Author's note: FYI 'James' is just a name to represent you, the reader. The image above comes from the 'Girls und Panzer Wiki'.
After his first tankery first battle with St. Gloriana against Ooarai, James had found himself getting much closer to both Darjeeling and the other tank commanders and crew.
In the time since his last battle he had become a frequent visitor or St Gloriana's tea rooms, making him well known to both Darjeeling and her close friends.
At first, Darjeeling was surprised when he asked if he could come by for a visit and some tea, and was even more surprised when he did it again and again. Despite her initial surprise however, she soon grew accustomed to his visits and found herself secretly looking forward to them...
"This tea is amazing, just as always Darjeeling" James mused as he sipped his tea.
"Thank you, I'm glad you like it" Darjeeling responded with a smile, happy to hear that James was enjoying his visit.
"It's actually my personal favorite type of tea"
"I can see why" James said as he took another sip, trying to act as composed and proper as he could in order to impress her.
---Timeskip---
After almost an hour of talking laughing and enjoying each others company, James and Darjeeling were interrupted by Orange Pekoe...
"Excuse me Miss Darjeeling" she said as she bowed her head. "There is a phone call for James from the school head office"
James took another sip of his tea and responded, "Okay, I'll take it now then"
He slowly put his tea cup down onto the table and turned to Darjeeling, "Sorry about this, I'll be back in a minute~"
"Okay~" she replied cheerily as James walked out of the room and into a corridor leading to the communications room...
As he walked there, he passed Rosehip who was walking towards him, "Hello Rosehip~" he greeted.
"Oh, hey James. Are you here for another date with Darjeeling?~" She mused with a laugh.
James merely shook his head softly and chuckled to himself as he headed for the communications room as Rosehip walked in the room with Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe...
"I see your boyfriend's back commander~" Rosehip said with a smirk on her face.
"He's not my boyfriend Rosehip" Darjeeling responded bluntly, keeping her true feelings to herself.
"Sure he's not~" Rosehip responded "He just comes here every week for tea and pleasant conversation..."
"Indeed" Darjeeling replied.
Rosehip chuckled to herself and then asked, "So where is he going now?"
"He had to take a phone call" Orange Pekoe added...
---James POV---
James had finally reached the communications room door, which he preceded to knock on softly.
"Come in" He heard Assam respond.
"Hello Assam" he greeted as he closed the door behind him.
"Hey James. How has tea with Darjeeling been?" Assam asked as a smile grew on her lips.
"Great as always~" he replied with a large smile.
"That's good to hear"
"So there's a call for me?" he asked.
"Yes. Here I'll connect you" Assam said as she connected to the call...
---Darjeeling POV---
"Oh come on! Just admit that you have strong feelings for him!" Rosehip said in a slightly elevated tone.
"There's nothing to admit" Darjeeling replied, in her usual calm way. So far she had managed to restrain herself from letting her true feelings show, but it was getting harder and harder the more Rosehip pressed her...
Orange Pekoe watched on, not contributing to the debate, merely observing. One thing she had noticed was that Darjeeling seemed to be getting more angered with each of Rosehip's musings.After having tried for five solid minutes to get Darjeeling to admit her feelings for James, Rosehip decided to provoke a response a different way...
"Fine then. If you have no feelings for him, I'll start flirting with him as soon as he gets back then, maybe he'd enjoy getting closer to someone who is open about their feelings~"
Darjeeling flinched slightly upon hearing this, and Orange Pekoe noticed her hand grasping her tea cup tense up.
Despite this, Darjeeling kept her composure and remained silent under Rosehip's taunts.
Almost right after this, James returned to the room and Rosehip put her plan into action. She approached James just as he entered the door with a tea cup and saucer in her hand.
"How are you going James?~" she asked in a seductive tone.
Orange Pekoe once again glanced towards Darjeeling to see her response, and noticed her shift in her seat and take a deep breath. She wasn't liking this at all.
"I'm fine thanks" he replied as he looked towards Darjeeling, noticing that she had a different expression to that she normally had.
Rosehip then decided to try something different.
She pretended to drop her tea cup at James' feet, quickly dropping down onto her knees to clean up the mess. James soon did the same as he helped her pick up the pieces of broken porcelain. In this position, Rosehip and his faces were mere inches apart and Darjeeling had reached her breaking point.
"Enough!" She said in a slightly raised voice, uncharacteristically for her, causing Orange Pekoe to turn towards her with a confused expression.
"Step away from him Rosehip!" She yelled, raising her voice louder than anyone had ever hear her do.
A sly smile covered Rosehip's face as she knew she'd succeeded.
"Why?" Rosehip asked, feigning innocence.
"You know perfectly well why!" Darjeeling stated as she stepped closer to her.
"I'm afraid I don't~" Rosehip replied, once again trying to provoke a response.
"You're trying to steal my boyfr-" Darjeeling started, cutting herself off once she realised what she'd almost said.
"Ah... I..." She stuttered out, not only had she completely lost her composure, which was contrary to everything she preached and strived for, but she'd done it in front of the only person she cared to impress.
A calm expression returning to her face for a moment.
"I... Need to step out for a minute..." She then muttered.
Rosehip bit her lip and looked down at the ground, fearing she'd gone to far, as confused expressions covered the faces of both James and Orange Pekoe...
James stood motionless and silent for a moment before he decided to follow Darjeeling, "Orange Pekoe, where would she go?"
"Up on deck" Orange Pekoe responded, pointing a finger up towards the ceiling.
Upon hearing this he gave her a slight nod and ran through the door Darjeeling had left by, and started heading upwards...
---Darjeeling POV---
Darjeeling buried her face in her arms as she rested on a railing overlooking the ocean.
"Why did I have to be so brash in front of him..." She whimpered, letting out a sigh.
She then sighed to herself softly, "He's going to hate me..."
"Are you okay?" she then heard a familiar yet worried voice say, as she felt a hand rub her back softly.
"I... I'm fine" she replied as she took a deep breath and turned around.
"Are you sure?" James asked as she turned and he looked into her eyes.
"Y-Yes"
"Alright then" he said with a smile as he moved his hand from Darjeeling's back to her shoulder, not shifting his gaze from her eyes.
"You know, you don't need to be embarrassed or upset about losing your composure. It happens to the best of us~" He continued with a smile.
"I know but... It never happens to me" Darjeeling said softly as she bit her lip, still looking into his eyes.
"But look how expressive you've been since you let your emotions out" James Mused, causing Darjeeling to chuckle.
"I suppose you're right" She responded in a tone more like her normal self.
"To be honest... I kind of like it when you show how you're feeling..." James then started as he felt his face heat up, "I think your cute when you're expressive..."
Darjeeling gasped at the word 'cute', and felt a growing blush cover her face as she thought over his words.
"T-Thank you... I... I'm glad..." she said as she looked away, trying to hide her blushing face.
"Anyway, it's getting late I suppose" James then muttered, glancing over at the setting sun on the horizon."I suppose we should get going home then" Darjeeling added with a smile, following James back inside...