The adventures of the young engineer and Prinz Eugen Volume 2.

No. 8 Chapter 5

When the engineer entered the shared dorm room, he was not surprised to see Prinz Eugen laying on her bed with her phone in hand. She did not bother to look up from the screen in front of her while he walked in. "Is everything alright?" He asked her. "Sure." She answered while continuing to scroll on her phone's screen. "So, what did you do for the rest of the day?" He asked her, trying to get a conversation going. "I was here and there, doing my things, not getting you involved." She answered casually. "Alright." The engineer answered upon receiving an answer.
He remained silent for a bit while he crossed the room and took his jacket and boots off. Sitting down on the rim of his bed he again locked his eyes onto the cruiser. "About my outburst earlier, I am sorry for overreacting." He tried to apologize and be done with it. "You seem to do that a lot lately, overreacting that is." The cruiser answered with a slightly judgmental tone. "I guess you are right." He admitted despite feeling unjustified about doing so. "It seems we both have our issues seeing personal and service related things differentiated." The engineer tried to press the issue away from implied personal failings. "So what do you propose?" She asked. "Well, perhaps it is easier when we actively try to separate our personal matters and those of hierarchy. It makes things easier." He offered. "So there will be a divide between us as service members and friends?" Eugen asked. "That should have been there the entire time." He admitted. "I mean I managed to do so with my Godfather, but that is because I always knew that he was the Konteradmiral the second he had his uniform on." The engineer voiced his uncertainties as well. "So you don't have a better solution?" The cruiser asked. "If this keeps on and we admit to more and more secrets we are holding toward each other whenever we have to admit them or accidentally let them slip, it will not get any better." He argued. "And I have no interest in having something around me that can impair my judgment and onto which I can't rely and trust in as needed and demanded." Prinz Eugen made her point clear. "It's good then, that we are probably no longer reliant on each other after this event here with my transfer." The engineer made his conclusion to the argument with a saddened expression. "That won't be the case,you will remain my subordinate, your performance has always been nearly flawless." She countered that notion. "On the other hand, having you out of my business would mean you are less of a liability in some cases." The cruiser seemed to think out loud. "So I am a liability?" The engineer asked, upset. "You become one, if I can't rely on you to a fault." The cruiser admitted. "But leave that to me." She assured him. "So, you want to rely on me and don't want me to be reliable by relying on me? How am I supposed to prove my commitment to you?" He asked her, not letting go. "You only can through your actions, your breaking off my side has put a smudge on that record." The cruiser explained and pushed her arguments. "Wonderful!" The engineer huffed. "I will be sure to scream an oath to you the next time I am thrown into a situation made by your design." He concluded ironically while falling backwards onto his bed.

About an hour passed while the engineer had made himself ready for bed. Before he went to sleep, the engineer sat down on the rim of his bed once more. Prinz Eugen was apparently already in her way sleeping and dreaming. "Well, all I really wanted to say was that I am sorry that I was once more an idiot, although I am certainly not to be blamed alone. When things get too personal, I have no clear thoughts." He stopped and thought about what else to say to appease the cruiser while scratching the back of his head. "I guess that is all I can say to that." He concluded while laying down in his bead. "There is one more thing." He added after he remembered it. "I do intend to keep your word you made to the Eagle Union carriers. I met with them and got a bike organized for the race." He informed her. "Have a good night's rest, if you can." He ended. It took the engineer some time before he was able to sleep. The main question he had was if his last words actually reached the cruiser or not. From what he understood from their conversations about ships sleep, it was more a sort of day dreaming since they actually did not need sleep but rather a form and way to relax their minds. He thought therefore that when the cruiser was not daydreaming too much, she should have heard his words and hopefully could consider them.