Legends

Chapter 10~ Fairy Talks

Titanic stormed into her room practically shoving Andrews off her shoulder. The fairy designer fell onto the desk with a little plop. Rising he shot his ship a glare. "Don't give me that! You're supposed to stay hidden!

"Oiiiii!"

"I do not like Normandie that way!" She protested.

"OI!" Fairy!Andrews protested.

"Don't get smart with me!" Tegran growled.

"Oi..." He conceded.

Tegran sighed. "Okay look, she can't know. No. One. can know."

"Oi?"

"Because I'm a failure!" She shouted, unable to contain it any longer. "I had one job. ONE JOB that night and I failed! I failed so spectacularly that I'm known all over the world for that failure. People and ships alike worship me when they should ridicule me."

"OI! Oi! Oi! OIIIII!"

Tegran winced at her designer's rant. "But I did. And not just that but it happened on my maiden voyage! I wasn't some old ship, I was young. Brand new. At least Britannic had a few trips in her when she went down and that wasn't even her fault."

"Oi!"

"Yes it was! If I'd been paying more attention..." Tegran whispered.

"OIIII!" Andrews yowled.

"Would you stop that?! Yes, it is my fault!" She snarled.

"...Oi!" He whined.

"That's not fair and you know it!" Tegran glared.

"Oi!" Andrews gave a smug grin.

"I hate you!"

"Oi." He winked.

Tegran grumbled. "You're just distracting me. It's still true. All of it."

"Oi, oi, oi, oiiii!"

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Quit that!"

"Oi, oi, oiii!" He sang in a familiar tune.

"No, please not that!" Tegran begged.

"Oi. Oi. Oi oi oi oiiiii!"

"Gah!" Tegran put her hands over her ears, turning away. "Tralalala! I'm not listening!"

"Oiiiiiiiiiii!" Andrews sang in an irritatingly off key voice.

"Shut. Up! Please." She begged, hoping the add on mannerism would work. It didn't.

"Oi!"

"Oh so now you're resorting to blackmail?" She asked. "Didn't know you had it in you Mr. Andrews."

"Oiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Tegran fumed. She was losing this argument, badly! "Why am I even talking to you." She held out her hand. "Come inside."

Andrews looked at the offered limb, shook his head and backed away. Tegran was not amused. "I'm not asking mister." She growled.

"OOOIIIIIIIIIIII!"

"Ugh!" Tegran's head pounded the desk. Andrews let her be for a few seconds before coming over and running a little hand through her red locks. "I know, I know..." Tegran sighed. "I just, I can't keep doing this."

"Oi."

"I..." "Just accept his right, Titanic. There's no winning this argument."

Tegran's only consolation was that Andrews was just as surprised at Olympia's presence as she was. She whirled around to face the cruiser who had stepped just inside the door. "Would it have killed you to knock?!" She hissed.

"I did, then I heard you arguing and I figured you were too busy to notice so I just came in anyways." Olympia to her credit did look a little sheepish but she said it in that typical infuriatingly American way that left no doubt that as responsible as she was, she was still a Yank.

Tegran sighed. "I'm not going to ask what you heard, considering you called me by my real name." She would have never referred to 'Titanic' as her real name five years ago. Once again Mary was proving herself right. The war was changing her perspective.

"Oi!"

"You be quiet!" Tegran hissed at her designer. "As for you," She turned to the cruiser.

"Oh I promise not to tell anyone." The cruiser's smirk implied a but.

"But?" Tegran prompted.

"I promise to hold my silence for 48 hours. If you don't tell the Admiral by then, I will tell it at breakfast, to the whole base." Olympia said proudly.

Tegran growled. "You do know I have over a century's worth of skills to make you keep quiet."

"And I have guns. You don't." Olympia shot back.

"I hate you!" Tegran pouted, knowing there was no way out of this.

"Love you too, Titanic. Excuse me, Tegran." Olympia finished with a wink which served to only further infuriate the Belfast built liner.

Tegran for her part kept a remarkable grasp of her Irish temper although her brogue started to slip through. "Isa there anythin' else?" She asked.

"Nope! Just that! Well, I thought I'd let you know I caught up with Normandie and her chief engineer told me to tell you that your two crews are playing matchmaker."

Tegran shot her designer a look which he returned with a "i'm guilty but I don't care" grin. She sighed. "My designer playing matchmaker behind my back. My own XO blackmailing me. What else could go wrong today?" She sighed.

Olympia bounded across the room faster than one would expect for a ship her age and clamped a hand over Tegran's mouth, holding the liner close. "Shhh! The universe is always listening!"

At that moment, the alarms went off and the loudspeakers came on. "GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS ABYSSALS INBOUND. CRUISERS WITH HEAVY BATTLESHIP ESCORT! GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS!"

Olympia gave Tegran a look that did not need any interpretation. "Sorry?" The liner offered. Olympia sighed. "It'll have to do. Come on!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I have no weapons!"

"No but you are a kanmusu." Olympia didn't pause as she dragged Tegran behind her. The liner was trying and failing to resist. "Damn my rusting old engines!" She thought. She could hear her chief's 'I told you so' rants from here!

"I don't even know if I can summon my rigging!" Tegran protested.

"Time to find out then. Unless you want to leave the offensive line to Normandie." Thinking back to the last time she did that, Tegran agreed with a wince. The state of New Jersey was still placing angry calls to Admiral Carroway for property damage.

"Unhand me!" Tegran at last pulled free and matched strides with Olympia as the two kanmusu sprinted into the fight.