Commander's Rounds Volume 1

Entry 13: Lonely Phoenix

It was only when it was over that the commander realized exactly how transfixed he was. She slowly eased herself down on her knees and set her fans aside. "Did that please you, my dear commander?"

He had to snap out of it, and from the feel of things, he had almost forgotten to blink. And he could be perfectly honest. "I... Couldn't take my eyes off of you. Thank you for showing this to me."

She giggled. "Commander, I will show you absolutely anything you want, you only have to ask."

And then she crawled back into his lap for his attention, which he gave her. He decided to reward her for her hard work by giving her one of those massages he learned from Illustrious. She just closed her eyes and leaned back against him, remaining mostly silent as he tended to her. There were times during this when she seemed oddly calm, just wanting to be held in some way by the commander. It was in these peaceful moments that the commander believed he had a glimpse of what Taihou might be like if she were well- she had a stupendous amount of love to give, but struggled to do so in a healthy way.

The evening passed oddly comfortably, with Taihou only ever really leaving the commander's side in order to make dinner for the two of them. Besides that, if she had the commander for any amount of time, she was going to make the most of it, and the commander was willing to indulge her up to a point- She seemed generally happy to be held and stroked as she curled up against him.

The night came, and the storm stayed- it was unfortunate, because it meant he would have to stay here longer, and he didn't have many preconceptions of what she might do with him if she had him alone at night. She, however, had a full grasp of the situation. "Mmmm~ Looks like my commander is stuck with me tonight, after all. Will he be sleeping over?"

There really wasn't much of a choice, even though he had some idea of where, at least she might want him to sleep. "I think so- I'm sure I can find a good spot."

She cooed. "My commander... You know there's only one place you can sleep when you stay at my home~"

It was worth a shot. She put out most of the lights and slid under the covers of her futon, patting the spot beside her. "Don't leave your spot waiting for you, commander."

The commander learned the best way to handle Taihou was to sail with the wind- and it's not like he hated her or anything, there was just something off about the way she behaved in many ways. But still, doing this seemed to keep her calm, by some measure of the word. So, his uniform left him (but not everything else) and he slid in to join her in the bed.

Once they were under the covers together, Taihou just looked at him for a long, silent moment, before poking his nose. "Mmm~ It's strange... I had always thought that once I had my commander alone with me, at night, in my room, I'd plead with him to pull off my clothes and have his way with me over and over again until I couldn't remember my own name, but I don't think that you would have fun if you didn't want to do such a thing."

She was always saying things like this to the point where it had just stopped shocking him. "...You're right about that."

Taihou smiled at him. "I had wanted to offer you the same thing when we were alone after the cooking contest, but I couldn't get it out then... But I also came to know that no one in this world loves me more than commander does."

He nodded to her. "So, that's why you offer me so much."

She giggled. "Mmmm... My commander gave me everything. Why shouldn't I offer you everything of mine?" She half-closed her eyes. "Mmmm... I hope you're there when I wake up- coming here to see me, and staying here so long... I don't want this to have been a dream."