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I literally have no excuse for this one so late aside from that I needed to get Midway in World of Warships to anger my friends. That and I made a website about the Enterprise from scratch. HTML, CSS, Javascript and all. Don't forget to review. Each review (probably) shaves one day off the next chapter release date.

284071. The sacred numbers.

Every time Google Docs tried to correct 'eye' to 'eyes,' this chapter was delayed by a day.

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The heat was rubbish.

Never had Hood wished for the cold winds of the Atlantic in winter than at this very moment. The sun seemed a cooler place than the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in January.

She was close to sweating.

Ladies did not sweat.

"Are you alright, Hood?"

She turned to her guide, Enterprise, and threw her head back. "No! It's so bloody hot. How can you take this?"

"It's, like, eighty. At most."

"Eighty? Just call it the surface of the sun, why don't you."

Enterprise shook her head. "If you think eighty degrees is hot, then you will not have a pleasant time once summer comes around."

Hood groaned. "It gets worse?"

"Oh, so much worse. It's not even humid."

Humidity. A lady's only weakness.

"I'm going to be hopeful and say that today is a hot day?"

Enterprise shrugged. "For now? Yeah. Eighty is pretty hot in January. It's been a heatwave, though. Should be cooler in the next few days."

Nevermind the commander thing, God. My one wish is for it to be cooler in the next few days.

"You could probably do away with wearing so many layers of clothing, though. You're not doing yourself any favors with a layered dress and fur-lined collar."

"Excuse me? I am dressed properly for any occasion. This little ensemble is perfect for both work and pleasure."

She felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face.

Okay, maybe it's a bit much. Not that I'll admit it. Enterprise and her stupid long legs must never know that they were correct.

Enterprise broke through her thoughts. "Assuming the royal princess can continue in this blistering heat, we'll be seeing the docks next."

Hood turned her nose up. "I am no princess; I am a lady. There's a difference, but I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand."

She stopped and turned to face Hood. "Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean, princess?"

Hood looked her in the eyes. "Someone who sits back and throws planes at the problem from a hundred miles away."

Enterprise's eyes turned sharp. "Are you calling me a coward?"

"I'm not calling you brave."

"Says the battlecruiser that exploded."

"To the glorified landing strip."

The two held each other's glares for a moment before Hood's lips twitched up. That was all it took for Enterprise to laugh and look away.

"Oh, you. Oh, I like you. Come on, we should have been at the docks like ten minutes ago."

Hood followed Enterprise close behind, buttoning her cane to her bag once again to keep her one hand free.

"When will I be shown to my temporary room? As much as carrying this bag around isn't terribly tiring, it's quite cumbersome."

Enterprise shrugged. "After I introduce you to the girls. We're already almost to the docks and the beach, so it'd just be more work to walk all the way back to the dorms only to come back here anyway."

"Fair enough, I suppose. Well, let's get to it then. I want to get rid of this bag."

"You're the one who's slowing us down, princess."

"Lady," Hood huffed, "and it's not my fault that your legs are the size of mine and my torso put together."

Enterprise smirked. "What's wrong? Jealous?"

"In your dreams, Miss Enterprise. If I had two working legs, I'd outpace you from now until Sunday."

"But, you don't."

Hood's shoulders slumped. "But, I don't."

Enterprise slapped her on the shoulder. "Oh, cheer up. You're still around, aren't you? If you act all down about things, then you let your heart die instead. I figure that it's just lucky that you managed to make it here today."

"I do suppose I'm rather lucky, aren't I."

"But not as lucky as me." Enterprise sang.

"And what's so lucky about you?"

Enterprise skipped ahead of Hood. "Everything~."

Oh, bollocks. It's another Electra.

Hood stumbled along behind the skipping carrier, muttering obscenities under her breath.

The closer they got to the main dockyards, the livelier the base became. More and more men walked back and forth, heavy machinery blared sirens and horns, and beyond it all, she could see the cranes still lifting pieces of debris and scrap weeks after the attack. Enterprise stopped and turned around when they'd gotten near the water's edge.

"Well, here we are. Welcome to Pearl. It used to look a lot more impressive, I promise."

"A little difficult to look impressive with all the ships damaged."

Enterprise nodded. "Yeah, that. If you look, you can see my ship over by the port's opening. Usually, my sisters and I get to sit right up along Ford Island with the battleships. Premium spots. Always have to fight the battleships for 'em. Too bad they get dibs on 'em whenever there's an inspection day. We can't now because of all the sunken hulls. Have to make room for the salvage equipment."

Hood nodded along while she and Enterprise walked along the water's edge. "Sounds reasonable. Where are your sisters, anyway? It looks like it's only you."

"Well, it's not only me. Sara, er, Saratoga, is usually around near Pearl. She should be around doing aerial exercises for now. Lexington is actually around here somewhere. I saw her yesterday, at least. I can't see her ship anywhere, though. Her missions keep getting canceled, poor girl. Maybe she finally got one." Enterprise shrugged. "She must've left this morning, I guess. As for my actual sisters, I don't know where Hornet is right now, and you managed to beat Yorktown here. She should be here in a few days from the Atlantic."

"Is… is that it? Just you and a small handful of carriers? That's all we're getting for the Azure Project?"

Enterprise laughed bitterly. "Oh, no, that's what the Navy is getting. You? You're not getting any carriers. You'll probably just have a few barely floating destroyers and cruisers. You might even get a battleship or two. Not that that means anything, apparently."

Hood felt her mood plummet. "That sounds like we're being set up to fail."

Her guide shrugged. "Probably. We're not particularly liked by some of the admiralty, and the Navy can't spare anything that can still sail well. Just need to stall until the new North Carolina and South Dakota class battleships are ready. Fuck, even the new carriers that were meant to succeed my sisters are nowhere close to complete. It's all a crapshoot."

Enterprise began to rant as they continued walking through the dock areas. "The enemy has fifteen reported carriers. We have five. They have ten battleships‒ and two apparent super battleships launching soon, might I add‒ and we have five. And only two of them are undamaged and in the Atlantic, halfway around the world."

Hood pursed her lips. "That, um, doesn't sound terribly good."

"Oh, no, everything's fine. Everything. Is fine."

She clapped her hands together. "Well, that concludes the dock tour. Let's go meet the girls."

Hood raised her hand. "But you didn't actually explain anything, you just complained while we walked‒ Oh, fine."

Enterprise had already begun walking in the other direction before Hood could finish her sentence.

I suppose I don't really need a tour of the docks if I'm leaving soon. According to Bill. Still rather rude of Enterprise, though.

"Miss Enterprise, please slow down." Hood stumbled after Enterprise, who was no longer shortening her strides for her smaller companion.

This is far too much walking with this damn suitcase. I really don't see why I could not have been shown my room before all this hiking.

They walked for another few minutes until they hit a tree line when Enterprise stopped and ushered Hood onward. They walked under the thin canopy of tropical trees that sprouted up through the ground with no rhyme or reason. Hood could faintly see a trodden path in the grass and leaven detritus that Enterprise was leading her through as if it received regular foot traffic. Neither of them spoke, entirely comfortable just walking through the trees, welcoming the patches of shade that they provided.

At least, I'm comfortable in silence. A lady must always be confident in her speech, even if it is the lack of it. Though, Enterprise may not be talking simply because of her earlier tirade. Perhaps I should quell her fears. She did try and cheer me up, but a moment ago.

"It's alright to be afraid, you know."

Enterprise jolted and half-turned her head back toward Hood. "What?"

"About what you were saying earlier at the docks. It's alright if you think that the situation isn't great. It really isn't. They say it's human to feel fear, after all."

Enterprise grunted and turned back forward. "But we're not human. We were born from machines built to wage war and nothing else."

"Do you truly believe that is all we can do?"

She didn't look back. "Yes."

Hood's eye narrowed, but then her face softened. "I used to believe that, too. I drowned myself in this persona of being a lady to distract myself from the feeling of battle lust. After all, being a lady is the exact opposite of being a soldier. A lady is someone who waits for the soldier to return home to them, not one to go galavanting on the front lines herself. So here I was, doing my best to pretend that I didn't crave the battles that I had been told about. That I didn't secretly love sinking Dunkerque, despite once sharing tea and baking macarons with her."

By God, those macarons were good.

Hood shook herself out of her tangent. "It wasn't until I faced off against Bismarck and was properly backhanded like a Welsh whore that I was forced to see the flaws in my thinking. It took a few weeks of being able to do nothing but sit and reflect for me to truly understand myself. After those weeks of wondering and playing faux philosopher did I come to the conclusion that I had two choices. I could either wallow in my depression, or I learn."

After a brief pause in Hood's speech, Enterprise cut in. "I'm going to make a guess and say that you chose to learn."

She nodded. "I chose to learn. I couldn't do anything outward, so I turned inward. If I wanted to

continue living with any sort of meaning, I had to deal with the fact that I was never going to fight again. That one day even this new war would end, and those that were more fortunate than I would also be at a loss. I asked Renown what she and the others did in the time between the Great War and my hull's destruction. She shrugged."

Enterprise finally turned to look at Hood while they walked. "She shrugged?"

Hood hummed. "Mhm. She didn't know. According to her, she and Repulse just continued what they did before and waited. She claimed that there would be another war, they just had to wait for it. She was correct in that regard, I suppose, but not her meaning."

Enterprise cut in. "Since we're almost to the beach, I don't suppose you could cut this short?"

"You can't rush these things, Miss Enterprise, but I'll be more concise."

Hood pressed down her dress and shifted her suitcase back into the crook of her arm. "I learned that I didn't really want to fight. That after weeks of just sitting and talking with my friend Electra, that I was more content than I had ever been before. I was a warrior in a garden, and felt no need to leave it. Just because we are born from war machines, does not mean that we need to live as such forever. All wars end, Miss Enterprise. I hope you can live peacefully, too, once this one does."

Enterprise didn't speak for a moment. She simply turned her head forward and kept walking. After another few minutes of silence, the treeline began to disperse, and the leaves and grass began to turn to sand. Before the trees gave way to the beach, however, Enterprise stopped.

"To live peacefully, huh? My sister said something like that before, I think. Life after the war… I'll keep what you said in mind."

Hood hummed to herself, accepting her answer. Enterprise and I have quite an odd rapport. I'm not sure if we hate each other or want to snog. It's certainly been an up and down of emotions all day.

Suddenly, Enterprise began walking forward again. Hood took the time to appreciate the beach as she followed. Her eye hungrily took in the sight of the glistering white sands, as white as the cliffs of Dover back home. In the corner of Hood's eye, a glint of metal caught her attention near the beach's edge. The metal was part of a wheelchair that was placed just before the grass transitioned to sand under the palm tree's sparse shade. Turning back forward, Hood skipped a few steps to catch back up with Enterprise, her wandering mind having slowed her down.

I've lost track today at how many times I've been thankful that I'm wearing my flats and not my heels.

Further ahead, past Enterprise, she could see a bunch of girls in various states of undress lounging around the beach. Most were simply laying on towels placed on the sand, happily soaking in what was probably the warmest the sun had been in weeks. Some were sitting in a circle and conversing with wild gestures while a few of the younger-looking ones played in the sand or by the waves.

Enterprise finally spoke up again. "Welcome to Kamehameha Beach. Our own little slice of Heaven just beyond the port. California spotted it on her way into Pearl for the first time and we all figured out how to get here to meet up when we have free time to be away from the dorms or the sailors."

"It's beautiful, Miss Enterprise, but why don't sailors come here? It's closer to the port than any other beach."

"They're only allowed off base with permission, and they'd rather go to a public beach where they might, 'pick up some babes.'"

Hood put her hand to her chest. "Aren't we babes?"

"We're off limits according to the admiralty. No sailor wants to risk a dishonorable discharge."

Hood made a face. "Was that a pun?"

Enterprise didn't acknowledge her and kept walking further onto the beach toward the girls.

"You have to tell me if you made a pun!"

Hood hurried behind and caught up to her guide just as they got within earshot of the closest group, the circle of girls talking around a wooden picnic table. As they approached, Hood began to hear what a woman with black hair and a blue uniform was saying to the others.

"...get on my ship the other day, I was barred at the gangplank by some little punk barely over sixteen. Said that 'unnecessary personnel weren't allowed on board during repair inspection.' Me! Unnecessary! It's the personnel who are unnecessary."

The woman hit her fist onto the wooden table. "Just- gah! Huh. Why can't we hit the sailors again?"

The smaller girl beside her, wearing a matching blue uniform, patted her hand. "Because you'd punch a hole in them, Penn. I know you wouldn't wanna hurt anyone."

The woman relented under the light chiding and crossed her arms under her chest. "I know, I know. I just mean that, I mean, can't I just toss 'em around a little? Rough 'em up? I'm sure no one would notice…"

The smaller girl frowned. "Penn!"

She held up her hands in mock surrender. "Kidding, kidding. I wouldn't try and make you upset."

A tanned, blonde woman across the table from them tossed her head. "They're lucky they only blocked you, Pennsylvania. If they had blocked me from my own ship I would have punted them to the Atlantic." The woman turned and noticed Enterprise and Hood nearing the table. "And what do we have here? The late hero? Oh, and she brought another cripple. Great. We need more of those."

The woman in blue‒ Pennsylvania, Hood mentally corrected‒ leaned forward. "You want to try runnin' that by me again, Tennessee?"

"Yeah. Little Miss Late over there decided to bring another worthless, pathetic‒"

Tennessee was cut off as Pennsylvania shot up and grabbed the blonde from across the table. However, her sudden jump forward had the unintended consequence of tipping back the bench that she was previously sitting on and throwing Arizona backward onto the white sand.

Pennsylvania immediately dropped Tennessee and crouched over her knocked over friend. "Arizona! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over, it's just Tennessee was-"

Arizona cut her off with a wave of her hand. "It's okay, Penn. I know you didn't mean to. I'm fine, really."

Enterprise sighed beside Hood and walked up and fixed the knocked over bench. At the same time, Pennsylvania helped Arizona up and back onto the bench.

"That's why you'll never be as strong as me, Penny. You dote on that bimbo of a sister too much."

Pennsylvania just scowled this time. "Like you don't do the same to that idiot, California."

"I don't dote on California. I give her advice so that she doesn't take shit from anyone. You just make sure that your little sister always runs back to you when things go wrong."

With Pennsylvania's face slowly turning impossible shades of red, Hood decided that now was a good time to step in. "Ladies, ladies, I'm sure we can sort this out. You're both friends, right? I'm certain that we can make peace among friends."

Tennessee scoffed. "Yeah? And who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Hood straightened her back and cleared her throat. "My name is Hood. I am on loan from the Royal Navy to provide my expertise and be the adjutant to the commanding officer of the new Azure Project."

Tennessee gave her a flat look for a few moments before bursting into laughter. Even Pennsylvania, in the corner of her eye, was stifling a laugh behind her hand until a swift frown from Arizona made her cough and put on a straight face. Hood waited until Tennessee finished laughing before she continued.

"Is there some kind of joke that I am unaware of, Miss Tennessee?"

Tennessee pulled herself together, and between small aftershocks of giggles, said, "Yeah, you."

Hood frowned as a blush spread across her cheeks.

The absolute audacity of this woman. I'm supposed to be the second in command, Goddammit. I'm not supposed to be mocked! Stuffy formalities I'm used to, but I don't know what to do with someone who's outright mutinous.

Thankfully, Enterprise came to her rescue.

"Lay off her, Tennessee. She's going to be the second in the command of the Azure Project. So unless you want her telling the new commander about this and getting you stuck on shore duties for the next year, you'll behave. Right?"

"Oh, I'm so scared of the big bad cripple. What's she gonna do? Run off and cry to the commander about me? That mean ol' Tennessee hurt her feewings?"

Hood's face burned red while Tennessee mocked her to her face.

Never in all my years have I had to suffer such indignation. Not even to that bastard Lord Pound. There has to be some way to make her stop…

Hood looked at the blonde woman up and down and looked for anything that she could use to help her situation.

Her uniform is just a modified sailor's uniform with the sleeves removed. She has rather toned biceps. Probably spends a lot of time working out. Considering her talk of Pennsylvania being weak, she most likely also values strength. With her defense of California and chastising Pennsylvania for not providing Arizona with the means to help herself, then it must mean that it's specifically individual strength that she values.

Hood's eyes briefly traveled to Enterprise before she shook the idea away.

No, she won't accept it if someone else helps. It has to be on my own. No commander and no Enterprise. Just me, myself, and I. Just think, Hood. You're smart. Ugh, what would Electra do? Probably hit me. Hit me. Hit me. Yes!

Hood placed down her suitcase on the picnic table. She put her right hand under her left arm and pulled her glove off. She grabbed the glove and threw it on the ground before Tennessee.

"I challenge you to a fight."

Tennessee didn't respond for a moment, slack-jawed at the dainty, white-glove that Hood had slapped to the ground in front of her. Once she had processed what was said to her, she began to laugh once again.

"You? Challenge me? To a fight?" She laughed again. "Yeah, sure, I'll take you. Gives me a reason to punch you in your little Scottish face."

Hood frowned. How did she catch that? I'm usually so good about sounding English… No matter. So, she's a little sharper than I gave her credit. I'll still beat her with experience.

Enterprise watched as Tennessee stood up from the table with a frown, but did nothing to stop the fight aside from shooting Hood a concerned face. Hood gave her a small smile before turning back to her opponent. Now at her full height, Tennessee could've rivaled even Enterprise. A quick look at her feet proved fruitless as she was barefoot in the sand.

Damn, I was almost hoping she was wearing heels. Are all the American ships so damn tall?

Hood debated kicking off her own flats, but she was wearing full hose instead of socks, and that was far too much effort with only one arm. She needn't give Tennessee the fuel of seeing her struggle to remove her hose for a minute. Hood kept her shoes on, pushing the thoughts of sand, making its way into them away. She took off her hat and tossed it to Enterprise, who caught it without moving.

With her hat safely out of the way, she shook her head, her blonde curls shaking back and forth with the motion. Satisfied with herself, she walked off to the side where Tennessee was already waiting. She smirked.

"Ready to eat sand, cripple?"

Hood smiled lightly. "Strange. I didn't think you were crippled."

The tanned woman frowned. "A smartass, too. Well, at least you'll make this fun."

The two stared each other down. The tension rose as they waited for the other to make the first move. Hood tilted her head. "What are you waiting for? Ladies first, Miss Tennessee."

Tennessee opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head and running full tilt at Hood.

Easy to taunt. Good. I have to keep up the illusion that both of my legs work fine. I can't favor my right one, or she'll catch on. She's already shown to be more perceptive than most.

Hood waited until the last moment, until Tennessee was nearly upon her, to shift all of her weight to her left side and collapse on her left leg while she rolled.

With any luck, that little trick will have looked intentional enough.

Immediately using her roll to pop back up to her feet, Hood Looked back at her opponent, who just managed to skid to a stop on the uneven sand. Closer now, Tennessee took two running steps to try and grab Hood by her dress. Happy to oblige, Hood stepped forward and into Tennessee, batting her arms down with her own and shoving her forehead against Tennessee's chin. Hood was rewarded with an audible crack as her teeth slammed into each other. Tennessee's momentary lapse in focus was all Hood needed to slam her right knee into her stomach. Hood knew her left leg couldn't hold her weight any longer, and with Tennessee bent over, she grabbed her with her one arm and dragged her opponent down with her. With the help of gravity, Hood dropped her face-first into the sand before bucking and throwing Tennessee off of her and fully onto the sand. Hood stood back up while the other blonde scrambled to her feet, a look of absolute fury on her face.

"Oh, you are going to fucking die, bitch."

Hood kept her face clear but was internally panicking.

I'll be honest, I kind of expected that to be it. I was hoping she'd tap out after that. Now she looks ready to rip my other arm off.

Seemingly having learned her lesson, Tennessee didn't immediately run back in and instead chose to slowly walk toward Hood, gradually shifting to her left side.

She may not have noticed my leg yet, but the eye and arm are definitely going to cause problems if I'm not careful.

Not willing to give ground, Hood slowly shifted left as well, doing her best to keep the other blonde as far right as she could. Once she got close enough, Tennessee jumped forward to throw a haymaker at Hood's left side.

Well, at least I have the next half hour to wait while it gets here. So slow.

Hood easily hopped back while Tennessee's punch went through the air. Growling, Tennessee took another massive step forward and threw another telegraphed haymaker.

Hood simply leaned back as the fist went by her face, and she laughed. "Oh, darling, at least make it difficult."

"Stop fucking moving and let me hit you!"

Hood hummed and pretended to think about it while she sidestepped another slow and heavy punch before replying. "Hmm. I don't think so."

I'm not sure why I was so worried. Tennessee looks like she hits like a full fourteen-inch shell, but she moves at a pace that would make escargot jealous. This is almost easy.

Another punch, another dancing step, another dodge. If Hood were facing anyone else, she would've simply waited for them to drop from eventual exhaustion. She wasn't the one putting all the energy into the punches. The problem was that Tennessee was most likely in far better shape than Hood herself. Hood was faster than her opponent for now, but what about a minute from now? Five minutes?

I need to end this quickly somehow. It's all well and good dodging her, but while I don't hit back, this is still a losing battle. I'm just losing very, very slowly.

Hood watched Tennessee's body carefully. Looking for openings in her form. The problem was actually the complete lack of it. There was no technique to any of her movements, just the most immediate moves necessary to reach her target and then hit her as hard as possible. It was all solid, however, and despite the sloppy execution, Hood couldn't find a time to push in like she did in the opening of the fight. The tanned woman launched another heavy punch for Hood and dodging it was a simple matter of pushing back on her right foot, but Tennessee hadn't been just throwing punches all fight.

She was watching, observing, and learning.

She stomped down on Hood's right foot just as her fist swung for the smaller woman. Hood, unable to properly kick off with her left foot, tumbled backward to avoid the incoming punch. With her opponent now sprawled and dazed, Tennessee grabbed Hood's throat and lifted her up. Hood tried to land a blow on her chin, but it was easily caught by Tennessee's other arm.

"What's wrong, cripple? Shocked someone has two arms to use?" Tennessee panted out.

Hood could only cough in response as the pressure around her throat tightened.

"I'm sorry, I can't quite hear you with my hand on your throat. Don't worry, I'll just choke you out. This isn't the safe way, but eh, fuck it, am I right? It'll work. Now say night night, cripple."

This is… not what I meant by ending it quickly. Think, Hood, think! Think before you can't think anymore. Oh dear, black spots are appearing. That can't be good…

Unable to think of any plan in time, Hood did the one thing that she had available to her.

She bashed what remained of her left arm into Tennessee's face as hard as she could.

The hit itself wasn't terribly hard, admittedly. Still, the shock of being blindsided by a stub of meat dazed Tennessee enough for Hood to twist out of her grip and drop to the ground. She left herself no time to think and no time for Tennessee to recover. She wrapped her one arm around Tennessee's midsection, lifted with all the strength she could muster, and slammed the tanned woman onto the ground behind her head-first.

Hood rolled out from under her opponent, who was now slowly shifting on the ground beside her and rose on unsteady feet. Taking deep and greedy gulps of air, she rubbed her throat with her one hand.

She looked down at Tennessee, who still hadn't risen from her crumpled mess on the sand. "I… Believe I win, Miss Tennessee."

A low whistle from the picnic table drew Hood's attention. "Damn, Hood. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I taught myself. None of the other ladies wished to engage in hand-to-hand spars, wishing to rely on either their ships or rigging to fight. So, I did my best with what I had available to me."

Pennsylvania nodded appreciatively. "Well, you managed to put Tennessee in her place with an arm tied behind your back and no left eye with it. You're pretty alright in my book, Hood. Also, Arizona told me to not mess with you."

Said girl frowned, but when she turned to face Hood, it melted into a soft smile. "I'm sorry that you both had to fight like that. Maybe you could avoid it next time?"

Hood curtsied. "I don't make it a habit to fight my allies, Miss Arizona. This time was an exception, not the rule. Now, Miss Enterprise, may we please head to the dorms now? I think I have sand in places I didn't know I had places."

Enterprise shook her head, then nodded. "Yeah, we can. I'll introduce you to everyone later at the mess during supper, instead. Think everyone just needs to cool off."

Hood took her things from the picnic table and gave Pennsylvania and Arizona a polite nod. She turned and followed her guide back the way they came, and despite the lack of conversation, it seemed to pass by far faster than the way in. It wasn't long until the adrenaline wore off, and Hood began to notice just how much her hose and her belt were chafing against her.

Despite my complaints of sand just being an excuse to change out of my dress, I really do have sand in very uncomfortable places.

Without pausing to sightsee and making a beeline, the walk to her temporary room was both quick and silent. Without anything on her mind, Enterprise was more than willing to simply walk with Hood and lead her to unwed officers' living quarters. Hood, knowing that if she opened her mouth, the only thing that would come out would be complaints about the heat and sand in her clothing, she stayed silent as well. She took the quiet walk to appreciate the occasional sea breeze and desperately not think about sand.

I hope I didn't hurt Tennessee too much. To be fair to me, she did start it. Even if the excuse sounds like a child's whining. I'll need to be more careful, however. Heat of the moment decisions like that can go belly up very quickly if I misstep. It was only luck that she didn't use my dress as a shoe cleaner.

"The officers' barracks are just up ahead. I'll get you set up with a room. We'll need a key from the quartermaster, but it's an order from Admiral Halsey so he shouldn't give us much trouble for just a key."

Hood nodded. "Alright, then. I'll let you do the talking. Lead on, Miss Enterprise."

Enterprise shook her head. "I'll get you to drop the whole 'Miss Enterprise' thing eventually."

"Then lead on, Sir Enterprise."

Enterprise's mouth worked up and down until she sighed. "Close enough. Let's go get a room."

Hood held a hand over her mouth in mock shock. "Sir Enterprise! I didn't know you felt that way about me. But… this is too sudden. I can't just get a room with you to do-"

Hood was cut off, needing to stumble back, laughing.

"Come back here, you little smartass!" Enterprise yelled as she chased Hood in a small circle.

"No, you'll hit me!"

"I'll hit you harder if you don't come here!"

::

::

"So here we are. Your home sweet home for now. Don't get too comfortable, though. Your CO might want to leave for Azure Base sooner rather than later."

Hood nodded and dropped her bag to the floor gently. "It's fine. I just need a place to keep my bag and change in peace." Hood began unbuttoning her suitcase and removing the wrapped tea set from within it. "Could you help me for a moment? I just want to get my tea set all ready so that I can have a cuppa later. You're welcome to join me."

Enterprise shrugged and knelt down. "Sure thing. I have the rest of my day free since Bill is going to be in meetings until late. Where do you want me to put them? And which pieces of clothing have cups in them and which ones are just clothes?"

Hood showed her one of the clothes in her hand. "The ones in rags like this have cups in them. I got a pack of them, so they'll all look the same. The clothes are just clothes. And you can just set them on the desk when you've found some."

Enterprise nodded silently and went to work with Hood. With both of them working together, it didn't take long to set all of the set up on the desk.

Hood softly tapped her hand to the floor. "That should be all of it. Do you mind if I change? I need to get all the sand out."

Enterprise pulled out the chair from under the desk and flopped down onto it. "Go ahead. The changing rooms are worse."

With her approval, Hood began to undress. Her Union Jack Capelet came off first, shortly following by the unbuttoning of her collar and choker. Struggling with the knot on her ruffled scarf, she huffed and turned to Enterprise.

"Do you mind? I could use a literal hand in undoing this knot."

"Yeah, just come here."

Hood stepped forward, and Enterprise quickly undid the tight knot holding her ruffled scarf on.

"Thank you. I'll typically leave it loose, but I suppose Tennessee must've tightened it during our bout."

Enterprise shrugged. "It happens."

Nodding, Hood returned to unbuttoning her dress and allowed it to slip off her shoulders and onto the ground. She lightly kicked it away and slid her shoes off. She sat down on the edge of the bed and worked her hose off with her one hand. With the garment removed, she ran her hand up and down her legs, rubbing the sand that stubbornly clung to her off and onto the linoleum tiles. Sitting in her underwear, she lightly massaged her calves from all the walking she'd done today.

"Pfft."

Hood's head shot up and looked at Enterprise. "What's so funny?" She demanded.

Is she making fun of my scars? My arm? I thought Enterprise was-

"Your panties. Hrk. They have the British flag on them." Enterprise's resolve finally broke, and she began to laugh in earnest.

Hood just stared at her. Wait. No comment on the scars? Nothing on the arm? Just that I'm wearing silly knickers?

She put her hand on her hip. "I wouldn't start laughing at others choice of knickers, Miss Star Spangled Ass."

Enterprise stopped laughing and put a hand on her skirt. "How!"

Hood smiled as she rummaged through her luggage and tried to mentally put an outfit together. "You really ought to invest in a longer skirt, darling. And if any sailors offer to let you pass them on stairs or ladders, you know why."

Hood continued to pull out random pieces of her limited amount of clothing until she couldn't hold back her laughter. "I'm sorry, but this situation is too asinine. I can't help myself. It appears that we're in the same flag covered boat. Or should I say butt?"

Enterprise groaned at the pun but laughed regardless. "You're terrible. Who taught you to be so annoying?"

Hood plucked a white shirt and dark blue pants from her growing pile. "It's a natural skill, I'm afraid. You'll not be as good at pushing buttons than I. I have years of smartassery to catch up with. Couldn't backtalk superior officers and everyone in the court was expected to be polite. This is a dream come true. Oh, Electra would hate this place."

Enterprise raised an eyebrow while Hood began wiggling into the pants. "Who's Electra?"

Hood hopped in place as she tried to get her rear into the pants. "Ugh. I haven't worn these in years. There! And Electra, you said? She's my best friend from the Royal Navy. She took care of me after the loss of my ship and we've just stuck together ever since. I can't imagine what I'd have done if she weren't there, if I'm honest."

"That's interesting to hear, actually. I'm not sure if I could have such a close relationship with someone else that wasn't one of my sisters."

Hood tossed on a white dress shirt and tucked the ends into her pants. "I was the only ship of my class, so no sisters for me, sadly."

Enterprise raised both eyebrows this time. "You're the only ship of your class? Our admiralty at least has two ships per."

Hood buttoned the shirt up but decided against closing the collar. "No one but me. I had several sisters planned, but the battle of Jutland and the end of the war cancelled any further battlecruisers."

She sat down on the bed and folded up the bottom of her pant legs above her ankles. "The only reason that I was finished in the first place was simply because it was more expensive to scrap than finish me."

Hood looked at her empty sleeve and sighed. "Could you help me roll up my right sleeve? There should also be a pin in the small pocket of my bag."

Enterprise stood and stretched, grunting lightly before dropping to her feet and fiddling around the small pocket of Hood's bag. She pulled out a large sewing pin. "What do I do with this?"

Hood took her left sleeve and folded it on itself. "Just hand it to me, I'll pin the sleeve myself. I just need help rolling up my right sleeve."

Taking the needle from Enterprise, she slid it smoothly into the fabric and pinned the sleeve up. "Alright, here. I just want the sleeve rolled to my elbow."

She held her arm steady as her… friend..? Worked the sleeve up to her elbow, smoothing it out at the end. With a light pat, Enterprise smiled. "There we go. One rolled sleeve. That'll be three bucks."

Hood frowned. "What's a buck?"

"A dollar."

Hood's eye flew open. "Three dollars? That's outrageous!"

Enterprise held her hands up and laughed. "Joking, joking. Looking sharp, though. I like the new look."

"It's not quite done yet. Just two more things…"

She dug out a pair of no-show socks and pulled them on. Following them were her flats. With them comfortably on her feet, she tossed her Union Jack capelet over her shoulders.

"How do I look?"

Her friend looked her up and down, frowning. "Something's not quite right… Ah. Here."

Enterprise gripped her capelet and twisted it to the side. The opening that was once in front was now leaving her right arm wholly bare and covered only her left side.

"There! Now you look perfect. Take a look."

Enterprise took the small mirror from the desk and held it up for Hood to look at herself.

I do look rather fetching. The blue ‒now Capri‒ dress pants match my capelet nicely. The white shirt is thin and breathes well. I think I've found my new outfit.

Hood smiled. "I'd be liable to agree with you, Enty."

Her friend groaned. "Oh no, God, not you, too."

"Oh yes, God, me, too."

Enterprise slapped her hat off of her. "Just make your damn tea."

"Sorry, can't without water and tea leaves."

"Then let's just head down to the mess hall early. We can drink and talk while we wait on the girls for supper."

"Sounds like a plan, Enty."

"Fuck."

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