Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

worst it's been."
    "Um. Good."
    "Man of few words, are you? Or still finding your feet?"
    "Both I guess."
    "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it. First duty?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, welcome to the zoo. I'm Daniel. Daniel Acardi, Seaman Second Class, thank you very much."
    "Jacob. Segal. Pharmacist's mate."
    "Good to know you, Jake."
    "Not Jake," Jacob said quickly and then bit his lip.
    "Jack?"
    "Jake is my grandfather. Jack is my father. I'm the third."
    Daniel's mouth formed a quick oh, and then he laughed. "Jacob the third. Better not say that here. Ever."
    "Huh?" Jacob had quickly learned that acting too high-toney would get you stomped on, but his name was just his name.
    "The Boatswain is from Boston but he's got an Irish accent you could cut with a knife."
    "So?"
    "The Irish don't do too well with 'th' sounds. If you don't want to go through the war being called 'The Turd' you'd better not give him the chance to say it."
    "Oh!" Jacob blinked and looked down at his food. It seemed like there were pitfalls everywhere and he was doomed to put his foot in all of them. Belatedly he added, "Thank you."
    "You could come up with a nickname quick, before someone else does." Daniel's hazel eyes danced with mischief. "That was a pretty spectacular recovery you made on the main deck. How about 'Dancer'?"
    "God, no." Of course it had been too much to hope that this gorgeous, self-assured guy would have failed to remember his moment of clumsiness. All he needed was a girly nickname to complete the humiliation.
    "Maybe 'Trip'? I like that. You could do a lot worse than 'Trip'."
    "I can be Jake. Not like the old man is here anyway. I prefer Jacob, but if it has to be shortened Jake is okay."
    "Fair enough. I like Daniel, but you'll find I'm called Danny, mostly."
    Jacob had a sudden impulse to say, I'll remember to call you Daniel , but he kept silent.
    Daniel took another bite of his potatoes and then mounded Salisbury steak and carrots on his fork. Jacob couldn't just sit there looking at his food. He took a cautious bite of a carrot. It wasn't awful.
    "Yeah, you should eat," Daniel said. "It's good policy. Get food when it's offered. Out at sea you never know when there'll be a storm or a drill or something to mess with chow times."
    Jacob's stomach rolled again, but he clenched his teeth and stabbed another bite.
    "So, Trip," Daniel drawled. "Talk to me. Where are you from?"
    Jacob sighed. It was going to be a damned long war.
    ****

CHAPTER 2
    May 1942
    Daniel headed down the ladder, calculating his timing carefully. He was mentally kicking his own ass for doing so. Jacob was off duty in the sickbay in two minutes which meant that if Daniel walked a little more slowly, they would be heading toward the mess deck at the same time. Then it would be natural to sit together and talk. And the chance to shoot the breeze with Jacob Segal had somehow become the highlight of Daniel's days.
    He slowed a little, well aware when Jacob's watch ended. Daniel noticed and pretty much appreciated everything about Jacob. Although he was trying to be good about not drawing what he saw. His notebook was filled with little sketches of all the other men, in every position and activity. Jacob was in there too, but not too often and not looking too pretty.
    Not that Daniel hadn't done a couple of those sketches, but he'd ripped them up carefully and let the sea have them afterward. It was necessary for safety, but it still hurt a little. Those sketches of Jacob in his unguarded moments had been some of the best things Daniel had ever done.
    He was a bit obsessed. He would admit that. He knew Jacob's watch duties, knew where the man was during every drill. Well, it helped that usually that was sickbay, but for man overboard and fire-and-rescue it wasn't. And for abandon ship, of course... Daniel pulled his thoughts away from that one superstitiously.
    Daniel slowed still further. Men filled the passageway ahead of him, but none was Jacob. Perhaps he had ducked out of his watch early. The Doc was as easygoing a man as you could find aboard the Gageway . But Jacob was pretty punctilious about his duties. Daniel hesitated and then reversed course.
    The door to sickbay stood open. Daniel stuck his head in. A few corpsmen tended the patients, mostly men with the minor injuries that were inevitable when living and working on a moving surface. No sign of Jacob. Doc looked up from where he was bending over a bed to check the patient's heart. "Can I help