Essex-O-Clock: Hornet Edition

"Thanks again for showing me around the base Hamp!" I say to the Heavy Cruiser walking beside me. The man was tall, dark, and handsome; messy haired and perma-stubbled, yet his disheveled appearance only added to his charm. If he were my type, I'd have swooned. However, Hamp was a hipster, and therefore, not my type. And most likely, he was gay.

Which was EXCELLENT news, because I always wanted a gay best friend!

I mean, he WAS gay right? Straight men don't wear jeans that tight!

"No problem at all!" He says, holding open the dormitory doors for me. "Skipper set you up in a room with our other carrier, so you'll have pleasant company!" So polite!

I courtesy, flicking out the tails of my tattered coat in as I pass. My outfit still bothered me though. It was so... SKIMPY and UNLADYLIKE! And incomplete. How so incomplete: My arm guards, the the shin and thigh armor of my boots, the upper chest piece even! I couldn't feel the steel and metal that once composed them. It was lost, spread over the world after I was scrapped, and it was infuriating that I couldn't wear it! Empty. Missing. Patch worked like my memories.

"'Pleasant company'?" I ask, "Everyone's been great since I came back! Even the jap girls are alright. Except that carrier of theirs, the one with the stick up her ass- ah, wait! Hold on a moment!" I whistle sharply at the bald eagle perched on my shoulder. "Colbert!"

*Squawk!*

"Yes, I'm TALKING to you MISTER!" I say, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Pets aren't allowed in the dorms so you'll have stay outside!"

*Squawk!* *Squawk!*

"Watch your language young man! That sounded like COMMIE-SPEAK right there!" I stare at my bird. He turns a beady eye and stares at me back. I stare harder and ASSERT MY DOMINANCE.

"That's a good bird!" I wave goodbye to the eagle as he shuffles out of the door and takes off into the sky. "Keep overwatch for us Colbert! We can't have the Abyssal's sneak up on us! As I was saying—" I say, dusting the the shoulder of my jacket, "—that carrier of theirs, the girl with the stick up her ass.

"Kaga?" Hamp says, an amused grin barely visible over the lid of his coffee cup.

"THAT one, yes!" I run a hand through the locks of my side bangs, absentmindedly curling a stray strand. I liked that part of being human, touching things. The dark haired girl, she had left a bad taste in my mouth. "I ran into her after I talked to SecNav! Is that cold expression of hers, ya know, CARVED on her face?" She was cute though, for a filthy jap. "Like. Wow. The bitch gave me a nickname even though we just met! 'Rezu', whatever that means!"

 "I'm sure she means no harm Essex." *SIIIIIIIIP* I could have sworn Hamp's grin grew even wider as he lead me through the dormitory. "Once we get you settled in, I'll take you to the commercial district. The Skipper gave you an advance on your pay so you can shop for some casual clothes. I know this excellent shop tucked into a corner!" He pauses, swirling around his coffee. "Oh! About that bird of yours. Talk to the Skipper about him. He approved Sammy to have her flotilla of corgis with her."

"PUPPIES?!" I shout, jumping and skipping forward. "Oh man, this fleet is the BEST! So anyways, about 'pleasant company'! If I'm with... Hornet, was it? Who did they put you with?"

"A loud manlet." He grimaces.

"Is that a good thing? Is he really that bad?"

"YES." He says, tightly gripping the door handle of what would soon be my room here, "CV-9 Essex" and "CV-8 Hornet" lettered in on the nameplates. "Yes. The manlet is that bad! And his taste in music. Don't even get me started!"

Yep. He was TOTALLY, RADICALLY gay. Awesome!

"You think the only people who are people—" a woman danced alone in her—our—room. Tanned brown skin, and lithe muscle that flowed like water, as she moved to her own silent rhythm, "—are the people who look and think like you—" songbirds fluttered around the room with her, dancing and flittering between the furniture as they chirped and sang happily in tune with her, peacocking their colorful plumes, "—but if you walk the path of a stranger, you'll learn things you'll never kneeeeeew!"

"So this is Hornet." I turn to Hamp. He was absolutely lost in the sight, his eyes focused only on the woman before him.

"Yep." He says, sipping his coffee. There's the whooshing sound as he tilts down the last of his drink. Hamp does not, however, stop sipping.

DAMMIT. He WASN'T gay.

The REAL tragedy however, was that I no longer had a gay best friend to go shopping with! Now who was I supposed to ask for fashion advice? Admiral Shirou?!

"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon—" The beads of her tanned leather outfit shook and rattled with her movements as the swayed across the tanned skin of her slim belly, joining the bangles and anklets gracing her wrists and ankles to the beat in her head.

"—or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?" The colorful garden of flowers, carefully decorated and placed along the window sills, seemed to come alive. Touched by her words, they came alive and followed her as she sang, filling the room with vibrant colors only matched by the haphazard and clashing rivers of colors sprawling across the walls.

"Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains!" She sang with her heart, letting the beauty of nature shine. She twirled around the room, her sonorous voice sending the world a flutter as she brought the world around her to life.

"Can you paint with all the colors of the wind!" She asked, petals fluttering around her, picked up and dancing in the wind with her. They pick up pace and twirl faster and faster until it was as if Hornet was carried by them. I could feel the spirit in the air, the scent of woodland, the sweet taste of wild flowers, and the sound of rushing rivers in the Appalachians, as she flowed before the pale sky.

"Can you paint wi—" She stops. The songbird suddenly cease to sing, and the petals flutter to the ground as she finally notices us, her eyes going white as she quivers, frozen like stone between movements, "can you paint wi—" The birds give a half-hearted chirp, before they flutter out the wide windows, flying away with the homely aromas of woodland, as Hornet blushes, slowly but surely, turning from a pale pink to a bright and blushing red, "c-can you paint w— HAMP!"

*SIIIIIIIIIIIIP*

That's when Hornet whistles sharply, and then executes a perfect swan dive out the nearest window.

*WHOOOSH*! The thumps of large wings breaks the silence.  From the sky come a flutter of feathers and talons and the beasts swoop down on the princess. Hamp and I run after her, but we were far too late. From the window, Hamp and I could only watch as a trio of Golden Eagles safely carry Hornet to the ground. The pair perched atop her shoulders fly away as she lands, but the other remains atop her head. as Hornet books it down the street- wait just a GODDAMN minute!

"COLBERT!" THAT EAGLE PERCHED ON HER HEAD WAS A BALD EAGLE. MY BALD EAGLE! "COLBERT, YOU JACKASS HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!"

*SQUAWK*!

"I DON'T CARE IF SHE OFFERED YOU APPLE PIE AND HOTDOGS FROM HER SECRET TEPEE IN THE FOREST!" I shout at the bird, angrily shaking my fist at him. "YOU WENT AGAINST ORDERS SAILOR! GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME TWENTY!" Absolutely useless! SecNav wanted us to run a stream again and Colbert was supposed to co-host, and now he just runs off like this? What a bird brain.

I sigh as Hornet dives into the nearest woodland. "So Hamp, this is an average day around here, huh?" I ask him. "Never a dull moment in the fleet, is there?"

"Yep" Hamp stood by me, elbow propped on the window sill as he watched the Indian princess flyaway.

"It's like I'm watching the Russian Baltic Fleet en route to Tsushima— so that's CV-8 Hornet then."

"Yep."

"She's beautiful!"

"Yep"

"And you're an asshole!" I give him a friendly love tap on the arm.

"JESUS CHRIST" Hamp cries. There's a sharp snapping sound, and Hamp collapses to the floor. Oh, fuckin'-doodle-dandy that's right, gotta control that ship girl strength! I'm a human now, after all! "Come on! She's cute when she's all flustered like that!" He moans from the floor.

"You're not wrong, hipster, you're not wrong!" I say, flashing him a BRILLIANT smile as I give him a thumbs up! "But you're still a total asshole!"