Chapter Text
"Sir, are you awake?" The Captain woke with a jump, not expecting anyone to have entered his office while he was asleep. If someone needed him while he was asleep, they usually knocked a couple of times and left when they didn't receive a response. But when he looked up, he realised why they had barged in.
"Ah, Lieutenant," he cleared his throat, trying to make himself sound less tired. "I-is there anything you need? I must apologise for waking so late." He looked up at his second-in-command, not daring to look him in the eyes, fearing the Lieutenant would be upset that he needed to wake him.
"It's quite alright, sir. The sun only rose around 30 minutes ago," the Lieutenant looked at him the same as always; with a smile and a shine in his eye. The Captain wondered why the Lieutenant had always been so kind and patient with him. Whenever Captain had a meltdown or was overstimulated, his Lieutenant was always there to aid him. His parents and classmates hadn't treated him with that much respect. They always just yelled at him, making things worse, or teased him for it like he was a freak show. But the Lieutenant never cared about his oddities, he was always right by his side.
"Yes, Havers, but it is still unacceptable for a Captain," he looked around for his uniform, forgetting where he had placed it. He spotted it on the other side of the room, hung in his wardrobe, each piece of clothing neatly placed atop the other. "Would you give me a moment to change into my uniform?" The Captain asked, looking at Havers' forehead, still too fearful of looking into his eyes.
"Of course, sir. I'll wait outside, just call me when you're ready. I have some important matters to speak to you about." Havers walked towards the door, nodded, and then left, closing the door quietly as if the Captain were still sleeping.
He got up from his bed slowly, trying to ease the pain in his aching knees. He shuffled over to his wardrobe, blinking sleep from his eyes as he took off his undershirt and put on his dress shirt and jacket. He fumbled with his tie, forgetting which side went over which.
When he finished getting dressed, he opened the office door, letting Havers inside the room. The sun shone through the window, making the room a bright yellow, and it revealed the dust floating around the room, waiting to snatch onto a piece of clothing.
"Thank you, sir," Havers said to the Captain as he held the door. Havers looked at the Captain's uniform, something about it seeming odd to him. "Sir, have you put your medals on backward?" He asked hesitantly.
Captain looked at his medals in the mirror and realised he had put them in the wrong order. He quickly put them on the correct way then turned around to look at Havers. "Apologies, Lieutenant. I'm not sure what came over me."
"No need to say sorry, sir," Havers said, giving him a smile that lit up the room. "Ah, yes, the important business at hand. HQ has sent us a letter about a limpet mine being sent to us, sir. It says it should be arriving in around a week at 2000 hours." He pulled a letter out from his jacket and handed it to Captain.
The Captain opened the letter and read through it. He took out a piece of paper from his desk and wrote down when it should be arriving. He folded up the letter and placed it with the paper back in his desk.
He cleared his throat, still looking at his drawer. "Yes, thank you, William. Are there any other matters?" When he looked up, Havers looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "Uh, no, sir, nothing I can think of currently," he replied slowly as if his mind were elsewhere.
"Are you alright?" The Captain asked him. "Yes, sir, I'm fine, thank you." He looked up from the floor, giving Captain his usual smile. "Well, if that's all, you're free to go back to your duties." The Captain said to him with a nod as he opened the door. "Thank you, sir," Havers replied, nodding back.
When he closed the door behind his Lieutenant, he sat back at his desk and looked out the window. He tried to think what could have upset or surprised Havers so much to have that look painted on his face. He kept going over the conversation in his head like it was a broken record. Then it finally dawned on him. William. He called him William, not Lieutenant or Havers. At Button House, you were expected to call someone by their role or last name, and using someone's first name was seen as childish, for some reason. He hoped he hadn't embarrassed his Lieutenant or made him feel ashamed in any way.
He pushed the thoughts away so as to not spiral and overwhelm himself. He realised the palms of his hands started to bleed as he was digging his fingernails into them. He quickly opened his fists and searched for something to wipe it away with. He used the handkerchief that was on his desk, quickly stuffing it in the drawer with the paper and letter. He decided that he would be spending the rest of the day doing paperwork, so as to not embarrass himself or anyone else again.