A Bento Box with Formidable: Reader x Formidable (Azur Lane)

Noise was rather uppity and scattered from wall to wall. Golden hour is finally approaching its demise. People started to sit up from their tables and go back to resume their daily activities: exercises, sorties, cloud gazing, sister appreciation, paperwork, or relaxation. After the crowd died down in the dining area for lunch—Dido, Sheffield, and Sirius are wiping down the dirtied tables. Belfast would join them as well if she wasn’t preparing your lunch.

The doors suddenly swing open. A ship with long, grey ribbon tied pigtails and headband-ed veil. Black and white feathers cover the fronts of her thighs. Cloth and ribbon drape over her hips, roses shape her waist. Her dark high heels clicked with each step upon the wooden floor. Dido happens to look up from the noise. The other maids take no mind since they’re used to disruptive noises anyway. Dido lies her rag down on the table and rapidly rushes over to the lady.

“Lady Formidable!” The girl with silver, shiny hair and pink-red eyes quickly bowed to Formidable. Her maid’s skirt went past her knees, and the ribbon on her headband slowly sways over her forehead. Dido raises her head and turns to the tables she was just attending to. “Deepest apologies, but we’ve already started cleaning the area. I can always set you a table if you’d like,” she sounded panicked and added a huff after.

“By no need Ms. Dido.” Formidable bows her head lightly before continuing, “I’ve come searching for Belfast, actually. Have you seen her?” Formidable asks with a slight charm to her voice.

Dido’s cheeks flush. She raises her arm and extends a finger towards the kitchen. “Mhm! She’s in there, making the commander’s food.”

“You’re the dearest, Ms. Dido,” Formidable grins before rushing off to the kitchen.

Dido is a bit shocked, watching the lady go so fast. She shakes her head and goes back to grabbing her wash rag. She smears an already sprayed cleaner on the table.

“What was that about?” Sirius happened to lift her head up towards the interaction. Dido looked towards her but gave her a shrug in response.

In the kitchen, Formidable places a hand on the counter. She takes a deep breath which follows with a few more. This catches Belfast’s attention (as if the door dramatically opening wasn’t enough).

“Lady Formidable, you’re out quite late today.” Belfast says without taking a glance towards her. Belfast’s arm was moving in a slicing motion.

Formidable gazes upon the unusual formal wear that Belfast was wearing. Blue wrapped around her chest, framing it perfectly. Roses met her waist with two decorative lines flowing down her thigh. The skirt left a leg to be seen when draped around the other. A golden chain hung from her neck rather than her usual silver one. Formidable’s mouth hung open before Belfast tsked at her playfully.

“Oh! Late? A lady is never late! I was just…” Formidable trailed off as she gazed at the deep blue of the other ship’s dress, “just wasn’t hungry.” Formidable tried to look at what Belfast was tending to.

“Sure, whatever you say M’lady.” Belfast keeps eye contact on cutting the mini sausages. “What is it that you need?”

“This is going to be a silly request, but I was wondering if you could help me.” Formidable fidgets with her gloves. The bridge of her nose turned pink.

“Formidable, you are usually more stubborn than this. What has gotten into you?” Belfast chuckles to herself. Although she acted clueless, she was no stranger to the attempts of the other ships wanting to get closer to you.

Formidable pouts at the white haired maid. Décor was pinned all throughout the side braids of Belfast’s hair. Formidable had a hard time looking away from how dapper she looked. “Don’t humiliate me more than I already am…” A tinge of jealousy snuck through her lips. She started to pick at the fingers of her gloves.

“Okay, okay.” Belfast places the knife down and turns towards Formidable. “What is it that you need aid with?” Belfast asks kindly, hiding the smirk that tempts her lips. Formidable moves from her gloves to the edges of her skirt to fidget with.

“I want to make the commander a bento box…” Formidable tries to hide her shyness, but ultimately chirps out the words.

“As the head maid, I am the one to make lunches so no girls see a bias towards the commander. Apologies,” Belfast goes to turn and resume the meal prep, but Formidable quickly takes a step forward—a hand on her chest.

“I want to help the commander! Not to get on their good side, but rather because…” Formidable looks down to her feet and a gloss shines over her eyes. “They have been having a hard time lately, and I want to help them! In any way I can.” Formidable watches Belfast’s face turn to a grin. “I know it’s unlike a lady, but it’s true! I see the commander work so hard without much in return. I really just want to relieve any stress that I can...” Formidable keeps her hand on her heart while gripping onto a piece of cloth. Belfast watches the genuine words spill out of the lady’s lips. She took a second of deep thought.

Belfast shakes her head. “I suppose a maid must listen to the lady, after all.” Belfast shifts into her dress while standing directly in front of Formidable. “I’ll help you Miss.” Formidable lifts her head and gazes into the other’s eyes with excitement. “However.” Formidable’s face sunk with the conditions that Belfast was about to prepare for her. “You’ll be cooking upon my own terms, understood?” Belfast holds a pinky out. Formidable looks confused at the extended digit.

“What is this?” Formidable asks while holding out her own pinky.

“A promise. A special kind that you can’t break. Much like a contract,” Belfast (man)’splains while watching Formidable’s face turns into more confusion. Although hesitant, Formidable touched pinkies with Belfast. Belfast giggles at her as she wraps her finger around hers.

“A-Ah, what a weird contract,” Formidable turns her pinky with Belfast’s, still bluntly confused.

“It’s okay, miss, needn’t to worry.” Belfast pulled the two apart; she took a few steps towards a counter filled with vegetables.

୧・┈┈┈・୨𓋼𓍊୧・┈┈┈・୨

You were in your office tapping into data boards and checking the total funds that’s accumulated over the two weeks. You glance at the mahogany door, feeling as though something is wrong. You turn your head to the grand clock above the fireplace. You grimace at it, trying to get a better look (not like you can read roman numerals anyways). You give up and end up looking at your watch. 1:47 PM. Belfast was 17 minutes late, very unlike her. You brush it off, assuming lunch probably took a little more time than usual.

Continuing your work, the hour hand hit 2:00 PM. A sinking feel shifted through your chest and swirled into your stomach. Anxiety pushed through your ears and forehead. You stand up. You shove a hand against your desk to give yourself a push through your door. A piece of paper flies off. You quickly rush out of your room and push yourself through the hallways. The red color of the walls flew past your peripherals. All of a sudden this place felt like a maze with how many turns you made.

You finally end up in the dining area. You bend over, hands on thighs. Your lungs felt like they were failing. Trying to catch your breath, you look up at a ribboned cat eared ship with purple bluish hair. A vibrant blue-green strip flows through her bangs. Her dress was opened to show her white stockings draped with a purple apron.

“Owner? Is that really you?” Cheshire purses her lips as you raise your head to meet her gaze. “You usually don’t come out of the office unless it’s an emergencyyyy!” Cheshire drags out her words as she sways her hips. You let out a final deep sigh before placing your hand on top of her head.

“Hey Cheshire, I’m here for Belfast. Have you seen her? She’s never usually this late,” you say quickly, still trying to catch your breath. You pause and ponder on your sentence. “Actually? She’s never late… like, ever. I’m just really worried.”

“Wah! She’s in the kitchen with Lady Formidable! Or at least, it’s rumored. I just got here myself!” Cheshire rubs her head against your hand, fake purring. “Gwahh~ I think you should go look for yourself!” Cheshire excitedly hops around.

You take your hand off and watch as Dido takes a step in front of you. Her eyes had sparkles, yet her cheeks were red. She held her posture high like each maid does.

“Ah! Commander! You look so… attractive!” Dido shows herself off by placing her arms behind her back. Cheshire smirks, pressing her hip against Dido’s.

“Awhhh~ HMS Dido wants attention from Ownerrrr!” Cheshire teases Dido with a mischievous smirk. Dido shakes her head frantically, denying her alternative motives.

“Maybe I do a little!” Dido admits sheepishly. Her eyes widen as she feels your hand rub gently against her head as well; She lets out a soft hum

“Don’t worry Dido. You’re still wonderful and very dear to me. No ship will change that.” You said with sincerity and passion. Dido smiles widely with her eyes closed.

You extract your hand from both of them and turn your head towards the kitchen.

“Misses Formidable is in there too, it’s no rumor,” Dido says with a red spread from her nose bridge to her cheeks and up her forehead.

“Oh I see. I’ll go check on them both then, let’s not hope they’re hurt,” you say while moving past the two. Both of their eyes follow you as you go through the double door.

“Ohhh! I cannot believe it! A lady really is in thereee~” Cheshire wiggles more as she adjusts her cat ears.

“I wonder what they’re doing in there,” Dido turns to Cheshire. Cheshire bobbles her head like a toy.

“Me too! Probably important work stuff..” Cheshire hangs her head from disappointing herself.

୧・┈┈┈・୨𓋼𓍊୧・┈┈┈・୨

You grab a hold of the silver door handle and open it, peaking your head in. You find Formidable in a used maid’s apron and her hair wrapped into buns. Belfast is patiently attempting to show Formidable how to use the toaster oven. Belfast turns to you. Her face showed both proudness, and yet disappointment. Formidable notices Belfast turning. She doesn’t take note of anything urgent. Belfast bows with an arm pressed against her diaphragm.

“Why, good evening Commander! It’s very nice to see you on this gorgeous day.” Belfast raises her head while connecting her eyes to yours.

“C-C-Commander?” Formidable freezes and feels herself stiffen up. A slight shiver itches her arms as she slowly turns to you. Her eyes swirled as a deep blush covered her face. She puts her head down, her pigtails getting into her face to block her shyness.

“Good afternoon, yes, but are you okay?” You take Belfast’s hand, rolling her fingers in between yours. “I was worried sick! You’re never late!” You shake her arm and she smiles in amusement.

“Needn’t any worry Commander, I was here teaching Lady Formidable how to create a simple bento lunch.” Belfast allows her hand to fall out of grasp with yours to gesture over to the shy carrier.

Formidable stumbles on her feet. Her heels clicked on the tile as she tried to slowly hide behind Belfast. She continued to squirm in embarrassment with reds and pinks still blooming along her face. She grasped into the white feathers of her skirt—fiddling with them as she avoided any eye contact from you. Belfast slightly turns. In return, Formidable moves her head behind the leader of the maids.

“Lady Formidable seems quite shy, doesn’t she?” Belfast chuckles to herself as she feels a face get stuffed into the back of her neck. A warm and flustered one, in fact.

“No!” Formidable chirps from behind Belfast.

“Awh! How cute!” You walk to the side of Belfast to gaze at Formidable. “You like to cook? Better get into it while you can! Whenever I got appointed as Commander, I never get time to do anything.” You watch Formidable slightly move her head away from the white strands of hair. Her red eyes peered to the side of the maid’s head. “But hey! At least I get to hang out with my adorable girls,” you grin at Formidable. “Although, some are more possessive than I’d like…” You trail off into a semi-deep thought of Taihou and Akagi’s fight last week over a commission mess up. Too many torpedoes for your personal liking.

“Well then, Commander. If you’d like: you could help us in the kitchen. More help is always the merrier.” Belfast calmly adjusts her hair as Formidable finds herself able to face you.

“Sure! I’d love to! Anything for my favorite girls.” You grin with excitement. It’s been a while since you attempted any culinary arts.

Formidable is still frozen with a quickened heartbeat. A slight shiver can be seen, but only because of her being flustered. You attempted to by avoiding your stare, however, it was difficult to peel your eyes away from how truly beautiful she was. Not to add how cute she is flustered, too.

“Alright, then.” Belfast’s gentle voice carried back to the wooden counter of sausages. Only a couple had four slits on the bottom half. One having only two. You assumed this was when Belfast got interrupted by you barging in. You turn your head towards the other end of the counter, finding mixed vegetables cut, but still some halves needing more attention.

Belfast took a knife and started cutting the second batch of sausages again. “I’ve already shown Formidable the toaster oven. The first round of the sausages will be done soon,” Belfast diligently and effortlessly create slits into the pinkish meat.

“Ohhh! You’re making the octopus shape, aren’t you?” You resist the urge to show off your excitement.

“Of course Commander, I know they’re your favorite!” Belfast giggles as she turns her head towards the vegetables. “Perhaps you and Formidable could help with cutting the rest of the carrots and green onions? I’ll handle the noodles and eggs, for now.” Belfast goes back to the sausages. The simple suggestion felt like a command.

“Alright!” You buff your chest out while taking a couple steps towards Formidable. You take a hold of her wrist. You gently rub your thumb over her gentle skin, but she ends up taking the steps back.

“Wh-What?” Formidable looks away. Her other hand covers her mouth as her gleaming eyes quickly darted from side to side before ultimately looking down upon her high heels. “Commander!” Her voice is soft with uncertainty.

“C’mon! I’ll work on the onions while you can work on the carrots. I wouldn’t want the pretty lady to get teary eyed,” you shoot her a smug wink before her other hand flows down her tangles of ribbon.

“This is embarrassing…” Formidable mumbled as you both bounced over to the counter. Carrots were already scattered upon the chopping board. The onions on their respective board.

“No need to get embarrassed,” you try to comfort her, “we all have to learn somewhere!” You twirl her around, letting her head go under your arm. Formidable goes along with it, but tries to remain balanced.

“Commander! Be careful!” Formidable feels her feet slip a bit; She tries to take control. Luckily, you held her up.

“I am careful! That’s all I ever am,” you chuckle as you place your hands on the marbled top. “Okay, onions.”

Belfast takes a quick glance towards you both. She snickers mischievously, but quickly averts her gaze back to the toaster oven before either of you could see her.

Your eyes roam around the area slowly. Your eyes lighten up once you find the knife. You take a hold of the handle and flip it on either side to get a good look at the blade. You twirl it in your hand before aligning the blade against the various strands of dark stocks. You slide against them slowly, but end up picking great speed. Perfectly (rather, mostly perfectly, but actually pretty terribly. You weren’t the most proper in that culinary class.) cutting the onion’s end into circles.

Formidable, however, is having a hard time cutting the carrots. She’s taking her time (unlike you) with trying to create long vertical strips. Her quintessential hands hold the stem lackadaisically, feeling the pressure bubble against her stomach and overflow into her chest. She presses the knife against the carrot’s side, but the knife keeps slipping to the right. Her grip slowly becomes less firm and only creates skewed lines. In frustration, she shoves the knife down. The slice is not only messy, but rather huge.

You hearing the loud noise makes your head immediately turn towards it. You find Formidable practically throwing the knife down and getting upset over the cut. You place your knife down after making a final cut upon the onions. To be honest, your eyes burned a little. Actually, a lot more than a little. This didn’t stop you from going to Formidable’s side, though.

“Are you okay?!” You look at the predominantly cut in half carrot. “You didn’t cut yourself did you?” You frantically take both of Formidable’s hands. You turned them over to glance at her knuckles and then back to her palms. Formidable blushes deeply, merely because of embarrassment.

“No! Commander I’m just fine, needn’t to worry about me!” Formidable watches your gaze meet with hers. “I just got a bit frustrated, that is all,” she gently squeezed your fingers as if she wanted to hold them. You intertwine your fingers into Formidable’s—her palm eagerly pressing against yours.

“You need to be careful when it comes to sharp objects,” you tilt her hand to the side while lifting her hand to your lips. “I’m glad you’re okay. I can’t have my secretary hurting herself.” Formidable jumps from the divine words. Secretary? There’s no way. Formidable thought you were joking, what a harsh joke you could make to a ship-girl.

You place your lips gently against her knuckles and let her hand roam around your face.

“W-Wasn’t your secretary Belfast?” Formidable glances towards the maid, but she was nowhere to be found. “Belfast?!” Formidable’s eyes quickly meet every corner of the room. Her chest was filled with an adrenaline rush.

You look behind you. A bento box was half full with yummy octo sausages, pork slices, mochi, and noodles with peanut butter. You mentally gasp at her work; Belfast was truly talented. You turn your body back to Formidable.

“Looks like we’re alone! The cooking pressure is on the low,” you slag your shoulders in reassurance.

Formidable only grows more anxiety as she realizes that they were alone. She bites her lip; she really did need Belfast here. I’d be selfish to keep her from her duties though. “C’mon! I’ll show you how to cut, okay?” You turn Formidable towards the counter. Her beautiful, long hair flows with the motion. You snuck a peek towards the ground. You start to wonder how no one steps on her hair, or rather, how her hair stays so clean. “Just stand here, relax,” you instruct her, but Formidable’s shoulders are still tense.

After a slim slice is left, Formidable puts her knife down. She shoots her arms above her head and turns towards you with her glistening eyes.

“I did it, Commander! I did it!” Formidable puts her hands on your shoulders. She shakes you gently so as to not stir you up, but she couldn’t help being excited. “I learned how to cut carrots!” She smiles widely before realizing her actions. She quickly pulls away, looking down to her feet in embarrassment.

You tuck your head into her chest—quickly wrapping your arms around her hips and lift her up in the air. “You did it!!! My secretary did it!” You hold her tighter. Her eyes go wide. She kicks her legs while holding onto you tightly.

“Commander, hold on! Be careful, please! Aren’t I heavy?” Formidable frantically spouts as she tries to not fall.

“You did it, Formidable!” You disregard her words as exhilaration coursed through your body. You rub your head into her and start spinning both of you around. “You made lunch!”

“Commander, wait!” Formidable holds on even tight while crying out for help. “Belfast!!!”

You slowly come to a stop and gently place her down on the floor. Her heels clanked around from the minor dizziness that formed. You move your arms up to her waist. You held her close and held her dear.

“Formidable,” you mutter gently into her shoulder. Hair was stuffed into your face, but you didn’t care. She smelled wonderful, looked wonderful, and her voice was so gentle. “Thank you so much.” You rubbed your head into her neck.

“What?!” Formidable blushes and hesitantly hugs you back. She was confused what exactly she did to deserve such attention.

“You’re so beautiful,” you say while pulling your head away to let your eyes roam around her face. “So many talents within a lady.”

“Commander, you flatter me, uhm…” she trails off as she tries to think of an answer other than, ‘thank you’.

“Hush.” you lean up (or down, I guess. Or maybe you leaned in straight. Who’s to say. I guess that my job though, huh?) and close in the space between your face and hers. Formidable stays still. Frozen, she attempts to close her eyes so she doesn’t see what happens. She tenses up from a feeling of warmth spreading across her lips. She was clueless on what to do; she’s never kissed someone before. Although she daydreamed about this moment, all the prep work she put into her hand was worth nothing.

While Formidable stood there, completely doing nothing, you decided to deepen the kiss. You pulled her closer to you—holding her tighter. She finally started to kiss back, trying to follow your movements. She reaches a hand up, sewing her fingers into your hair and adding a little bit of grip.

After a moment of passion and the spur of energy, you leave a little lick upon her lips before gently pulling yourself away. Formidable leans in slightly, craving more, but it wouldn’t be ideal to continue a session in the middle of the kitchen. Additionally, it wouldn’t be proper to not let the commander eat.

“Commander…” Formidable swallows down access build up from her throat. “That was… That?” She tries to think of what to say. “Thank you…” she tries to hide her voice.

“Awh, no need to thank me. After all, I’m more than proud of you!” You smile. You fixate her gaze upon her pulled up buns, but then your gaze trickles down to the rest of her hair. “Lets take your buns down, hum? I bet they’re heavy on your head.” You reach up to one of the circles and start pulling out bobby pins and placing each into my mouth to hold them. Small fly away and chunks start to fall as you do so.

“It does get heavy sometimes,” she responds with a still softened tone. Eventually, you pull the hair out of the hair tie and let it ebb into the rest of her hair. You float to the other side of her head, doing the same to its counterpart. A huge pile of bobby pins started to build up into my mouth.

Formidable smiles gently from the kind words she only ever heard from the maids. Although, this didn’t sound platonic like theirs did.

As the final bun falls into strands with the rest of her other pigtail, you brush out some of the tangles that were created in the dirty blondish-grey hair.

“You were right, Commander, having my hair down is less heavier!” Formidable presses her forehead against yours, letting her nose nuzzle against yours. “I was wondering why my head was starting to hurt.” You listen to Formidable while taking off her apron.

“You’re so precious m’lady,” you chuckle and let your noses rub for a couple seconds. “Would you like to eat with me? I’d assume you spent most of your lunchtime trying to create my food.”

“Sh-Share?” Formidable blushes as you pull away from her. You glide over to the bento box on the other counter that Belfast was attending. You pick up the box and make your way back to the other counter. You go to the carrots and place them into one section of the box. After, you collect the onions and spread them around in the savory sections. Formidable’s amber eyes stroll around the assortments of food.

“Would you like to come to my office? I’m sure standing where to eat wouldn’t be that nice,” you suggest to her.

“Oh! Your office? You mean the one where Taihou copied the key for..?” Formidable has a sweat drop roll down her temple.

You look to the side with a distasteful look. “Yeah. That one exactly.”

“Sure! I would love to see inside!” Formidable places her hands together in excitement.

“Whoa, your place looks beautiful!” Formidable gets enamored from the red walls and the beautiful, alluring fireplace. Her eyes gaze upon the green- (green? Seriously?) curtains that shape the golden beams that place the window panes. “I never knew you lived this luxuriously.” Formidable walks around your table, letting her hand roam around the unsorted papers.

“You’ve gravitated to my paperwork, it seems,” you chuckle as you meet her side. “I’m glad you think this place is beautiful. Considering Illustrious and the general Royal Navy gave it to me,” you give her a gentle elbow along with a chuckle. “In fact, your majesty: The queen of the Royal Navy, spared this office to me out of her kindness and I couldn’t be more grateful as a peasant,” you put on a mocking, but semi-serious British accent. Formidable chuckles, but tries to hide it.

“Mocking her majesty is not nice, Commander!” She says while still giggling.

“Not my fault! Although, I wouldn’t want Hood to kick my ass,” you say sheepishly. “I also wouldn’t want the Prince of Wales on my ass either.”

“They are both very terrifying women,” Formidable nods her head in agreement,” Other than Belfast, of course,” she adds on.

“Thank god only Enterprise and the main four get lectured by her. Only thing Belfast ever chastised me for was not eating well enough,” you tilt your head in realization. “I guess that’s the whole thing about Enterprise though.” You ponder on your thoughts for a bit more. “Oddly enough, she tells me—well, more like begs me—to take a break sometimes. I can’t help it though, you guys are my job!”

“Indeed. I do agree with Belfast though. Balanced food is always important!” Formidable smiles at you lovingly. “And taking time to yourself relieves stress and amongst other things.”

“Speaking of, we have this beautiful bento box to share!” You gush over the food you both worked so very hard for (yes... so very hard). “Wanna go into my bedroom?” You ask innocently.

Formidable’s face boils over with reds and pinks. You stare at her with non-knowing eyes; what you requested seemed romantic at most. You tilted your head as Formidable started mumbling to herself.

“Well?” You give her a dorky smile, still not realizing what you asked.

“C-Commander…” she gulps. She feels her chest tighten as she looks to the side. “You can’t ask a lady that!”

“But I wanna cuddle! Are ladies not allowed to cuddle?” You cross your arms while pursing your lips. Formidable staggers back.

“H-Huh?! No! We!” She bites her lips, deep in thought. “We can…”

“Then lets cuddle!” You take a hold of Formidable’s hand and lead her into a side door that the Sakura Empire helped curate for you.

Formidable stands in front of what seems like a fancy sleeping bag. You put your arms on your hips, obviously proud.

“The Royal Navy could get you an actual bed,” Formidable says with a lace of salt. “You don’t have to sleep on the ground.”

“No! It’s comfortable. Trust me, c’mon.” You sit in the bed and place the bento box onto your lap after shifting the blankets on top of you. You pat the soft puffy spot next to you, inviting Formidable to sit down.

“I’ll trust you, for now, Commander,” Formidable teases as she shifts her dress around and takes a seat. She scoots in close and oddly gets enamored by the softness of the Sakura Empire. You pull the rest of the blanket over Formidable and make sure all of her legs are covered.

“Comfortable, isn’t it?” You put on a cunt-like smile with an I-told-you-so look. Formidable sighs and shakes her head; she lets her hands roam around the blanket and gentle feeling of the fabric.

“Yes, it is quite soft. I should have known, after all, the Sakura Empire wouldn’t sabotage our Commander like that. Not anymore…” Formidable trails off as she stares at the bento box. Something obviously bothered her.

“What’s the matter?” You take a fork from the bento box and shove it into some of the noodles. You roll the fork until the pasta neatly circles around the prongs. “Thinking about the new alliance?”

“I know we are allied now, however, it’s quite worrisome about potential betrayal.” Formidable starts to frown. “I don’t like how the queen suddenly wants us to just trust them—especially the northern parliament. We haven’t seen them in…” she sighs. “Years. Eagle Union may have found them. They’ve gotten in contact.” She huffs once more. “And Iron Blood, especially. How must I—we—just trust them immediately?”

You haven’t heard Formidable sound so concerned before. You thought about the recent alliance, how the Germans and Japanese got used to it very easily. Actually, you did notice the allied nations initially steered clear from the new occupants.

“The Sirens are the true enemy. I understand your confusion with the leaders of each nation finally agreeing to ally with each other. It could even feel like betrayal.” You turn towards Formidable and lift the fork to her mouth. She turns her head to you. “Trust me. We spend a lot of our personal time and business time discussing what used to be our enemy. We all agreed that: the only way to defeat the sirens is to ultimately team up so we have the upper advantage.” Formidable looks to the food, still having a disappointed look. “You don’t have to get along with them. I don’t think anyone really expects you to, change is hard.” You watch her face soften.

“I just… don’t want something to happen,” she opens her mouth and lets you put the noodles into her mouth. The peanut butter melts into her mouth. She starts to calm down as she chews the food. “Javelin went to see Ayanami. Even brought Unicorn. Unicorn is…” Formidable sighs. “How did the three trust our enemy so easily?” She gulps down the last of her ramble.

“It’s okay to question the situation. We knew in the meeting that this would happen,” you place the fork back into the bento box. You pick up a sausage with your hand and eat it whole. Formidable invites herself to come carrots and mochi.

The room fell silent with occasional compliments and saying how great Belfast was at cooking and being a maid in general.

Formidable’s lips part as she scanned your body. A sudden wave of relaxation hit her once she lied herself against you. Formidable reaches over your stomach. She tucks her forearm against your waist, her hand relaxes against your arm. You bring up one of your arms and hold her close. Her hair strands across the floor and the bedding. The lace of her dress pokes out of the blanket.

“Can I tell you a secret?” You feel Formidable shift around to get comfortable. She presses her stomach closer against me and her leg bends over mine.

“Of course, Commander,” she replies as she digs her head into your neck and gives it a gentle kiss. Your cheeks heat up with a tad bit of embarrassment.

“Awh, a kiss for me? You’re too sweet!” You giggle before continuing, “my secret is that I really, really like you.” You pause for a short while. “I love you, Formidable. I think I always have. Watching you out on the battlefield. You are always coming to check on me. I always liked working with you,” you gush and find yourself blushing. “I know things are tough for Azur Lane right now, but I would love to spend those tough times with you. I wanna make you happy.” You plant a gentle kiss upon her bangs. She smiles softly from the kind words.

“I enjoy your company a lot too,” Formidable holds onto you tighter. “I would enjoy a night out where I could show you my special song on my record player. It’d be lovely.” She hums gently.

“I would love nothing more, m’lady,” you imitate a British accent once more, making Formidable giggle.

“You almost sounded like Belfast for a second!” Formidable struggles to keep her composure. “Oh me, oh my,” Formidable exhales to calm herself down. A heavy cloud of drowsiness fogged over both of you.

“You’re so cute, Formidable,” you nuzzle your cheek against her head as you gush at her. Formidable rubs her head onto your chest in response.

“When do you have to work, Commander?” Formidable asks with her eyelids getting heavy. Her vision started to get blurry trying to keep them open.

“Later tonight. I’ll call up a friend to take care of it for me though,” you start to calm your tone until it gets to a whisper. “She’ll have fun, I’m sure.” You chuckle to yourself before giving Formidable a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Rest well, dear.”

“I don’t want to sleep…” Formidable started to slur her words as her eyes kept quickly opening and slowly closing.

“If you do, we’ll still be together. I promise I won’t leave you,” you reassure her with a follow up yawn. “Sorry about that!”

Formidable’s mouth opens as well. She inhales gently and aims her face down. “Ahh, apologies from me as well!”

“Looks like my yawn made you yawn back!” You puff your chest out and Formidable taps your chest.

“Perhaps the myth isn’t a myth after all. Yawns definitely are contagious!” Formidable giggles but it slowly dies down as she tries to keep herself awake.

“Maybe you’re right. We’ll ask Belfast tonight.” You bring your hand up to Formidable’s head, letting your fingers rub against her scalp and roam down to her tangled pigtails. You stroke the strands, letting the softness string against your fingers. You were gentle then they came across any knots.

“Commander, I...” Formidable trails off, but shakes her head awake. “I love you!” She tries to keep her eyes open, but your gentle hands cause her sleepiness to grow larger.

“I love you too sweetheart. Close your pretty little eyes,” you gently whisper into her ear. Your hand moved past the layers of hair to rub and scratch her back. “You need your rest. You did good today, and I couldn’t be more proud of you,” you continued.

“You’re the one who takes good care of us, Commander!” Formidable pouts as her sleepiness wins the battle. Her eyes finally closed. Her body relaxes, making her arm hand more to your side and her breathing to become a bit heavier. You continued to rub her back, but you felt yourself getting tired as well.

“I’m glad to hear it,” you mostly say to yourself as Formidable’s mind swims in newly wedded dreams. You try to not let yourself overthink. Making everyone happy with no jealousy will be a challenge. “Taihou...” Her name escapes your lips accidentally. “I hope Belfast is okay with watching over my shift with Queen Elly,” you sigh to yourself. You tried closing your eyes, but your mind wouldn’t stop wondering.

You looked to your nightstand, thinking about the engagement ring that Akashi gave to you years ago. Your gaze slid back over to Formidable’s resting face. Were you really worth Formidable’s attention? You could already hear Belfast edging you on to ask her.

You shake your head and attempt to close your eyes once more. A new relaxation hit you as you felt Formidable clutch onto you in her sleep. Your lips curve to a smile. “Goodnight Formidable. Maybe tomorrow,” you mumble to yourself as you adjust yourself a final time before slipping away into a deep unconsciousness.