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It was a busy day at the Promenade, and Kira wouldn’t have had it any other way. She knew Odo preferred a nice controlled crowd instead of the busy chaos they usually entertained, but Kira had lived through the occupation of Bajor, and she revelled in the freedom exhibited by the busy station. Everyone, Bajoran, Humans, Vulcans, Klingons, basically all humanoids plus Odo were all on the station, either passing through or there to stay. Kira hadn’t expected it, but she had found a home on the station, despite the suffering she and her people had endured back when it was still called Terok Nor. She had found a fulfilling job, friends, colleagues and even hobbies, if you could call holo suite play with Jadzia a hobby. In fact, she was on her way to meet Jadzia for another round of Camelot in the holo suites.
Jadzia was so energetic and playful, it was impossible not to go along with her hijinks even when Kira was feeling grumpy. When Jadzia seemed the wildest, that was when Kira felt she was talking to Jadzia. When Jadzia grew quiet and solemn, that’s when Kira felt the Dax side coming out. Or at least that’s what Kira had thought in the beginning when they had first gotten to know each other. Over time, Kira had come to see there was no Jadzia or Dax without each other. Sometimes it was actually Dax who brought Jadzia out of her shell, and not the other way around. Jadzia Dax was a beautiful blend of her host and former hosts.
Lately, Kira had started wondering if there was something other than friendship going on between herself and Jadzia. Sometimes she caught herself looking at Jadzia and thinking dumb thoughts, like what it would be like to curl up on the couch holding her. Or how she herself would react if Jadzia kissed her. Kira figured she’d enjoy it. It was stupid anyway, Jadzia was as inscrutable as ever and as she was a naturally flirty person, it was difficult to detect whether she was genuinely interested or just playful, so Kira tried not to think such thoughts. They were of no use anyway.
She was roused from her thoughts when she saw Jadzia coming her way, and she quickened her pace to reach her. “Hey, sorry I’m late”, Kira told her and gave her a quick hug. Jadzia accepted the hug with a soft pat on the small of Kira’s back. It felt good. “It’s okay, I just got off as well, so we were both late”, Jadzia assured her and Kira broke into a smile.
“You don’t have your costume”, Jadzia pointed out.
“Yes, I’m really sorry, I didn’t have time to pick mine up. I figured we could make a stop at my apartment and pick it up. I’m so sorry.” Kira was usually really well prepared, as her job was all about organization, so the fact that she hadn’t made time to pick up her costume frustrated her. Then she checked out Jadzia’s bag, which wasn’t big enough for her Camelot costume. “Wait, you don’t have yours either”, Kira continued.
“So we’ll stop by your place and mine”, Jadzia replied, smiling without a hint of apology. That’s how she was. She didn’t bother apologizing, because fetching their costumes was just another excuse to spend time with her friend, and another quest on their way to enjoy their proper adventure in the holo suites. Kira had already started feeling anxious over inconveniencing Jadzia, so for Jadzia to seem so unbothered by the same “mistake” left her feeling like she should just calm down and relax. Which she wasn’t good at, so she was left feeling like she had worried over nothing. This would’ve made her frustrated with anyone else, but with Jadzia it was simply endearing. Jadzia could always see what she was struggling with, and then just deal with the same problem seemingly effortlessly.
They reached Kira’s quarters, and Kira asked Jadzia to wait outside while she went to find her costume. Kira’s quarters were a mess, and she didn’t want Jadzia to see them like that. Jadzia seemed a bit disappointed by being asked to wait outside, but simply nodded.
Inside her quarters, Kira found her costume, changed out of her Bajoran uniform and then put on her sparkly red dress as quick as possible. She then returned to the hallway, shooting Jadzia a smile, which she returned. Kira held the hem of her dress so she wouldn’t trip as they started walking towards Jadzia’s quarters, which were some way ahead. As they reached her door, Jadzia turned around to face Kira, her hands crossed behind her back, and flashed her a wide smile. “Come in, I won’t be long” she said, and entered her quarters, and Kira followed her inside.
As the door closed behind her, Kira smoothed out her dress. She then looked up to see the back of Jadzia, who had undone her uniform and was in the process of removing her purple under shirt, an action which then left her upper body completely bare.
Kira turned away from her instinctively, wanting to respect her friend’s privacy.
“You can look, if you want”, Jadzia told her, and Kira turned back.
“I was just… Your back looks very healthy”, Kira said awkwardly, cursing herself for saying such a banal thing. It didn’t even make sense.
“Thank you”, Jadzia said and turned slightly to flash her another smile. “Would you like something to drink while you wait?”
“No, that’s alright”, Kira said and swallowed.
“Are you sure?” Jadzia asked.
“Positive”, Kira replied and tried staring at the floor, her brain not working properly.
“You know, I’m trying very hard to flirt with you, but you’re not making it very easy”, Jadzia pointed out, causing Kira’s brain to short circuit even further.
“You are?” Kira looked up, realized Jadzia was still partly naked and looked down again.
“Yes, I thought it was obvious.”
“Could you maybe get dressed so we could talk about this?” Kira covered her face with her right hand and turned around.
“As you wish”, she heard Jadzia say. She also heard the sounds of clothes being moved around, so apparently Jadzia was doing as she was asked.
Kira reached around blindly for a chair and, after finding one, sat down on it. She took a few breaths, still holding her hand to cover her eyes.
“You can open your eyes now”, Jadzia told her, and Kira removed her hand. Jadzia was wearing her Camelot outfit. It was a pretty green dress that made her Trill spots look almost like leaves, which framed her face beautifully. Kira had felt utterly ridiculous at the beginning of their Camelot adventures, especially because of the dresses. Over time, however, she had come to appreciate their time together as a more than welcome chance for her to let loose and play, since due to the occupation, she had never really had the chance to be a child and play.
As usual, Jadzia held her hands behind her back, a habit she had picked up from her previous host, Lela Dax. Kira remembered emobodying her during Jadzia’s zhian’tara. It had meant so much to her that Jadzia would trust her with the ceremony.
“If I may, I’d like to speak frankly to you”, Jadzia continued.
Kira nodded, and sent a silent prayer of thanks that she was already sitting down. Jadzia seemed calm, which made for one of them.
“I am attracted to you, and I think you are attracted to me. I propose we go out on several dates, and see if we could work as a couple.” She finished, and looked at Kira expectingly.
Kira noticed her mouth was open, so she closed it. She hadn’t expected Jadzia to be so direct, well, yes she had, but she hadn’t expected her to actually be interested. Flirting was second nature to Jadzia. Kira hadn’t expected her to actually want to date her.
Jadzia looked at her. “So…what is your answer?”
“What was the question?”
“Do you want to go out with me?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Kira stood up and held out her right hand. Jadzia reached out her left hand to hold Kira’s. Kira pulled her closer and wrapped her arms around Jadzia. She looked up to stare into Jadzia’s eyes. “So, what kind of activities should we do on these dates?”
Jadzia wrapped her arms around Kira’s neck and stared back at her enigmatically. “Well, there are the holo suites, of course. Sports, role play, learning new skills. Dancing. We could even try knitting...or pottery making”, she finished teasingly. Kira blushed from embarrassment. Jadzia knew full well that Kira had tried and failed being a potter during the thankfully brief return of the Bajoran caste system. “There’s really quite a lot of things we could do.”
“Would you like to start by kissing me?” Kira was satisfied to see that she had surprised Jadzia for once.
“Why, that might be doable”, Jadzia replied, and in the same breath leaned in to press a lingering kiss on Kira’s lips.
Kira loved the feeling, but she also needed to breath so after a moment, she broke the kiss. She smiled at Jadzia, who seemed ready for another round. “Should we go to our holo suite? We do have the whole hour reserved.”
“Yes. Let’s go to Camelot.” Jadzia took her hand again and lead her out the door. Kira followed gladly, knowing that the adventure that was starting was beyond anything that holo suite programs could generate.