reported." The woman said while gently tussling Unicorn's hair.
"Yes! Big Sister, this is Big Brother." Unicorn said, pulling her along while grabbing Alex's hand. "Big Brother, this is Big Sister."
Alex's mouth twitched and the woman in front of him brought a hand to her mouth, hiding the amusement and the laughter that was probably bubbling up if her shaking shoulders were any evidence. "Unicorn," Alex began, making no effort to hide his breathy laughter beyond the barest of attempts that crumbled under his breaths, "your Big Sister is absolutely beautiful, and not a woman I'll be forgetting anytime soon." He said, missing the way the woman blinked with a slight tint to her cheeks, "But, I feel like you're missing a small detail."
"Hmm?" Unicorn hummed, tilting her head while the small unicorn doll in her arms mimicked her movements. "What is that, Big Brother?"
"Well, it's why I don't call you Little Sister. Because there's something else we go by." He pointed out gently, mostly out of amusement because the way Unicorn blinked at him was cute. Though considering no one stopped him, he could see that no one saw any harm in letting him continue.
She blinked for a second before they widened, lighting up in realization before her cheeks followed and she suddenly looked like she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.
Sadly, Alex thought she looked cute, so when she tried to slip from his grip, he caught her gently and stopped her, "Unicorn, is something wrong? Weren't you going to introduce me to your Big Sister?"
"Um, ah." She started, eyes watering slightly as Alex chuckled, letting her go as the Kansen hid behind her sister, ears red from embarrassment.
"Well, as you heard, I'm Big Brother." He said, taking amusement in the way Unicorn tried to bury herself deeper in the buxom woman's side.
"Consider me charmed, Big Brother." The woman said, amusement clear in her voice while Unicorn turned to the woman with wide eyes, embarrassment clear in her expression, and betrayal in her eyes. Unicorn tried to stuff herself further into the woman's side but it didn't stop her as she added, "What a coincidence, I'm Big Sister."
Slowly, Alex's eyes trailed southward slightly, "Well you are certainly…" He trailed off, stopping his train of thought before it could be completely voiced and starting on the wrong foot. "Very sisterly." he decided, causing the woman to giggle, gently patting the embarrassed Unicorn.
"Well, in that case, let me introduce myself." Gently, she prodded Unicorn to the side, who stepped back and brought her doll to her face, hiding when she caught Alex's gaze. Still, his eyes returned to the woman, who grabbed her skirt and performed a picture-perfect curtsy. "Greetings. I am the armored aircraft carrier Illustrious."
"Alex Walker, I'd bow, but…" He trailed off, pointing to himself, "Not exactly aware of why and how to bow to the personification of a ship or…" He finished, his mouth opening and closing before he shrugged. "Yeah, I still don't know how to react to all of this."
"Aw, don't worry about it~." The blonde woman in a bikini and short shorts said, followed by a shorter blonde with a cape around her shoulders, the former blonde throwing her arm around her shoulders with a bright grin. "Most of the gals here don't mind a bit of breach in protocol, royal or otherwise."
"Though, it'd be appreciated if such protocols weren't breached at every moment." The other blonde in military uniform pointed out, "But, we won't fault you for your lack of knowledge in the practices and protocols of foreign armies, especially since you're in the Army rather than the Navy, am I correct, Mr. Walker?"
"Alex works just fine." Alex assuages them, shifting from the blonde's grip, as much as he'd rather not move. She's not as buxom as Illustrious, but she's easy on the eyes. "Contract was about to end anyway, so no need for formalities, never been my thing anyway."
"Then, nice to meetcha Alex." The blonde said, extending a hand with a wink, "Hornet, you-."
"Youngest of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers." Alex huffed, his mind finally recalling why he had this vague feeling of recognition when he heard Laffey. While he occasionally oversaw major offensives, he was an Army grunt first and foremost, even if the skies were his reign, he left the Navy and Air Force to those who knew better, even if he did learn a few things from them and even if that was only after they weren't controlled by the Soviets.
As such, he's heard some notable ships among them, the Yorktown class aircraft carriers among them, and some of the older WWI ships that he vaguely remembers. Though, again, he was usually relegated to on-site battles.
He could see Hornet's eyes wide in surprise, along with the other blonde, "Heh, you surprised her." The other blonde said, slipping around Hornet while extending a hand, "Cleveland, knight of the sea and oldest of the Cleveland-class."
"Well, I hope you're not too hurt by the fact that there probably won't be a repeat of Hornet," Alex admitted, reaching over and shaking the tomboy's hand. "You know…"
"I do…" Cleveland drawled, bringing a hand to her chin while nodding with closed eyes, "Hard to compete with the Yorktown-class, even more so when Hornet acts exactly like her older sister, Enterprise isn't the best at accepting praise."
"Hey!" Hornet said, stepping in, pouting with narrowed eyes, "I'm not that bad."
"Oh really?" Illustrious said, bringing a hand to her cheek, blinking.
"Really~." Hornet tried again, turning to the buxom carrier while the uniformed blonde stood forward, fond smile in place.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, you seemed to have been enjoying yourself." The blonde said, stepping forward.
"No, it's fine." He said, turning to her, "Still, as you know, I'm Alex Walker, Army. Well…" he trailed off, "soon to be ex-army, the contract's nearly up, haven't decided to re-enlist or do my own thing."
"That so?" The woman said before continuing, "What's your rank then?"
"First Lieutenant of the Eleventh Airborne Division," Josue answered crisply, his back straightening in pride, the woman's eyes widening, for some reason, before he relaxed visibly. "But, again, I'm no one that special beyond that. Most of my time in the army was in planes and the like, so leading wasn't something I did much."
"Interesting." The woman said, turning to him with a bow. "Then please, refer to me as Prince of Wales, the second ship of the King George V-class battleships."
"Right… Prince of Wales." He repeated the three words that constituted the Kansen's name, though she seemed amused as she straightened up.
"Prince works as well, Mr. Walker." The woman reassured him as he relaxed.
"Alex works fine too," Alex assured her before he looked beside her to see another woman with white hair, her grey eyes catching his attention before they roamed to her clothes, being those of a maid.
She caught his eyes before smiling and performing a curtsy, "Greetings, Mr. Walker." She began, smiling all the while, "I am Hermione of the Royal Maids."
"Good to meet you too, Hermione. Just Alex works." He said, but still, he couldn't get the maid outfit out of his mind. It wasn't the most revealing, but it lingered in the back of his head, for some reason. She looked really good in it, in Alex's personal opinion.
His eyes returned to the naval base merging with a town rather than what one would expect and Alex's own experiences with naval bases. "So, where am I, if you don't mind me asking? What's this all about as well?"
"That, well we're welcoming the girls who worked so hard at their sortie as the representatives of the Eagle Union and Royal Navy." Prince said proudly before glancing at Hornet, "Sadly, one of the representatives is a lot better at combat rather than diplomacy."
"Well, she should be here now," Hornet said, a buzzing sound that's been bothering him getting louder, Hornet brings up a hand as a runway appears under her arm in a flash of cubes and light, a plane cruises and lowers itself onto the runway, stopping before disappearing in a flash of blue. "Let's go meet her," Hornet suggested, walking off and turning back with a jerk of her head.
Sighing, Prince shook her head, "That girl…" She trailed off, turning to the group with a soft smile, "All of you did well, go and get some rest. We'll show Alex around, you should be able to see him at the canteen by the afternoon."
"'Kay~." Long Island and Laffey said, practically simultaneously, with Laffey slumping to her rear before falling back and falling asleep on the spot.
"Laffey~!" Javelin said, crouching down and trying to pull her friend along, "At least wait until Prince and Hornet are away."
"I'll see you later, Alex." Long Island said, waving her hand hidden under her sleeve while she made her escape in the direction of a dorm-like building.
"See ya." He said, waving at the girl before turning to Javelin. Moving to her, he crouched down and grabbed her arm, pulling Laffey to a seated position. "Need some help?"
"Ah, thanks," Javelin said, smiling brightly, her face scrunched in focus while she grabbed Laffey from under her shoulders and pulled her. "I can take it from here, thanks."
"No problem. Take care of yourself." He added, reaching out and patting the lavender-haired girl's head, her face flushing red slightly before his arm returned to his side.
Turning to Unicorn, he could see the young girl who was previously redder than a tomato swaying, practically a herculean task to stay awake. "You fine?" He asked Unicorn, the young girl blinking before tightening her hold on Yuni and straightening up.
"I-I'm fine, Big Brother, just…" She trailed off, her bout of energy draining while Illustrious giggled.
"My, I'll take her to her room," Illustrious said, turning to Unicorn with a knowing and gentle smile. "It wouldn't do for her to fall asleep on her feet, now would there?"
"No, it wouldn't," Alex said, reaching down and tussling her hair, letting his hand slide down her cheeks, Unicorn easing into his hand with half-lidded eyes. A second later, her eyes practically burst open from embarrassment as she tried to pull Illustrious away, the older buxom woman bringing a hand to her mouth to hide her laughter before waving at Alex.
Cleveland turned to them before stretching, "I think I've overstayed my welcome, then 'till later, Alex." The blonde said, waving a hand excitedly while walking off.
Alex returned it, turning to the other two, "So, where are we going to first if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well~," Hornet began, walking off as he followed after her with Prince, the two settling beside him with Hornet to his left and Prince to his right, "Enterprise is a short distance away, so we can talk on the way there." Hornet suggested.
"Sure, I don't mind." Alex said, following after the two, "So, you're the representatives of the American and British navies, right?"
"Well~," Hornet trailed off, her face scrunching in a complicated manner while Prince sighed, "not really?"
"For the Royal Navy, it's much simpler, we follow the will of our monarch, Queen Elizabeth who represents us Kansen, and a large swathe of the Royal Navy, but not all of it," Prince explained, looking out into the street they're walking down. "How much do you know about Kansen?"
"Extremely attractive women who are the personification of warships and with the strength to back it up that came from mysterious cubes." Alex summarized, and he could see the pride swell slightly in Prince of Wales' form with her grin.
"Aw, shucks," Hornet said, blushing and scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "We're pretty hot, aren't we." She added after a second to compose herself, winking while in a pose, though her embarrassment was still there.
"Absolutely." Alex agreed without a lag in his answer. "So, is there more?"
"No, it's been summarized pretty well." Prince admitted, "Though it's a fairly simple one, we also reflect the culture of the ships we personify. So, while the Royal Navy is fashioned after a monarchy…"
"Eagle Union is a democracy," Alex answered, turning to Hornet while she chuckled, but she almost seemed insistent on not meeting his eyes.
"Well, yes, but we technically have two representatives." Hornet admitted, "It's a bit complicated, but Lexington is generally the one in charge of speaking with Navy High Command while Enterprise is the representative when Lexington isn't around. Sadly, she's also one of our best fighters," Hornet said, puffing out her chest in pride, "my sister ain't a gal that's easy to keep down."
"She's also fairly stubborn," Prince added. "But, yes. Beyond that, with our bodies given human forms, we also crave things humans would, such as food, excitement, happiness, direction." She listed off, "The Azur Lane base reflects that need, completely self-sustaining and filled with shops manned by Manjuus."
"Those…" Alex trailed off, wide eyes at a set of chubby birds driving a car by the road they were walking down. The birds are stacked on top of one another like they're trying to imitate a human and are doing a pretty good job at it. They're driving that car better than some people he knew who have been driving a car for a large chunk of their lives.
"Yes…" Prince said, a smile on her face, "They tend to get fairly… excitable when it comes to events, and while they can understand human language, they're…"
"They're birds." Hornet summarized in two simple words. "Don't have lips like we do, but they're easy to understand anyway."
"Yes." Prince agreed, "They take care of most day-to-day activities, but it's been a while since the last 'event'."
"Why's that?" Alex asked while Hornet and Prince grimaced at each other.
"It's not exactly something we can say openly to an unknown at the moment." Prince admitted, "I hope you can forgive us."
"Yeah, we are technically a 'secret project'," Hornet said, her hands making air quotation marks. "Beyond the people being vaguely aware of our existence, there are some things the government doesn't want other people to know."
"Makes sense." Alex agreed, already used to handling secrets like the ticking time bombs they are. "So, what can you tell me?"
From there, the three fell into idle chatter, occasionally Hermione chimed in when Alex asked, and Illustrious rejoined them at a crepe stand, where Alex was chomping down on a crepe with chocolate, nuts, and Ferrero Rocher.
"Jesus, this needs some Nutella." He muttered under his breath, finishing up the crepe, wiping off the remaining chocolate from his fingers, and then using a napkin.
"You enjoyed yourself." Illustrious pointed out as Josue nodded.
"Sweets aren't my thing, I'm more a fan of spicy food." He admitted, having to audibly swallow at the memory of some deliciously spicy wings Joshua made or the salsa Manny made on occasion.
"Really~? How spi-Oh!" Hornet said, perking up, smiling as she waved. "Enterprise~."
In front of them, a woman stood, an admiral's cap over her head with white hair flowing behind her. A black jacket covering her back with an eagle at her shoulders. The eagle turned and its eyes landed on Hornet before it scoured through the rest of the group before relaxing. The woman followed and Alex couldn't help but pause.
Despite the way her white hair glistened under the dimming daylight, the way her white sleeveless button-up shirt hugged her buxom body or the very pleasing way her thigh-high socks hugged her thighs, it was her stormy gray eyes that captured his attention almost immediately.
After all, despite the life in them, he recognized the exhaustion in them, the fear, the frustration, and all the emotions rolling in her eyes. He's seen them on soldiers, on himself, on his squad mates, his best friends, and the survivors of the war.
Despite that, she seemed happy speaking to the excitable blonde, her sister. The two exchange pleasantries before her eyes catch Alex's. "Hornet, who's this?" She asked, turning to her sister.
"Ah, right," Hornet said as if remembering he existed. "Enterprise, this is Alex Walker, a random guy Laffey's group found. Alex Walker, this is my sister and second ship of the Yorktown-class, Enterprise!"
"You're not wrong." Alex said with a wry smile, "But it feels weird being recognized as 'random guy'."
Commander, Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and more, but 'random guy' feels like a novelty for some reason. It amused him.
Still, he extended a hand and Enterprise grasped his hand, nodding, "Good to meet you. Sadly, I wish I could stay further-."
"So when's the last time you had something to eat?" Alex asked, smiling kindly with closed eyes while he tightened his grip on her hand.
Enterprise sent him a confused look at the question and answered, "I… don't know how that's relevant?"
"Yeah, Enterprise," Hornet said, hooking an arm around her shoulders. "You barely got back and you're already on your way out, you didn't even look for me."
"Well, I have to-."
"So have you eaten anything beyond those MREs or rations?" Hornet asked, her face scrunching up at the thought of the food. "Honestly, I'm surprised you can stand them, they taste like cardboard."
"Can you let me-."
"She's stalling." Alex pointed out, shaking his head. "I don't think she's had anything."
"You're right." Hornet nodded, bringing a hand to her chin while closing her eyes as if she just had some profound realization. "If she did, she'd have answered. Right Grimm?" Hornet asked the eagle as it took a second to stare at Alex deeply, as if looking for something, and probably finding it considering the eagle nodded in agreement.
"Grimm!" Enterprise tried, her brow twitching slightly. Extracting her hand from Alex and turning to Hornet. "I'll be fine. I can just drink some oil-."
"You girls can drink oil?" Alex asked, turning to each of them with all of them nodding or making a similar affirmation.
"Not exactly something I enjoy," Illustrious admitted, "a black stain on a white dress isn't exactly easy to hide."
"Huh…" Alex nodded at the realization, which made sense, but the idea was still absurd to him. "Makes sense."
"As I was saying." Enterprise interjected turning to Hornet with a gentle and reassuring smile. "I'm fine, I'll get something to eat next time I'm on the base."
Hornet raised a brow and Alex mimicked the expression, looking at Enterprise in suspicion, the white-haired girl sweating under the scrutiny from the stranger and her sister. The two glance at each other, mischief and care shared in a single moment as a plan is cooked up in Alex's mind and he brings up a hand into his fist.
A series of pops rang out that came from Alex's knuckles, but Enterprise didn't notice, "Well, I'll have to-."
Before she could finish, Alex slid behind her, grabbed her under her shoulders, and easily picked her up, an easy feat considering his height making him taller than her, before his and Hornet's eyes glinted.
"W-Wait," she began, watching as Grimm flew but didn't attack Alex, "what are you-?"
"Grab her legs!"
"Yes, sir!"
Even now, she had trouble believing how quickly it escalated, a gas mask settled over her face along with Hornet's on Alex's recommendation while the clatter of silverware and other things rang out in the kitchen. A crowd gathered at the door, looking in as they saw him open as many windows as possible.
Worryingly enough, the Kansen began to disperse after thirty minutes, coughs, tears, and more began to make the other Kansen shy away from the door to the point that even Hermione, who was fairly loyal in her own right, couldn't stand it and pulled along her masters.
"Hornet," Enterprise began with her voice muffled from the gas mask over her face, turning to her younger sister, "What is Alex doing?"
"He's… cooking?" Hornet asked, her voice also muffled from the gas mask, moving from her position beside her sister and peering into the kitchenette, a knife in hand with loud ringing thuds reminiscent of memories she'd rather not delve into at the moment.
"A chemical weapon or food?" Enterprise asked, increasingly distraught while she struggled against her binds, her strength failing her when she needed it the most. "He was going to use mutated California Reapers Hornet."
"Well…" Hornet trailed off, her hand crossed under her chest while she shifted her hips. "He…" She trailed off, "He's a First Lieutenant of an Airborne Division?"
"Since when?" Enterprise asked again, "And how is that relevant?"
Hornet could only shrug, a lot more unsure of how to answer beyond praying that Alex won't cook up a chemical weapon in the kitchen of their base. However, the longer they stayed, the more she worried.
Finally, someone skipped into the canteen, humming while her red twin tails bobbed with each skip. "Phew, I can't believe it's so empty-." She stepped into the entrance, bringing up a hand to her eyes. "Hmm, why am I… Ah. Ahhh!" She began to yell, bringing her hands to her throat and her eyes. "It burns! Why!? Why is the air spicy!?"
Hornet and Enterprise watched the event with growing horror before Hermione, in a gas mask, came in and began to pull out the red-haired girl while she reeled in pain.
The two pair of sisters glanced at each other, suddenly worrying over their own and each other's health until it was interrupted by two places landing on the table. There Alex sat in front of them, a coke beside him and two more with him, placing them in front of Hornet and Enterprise.
"She's just being a bit overkill. It's not that spicy." Alex said, separating the two covered plates. "Much." He added as an afterthought. "I left all the windows opened, so at most it's ten minutes before it's safe to come in and disinfect the area and return to normal."
"Disinfect?!" Enterprise finally spoke up before Josue smiled at her, not a single visible malicious thought behind that smile and only worry in them.
"Don't worry." Alex said, sliding the two plates to her, "Just American diplomacy. You can eat outside or I can feed you."
"What did you make?" Enterprise asked, looking at the two plates in front of her with suspicion.
"Well, this one," he began, patting the covered platter to the right, "is food, simple, filling, and, in my honest opinion, tastes good. Nothing too complicated, just a hamburger, and fries, but we'll have to eat it outside."
Even to Hornet, it sounded like it tasted good, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Well, what's in the other one? And why do we have to wear gas masks?"
"Well, they're hot wings." Alex explained, smiling menacingly, "See, the original recipe called for mutated California Reapers, but those are rare, so my friend who taught me this recipe replaced it with normal ones and meant it as a challenge. See, these are delicious, but they're spicy as hell. Still, it gets better after… your tenth attempt at the challenge."
Enterprise's eyes bounced from the two platters, audibly gulping at the situation she was in and the food in front of her. "Now, choose, would you rather we go outside and you can eat the hamburger with tomato, lettuce, ketchup, and mayo, a special sauce developed by my friend who made the hot wings to my side and refined by my other friend and has won awards? Or, do you want me to feed you hot wings whose original recipe called for mutated California Reaper?"
Enterprise's confusion was palpable, after all, she didn't know how they got there, she finished up a sortie and returned, about to return to the sea for their next mission as weapons. She was supposed to return uninterrupted, try and calm her younger sister, and then try to break through if she couldn't do so gently. She didn't like it, but she had to.
Then this man came along, read her like a book, and now here she is, being forced to choose a food that'd more than likely burn her tongue off or one that, supposedly, was good.
The option was obvious, but the fact that it had to devolve to a situation like this…
"Why?" Enterprise asked, turning to Alex while her expression contorted into outrage and confusion. "Why do I have to choose? I already had rations. That's enough for me."
"Because," Alex began, reaching into one of the platters and bringing out a wing that left a visible distortion from the heat rolling off of it, his face was bereft of the sadism it previously had, replaced by worry and understanding, "we're not done."
We're not done.
The words that she practically lived by. Azur Lane isn't done with the Crimson Axis. The world isn't done with the Sirens. There was something behind his eyes though.
Heavy and dark, but they didn't dim, instead, they shone brightly. "And as long as we're not done, tomorrow will come. Tomorrow will be a day of fighting, planning, and worrying, but today? Right now?" He began, sliding the platter with the hamburger on it in her direction. "We recuperate because even a man needs to relax, a soldier needs leave, and a weapon needs maintenance."
Enterprise stared at the platter, mulling his words over before he added, "Besides," he said heavily, his voice scratchy while his gaze landed on the wall, looking through it and something neither would like to see, "I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't try to move you from the path you're walking."
Neither of the Yorktown sisters said anything while Alex released a deep breath, turning to Enterprise with a gentle smile. "So?" He asked, taking a bite from the hot wings without any problem, to their shock, "Burger or hot wings?"
Enterprise gulped, glancing at both of the options given to her and the… strange eyes of the man offering them. Eyes that were so familiar…
"I'll…" Enterprise began, sighing heavily through her gas mask, "I'll have the burger."
"Great," Alex said, extending a hand as Hornet clapped it in a high-five as she grabbed the platter and made her way outside. Grimm followed right by her with his small gas mask over his beak.
The two made their way outside, heading to a table while they removed their gas masks, though the two immediately began coughing while Alex reveals the plate of hot wings with a visible aura of heat. Without a care in the world, Alex picked up a wing and ate it, humming as if he could taste it.
He nodded, eating the rest of the wings while Enterprise revealed the burger. The smell hit her first, her stomach rumbling, to her embarrassment and Hornet's narrowed eyes, before she ignored it, grabbing the burger with a bit of difficulty, the sauce getting onto her hand as she licked some of it off.
Her eyes widened at the explosion of taste at the sauce, her mouth watering in anticipation of her first bite already. Still, she swallowed it down and opened her mouth, taking a bite out of the burger.
It was messy, nearly causing her to surge forward while the condiments and toppings fell from in between the buns. Still, she managed to not make a mess as flavors exploded in her mouth.
Alex smiled gently and Hornet was drooling, but she swallowed it when she noticed something.
Slowly, crystalline tears fell from her eyes. Not in a stream, but drops that trailed down her cheeks.
"It's… delicious," Enterprise said, reaching up and wiping the tears at the edge of her eyes.
"It smells delicious." Hornet notices, hooking an arm around her sister's shoulder in a subtle hug. "Mind sharing some?"
As the pair of siblings interacted, Alex could see it in her eyes. Enterprise was far from veering off the path she was originally on, but it was a start.
"Here, have some," Alex said, passing one of the wings to her as Hornet turned.
She immediately began to cough, eyes tearing up, "W-What the-!?" She hacked, "San Diego wasn't exaggerating. Water!"
Alex chuckled, taking a bite out of the wing while Enterprise tried to hide her giggles.
Soon, more and more joined them, the Manjuu moving in with grills and others for a small event.
Guess they really do love events, huh?
A/N: Anyway, here's the final version, not many changes, but hey. I hope you enjoyed it regardless.