Commander's Rounds

Commander's Rounds Interlude 1- Time Enough

Albert sat down comfortably on his bed, doing some reading. He didn't have all that much to do, and the commander wasn't going to waste his time making him do things that had already been taken care of. He needed a moment's rest due to the demands placed on him from all corners of his life, and he was having it, though he did have a little company.

Little Eugen was laying in his lap, napping away, with Albert occasionally stroking her hair as she snoozed. The little ship apparently just wanted to visit while Eugen and the others were busy, and she didn't seem to mind that he wasn't in a mood to be particularly exciting. Seeing as neither of them would be placing demands on each other, he decided to let her nap there as long as she pleased.

She made good company, even if she was doing nothing, and he only needed one hand to read anyhow- His time at the academy told him that being able to do other things while reading was an important skill, though in this case it was only being done to pass the time.

His lazy afternoon was interrupted by the ring of his phone- in this case, the tone was Ride of the Valkyries.

Albert reached for his phone as Little Eugen yawned, the small ship slowly waking up from her nap. Albert explained. "It's my mother."

"Oh..." She said. "Do you need me to be quiet, or..."

"Whether you want to say something to her is up to you." He replied. "However, I believe she finds you charming." Albert then received the call. "Hello."

"Hello, Albert, how have you been? You haven't called recently."

He nodded, and continued stroking Little Eugen, making sure she was getting attention. "Even if things have quieted down a bit on the battlefront, things have not been less busy for me. And for more than just work reasons."

Little Eugen sat up on the bed, and leaned towards Albert's phone. "Hello~"

"Oh, who was that, Albert?"

Albert put his free arm around Little Eugen. "That's the little Prinz Eugen that suddenly appeared- the one I told you about."

A giggle came from the other side. "Since I'm sure she can hear me, then how about this- Don't make too much trouble for my son, because I want to be able to spoil you with a clear conscience when I visit again, all right?"

"Okay~" She said, and lay back down.

Albert went on. "It's still good to hear from you. We are in the aftermath of something hectic."

"Well, I do want to hear about what you have been up to since we last talked."

He nodded slowly. "...To be honest, the ladies have wanted me to themselves for a while. They had to go through a long stretch of hard fighting, of late." He continued stroking Little Eugen's back, the girl having returned to napping. "So..."

"I see, I see! So, I guess they wanted some special time with you? Is it something you can talk to me about, or was it something more private?"

Albert nodded. "I think I can share it with you."

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Albert slowly worked his hands on Strasser's bare back, the young officer giving her quite the treatment. The seven of them had gone to use Vittorio Veneto's yacht- One which her government forced on her, to make sure that she was more stylish than other leaders, and Albert himself was dressed only in his swim trunks at the moment to fit in with the fact that the other girls were in their swimsuits. They had "pressed" him into service, but as he navigated the attentions of the ladies on board, he didn't seem especially downtrodden. Peter Strasser closed her eyes under his attention. "I know you're up for spending every precious second you can with us, but I hadn't thought you were so ready to spoil us as well."