The Prince Of Wales

Chapter 11: The Second Hallway

As they walked back down the hallway towards the reception room, the pair of warships hung back a but from Riley MacLean. They both wanted to give him a little personal space at the moment. He seemed worried about how weak Fortune had been. Long Island and Javelin had been concerned about the white haired destroyer's health as well, but not nearly as much as their American commander.

Javelin looked at Long Island with a cheeky curiosity. "What did you and the commander talk about?" She inquired.

"Only business matters," Long Island reassured her. She gripped her clipboard tightly as she spoke.

She further looked at the mysterious glint in her fleet mate's eyes. "There isn't anything going on between us," Long Island said quietly but poignantly.

Javelin didn't respond for a moment. She simply glanced down at the clipboard that the American light carrier was holding. She connected the dots together in her mind. "You're his secretary aren't you?" She whispered in a quiet, accusatory manner.

Long Island blushed slightly. "So. I was the only member of his fleet before you got here," she whispered back half defensively. "So, of course I am his secretary."

The two shipgirls glanced ahead at their commander. He seemed to be lost in thought about something. He was watching where he was going, but that was about it. He stopped momentarily. The chalkboard lay on the wall beside where he stood.

Neither he nor Long Island knew that Javelin had rummaged around in Riley's desk briefly while the pair of them had left her alone. But, she had only grabbed a piece of chalk and a chalk eraser. She didn't know what she was going to do with them when she took them. She was simply rather bored at the time.

"Here," she said eagerly and handed them to him.

"Thank you," he smiled before Javelin excused herself to the restroom.

Long Island quickly followed suit.

"You're lucky he is too busy to notice at the moment," Javelin fussed as she washed her hands. "I'll leave it to you until I get the chance," she said curtly.

Long Island didn't say anything. Javelin was just being difficult. The Commander himself mattered more at the moment than the Green-eyed destroyer's silly ideas above her station.

When they walked out of the bathroom, they saw that Riley had drawn a box on the chalkboard in the top left corner. In the box, he had written, "Days without accident:." He had not placed a number there as this was their first day. He had barely finished writing it when they returned. It seemed he had done his due diligence to ensure it was written clearly.

The trio walked back to the reception room silently from there on out. When they arrived, Riley announced to the pair of shipgirls, "Next on the list is training."

"We need to go down that other hallway and meet someone," Long Island informed him.

Javelin nodded as the light carrier spoke.

"Very well. Off we go then," Riley said, and the trio walked down the other hallway.