The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

No.2 Chapter 5

The young engineer had managed to clean up the upper floor of the house when he realized that enough time had passed for the salad to develop its flavor and cool down. He went back down into the kitchen and placed the sausages in the cooking pot they had prepared earlier. Buttin on the stove to heat them up he prepared two plates and cutlery. He grabbed the cloth he had used to dust off and walked into the livingroom to clean the big dining table and the chairs. While doing so he realized that Prinz was sitting on one of the Sofas reading a book. having finished his task of cleaning he walked over. "I never thought you would be interested in naval engineering." He said while looking at her and the book she was flipping through. "It is certainly interesting to see what has been learned about us since we changed from ships to Shipgirls." She stated while closing the book. "Is the food ready?" She asked. He nodded and turned to go back into the kitchen.

Arriving there he got the now warm sausages out of the cooking pot and placed them on the plates. Two for him and four for the cruiser. Afterwards he walked over to the fridge and got the potato salad out and placed a portion on each plate next to the sausages. He grabbed Prinz Eugens plate and brought it into the livingroom and placed it in front of one of the seats. Then he got out and got his own plate and the cutlery. Prinz Eugen meanwhile placed the book back in it's place on the shelf and sat down in front of her plate. Giving her her set of cutlery she immediately started to dig into her food. The young engineer sat down as well and enjoyed his food.

"How did you like it?" The young engineer asked after they had finished their meal. "It was delicious. I never imagined the things you added to the salad would taste so good in combination with each other. And the sausages were a dream as well." She answered him. Nodding in agreement the young engineer reached into his pocket to grab his pocket watch, remembering it was not there and he remembered to look at his wristwatch. "19:17 hours. I guess it's time to get back to base." He said more to himself than to Prinz Eugen. "You really want to leave to go back to base again? What is wrong with you?" She asked in a serious tone. "Do you really only live for your work? You have such a beautiful home and you prefer to stay at the docks. Why don't you stay here and get some rest? This is your home, you should be glad to be here again, shouldn't you?" She continued. Sighing the young engineer looked her in the eyes. "Yes this is my house and my home, but it lost it's soul when everyone left except for me. I can't remember a time when there was not something going on here. Now it just feels empty." He explained. The cruiser looked around the room while she thought about his words. "I guess I can understand that. But still, you should not be so melancholic about it. It does not fit your character and normal behavior at all." She said. In response the young engineer had to chuckle. "True. It does not fit to me." He agreed. "Well, since I officially can't get back to base until all this is resolved I guess I will stay ." The young engineer concluded their conversation.

Before they could continue their conversation both of them heard the ringing sound of a telefone. "Is that yours?" The young engineer asked Prinz Eugen. She shook her head. Realizing that it must have been his phone the young engineer stood up and grabbed it out of his coat pocket. Picking the call up he heard the familiar voice of the Konteradmiral: "Good evening. Good to hear that you actually picked up your phone and I don't have to send a messenger to get this information to you. The Naval branch of our intelligence service and the department of home defence have shown up in the Admirality in Berlin and demanded to know where you are. Us telling them you arrived there prevented them from starting a manhunt for you. They are currently sending representatives that will handle you and your case. They are expected to be here tomorrow morning. I suggest you stay where you are and come back to the naval base early tomorrow when the representative from the intelligence service arrives here. Don't do anything stupid and just stay put untill I call you again. " Being overflown with all the information, all the young engineer could answer was a meak "yes" before the Konteradmiral wished him a pleasant evening and ended the call.

Butting down the phone he sat down at the table again. "Who called you?" Prinz Eugen asked. "The Konteradmiral. He told me that our intelligence service is on it's way to deal with me." He answered her. "I see, that is certainly something to think about." She stated. "Apropos, I did not know you had a phone and you even know how to use it." She continued and mocked him. He looked at her with a mean look. "Ok ok, I stop. I know you just had not the time nor preference to use your phone on duty. Well, how about we exchange contacts? Do you have Juustagram?" She asked, changing the topic. Sighing, the young engineer answered. "I do have it. Let me pull it up. I have never really used it though." He pulled up his phone again and opened the social media app. "Here is my nickname." He said while showing the phone to the heavy cruiser, which had also pulled up her phone and immediately added the young engineer as a friend on on the  platform. "Here we go, all done." She said while smiling. Immediately the phone of the young engineer vibrated and the messages of him being added to friends by Prinz Eugen popped up, as well as her latest post. "Wait a minute. You posted a picture of the food we ate?" He asked the cruiser. "Yes, that's what you normally do on Juustagram. Most of the things we Shipgirls do is share food we make or try. Or share experiences like festivities we take part in or when we meet with others. You know, stuff that normal people do and share on social media. I mean you should have seen all the posts I made during our time in the Northern Parliament. Almost all of the things I did there I shared." She explained. "You did? Even the things we did together?" The young engineer asked in disbelief. "Yes, I did. You should have seen the comments I got from Hipper and many of the Destroyers on my posts when we went Ice Skating. Hippers eyes would have turned even greener if they weren't already because of her envy. " She said laughing. "Don't worry, you are not visible in any of the pictures and I did not mention you. I do know that you prefer to stay out of attention." She explained to the relief of the young engineer. Continuing their chat about all the different things people do on Juustergram, they both forgot the time and only realized how far it had progressed when Prinz Eugen received a message from Admiral Hipper, asking her where she is.

"I guess I better get going or that flat chested amalgamation of anger issues is going to fry me." Prinz Eugen said chuckling. "You won't be able to get in. The gates get closed at 22:00 hours." The young engineer stated. "Well, that is an issue." Prinz concluded. "You are welcome to stay in the guestroom for the night." The young engineer offered. "Ohh, are you even allowed to have girls over at your place?" She teased him. "If you are uncomfortable with that offer, I am fine with you leaving and spending the night outside." He joked back.

"I rather spend a night inside than on the sidewalk." Prinz concluded. "Okay, I will go and get the guest room bed ready then." The young engineer agreed and went out of the living room and up the stairs. Arriving in the upper hallway he opened one of the cabinets and got out sheets for the bed. It took him longer to get it ready due to his injured arm, but in the end he managed it. When Prinz came up and walked into the guest room, she saw a smaller room with a cabinet, bed and office desk with a chair next it. The walls were painted in a pleasant blue tone and the light blue bed sheets fitted to that color. "Here you go, this will be your room for the night." He explained. "I will be in my room. If you need to use the restroom or want to shower in the morning, you can find the restroom behind the glassdoor at the end of the hallway." He continued. "See you tomorrow." He finished and left the heavy cruiser to herself for the night.