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Nobody should ever have appointed Riker as head of the “decorating committee”. Anybody, anybody would be better than this, Deanna reflected as she found herself, once again, stuck under the mistletoe in front of Data, of all people. It was a small mercy that he was apparently sensitive enough to human expressions to turn around on his heel and head in the other direction, without so much as a word. Android skin, while smooth, was not something she wanted her face in contact with. However, before she could even start walking again, Doctor Crusher appeared right in front of her.
“Deanna, do you-”
“Not at all,” she said with a smile. If it weren’t impossible and impractical, she would have said that somebody had dimmed the lights around them. Even the people normally in the corridor seemed to have disappeared, leaving a blissful silence but for the thrumming of the ship’s engines. She could feel desire positively radiating off the red haired woman and maybe it was the Christmas spirit, maybe her empathy was particularly heightened today, or perhaps she had simply been ignoring her own feelings for two long, but she found herself standing on tiptoes and leaning towards Beverly.
“Merry Christmas, Bev,” she said quietly, brushing a lock of bright hair away from the other woman’s high cheekbones.
“And a Happy New Year,” she replied with a smile, leaning in to peck Deanna on the lips.
In that moment, Deanna felt something she had never felt with anybody before, not since Riker. Telepathy, true and deep. She could feel Beverly there, in her mind, nestled like a missing puzzle piece. Izmadi, she thought out loud.
“Pardon me?” the ginger woman said, a grin on her face.
“I said, well, I thought that we are Izmadi. It means beloved in Betazed. Two people who are particularly close, physically or platonically, and the only people that I am capable of true telepathy with.”
“Do you even know how attractive you are when you’re talking in my mind? Is it supposed to be two-way? I thought that Vulcan mind melding was one of the only techniques that could achieve such a high degree of psionic connection.”
“True, but I have been training my telepathic abilities, and I can project my thoughts onto you, as it were. I did not mean for it to happen, the rush of emotion-”
“I appreciate the honesty, even though it may not have been intentional. Now, kiss me again you beautiful-”
Deanna was only happy to oblige, and made a mental note to thank Will for this.