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Data had danced before, of course. He had learned it all—walzes, mambos, the Charleston, and tangoes, obviously. But never with his emotion chip. And never with you.
There was a party of sorts. The Enterprise had been tasked with escorting a small council of an extremely lively species to Vulcan, something which you thought was sure to be a sight to see. These councilmembers had been drunk from practically the second they stepped off the transporter, and Ten Forward had been basically just one giant party ever since. Even Captain Picard had come down to enjoy a drink with his crewmembers.
You had joined the party a few hours after it started. There was loud music, and tables had been cleared in the back to make way for a dance floor. Someone had fished out poor Guinan’s real alcohol, so a fair amount of crew members were drunk as could be. Beverly would be very busy in the morning, and not just with other people’s hangovers either. You could see her sitting at a table with Troi, both flushed, doubled over in loud, inebriated laughter. You smiled to yourself and wound your way to the bar. Guinan greeted you with a knowing smile and handed you a whiskey, a real whiskey. You knocked it back and she poured you another, taking note of the yellow eyes focused on you.
You had been ashore on a nearby planet for a few weeks studying the language of a sentient species of fungus that resided there, and it was honestly very rewarding work. The Enterprise had swung by to pick you up shortly after picking up the councilmembers. But you were glad to be back. And, much to his surprise, Data was, too. You hadn’t seen him since before he had had his emotion chip reinstalled after Ba’ku, where you had met him. You had decided shortly after the resolution of the Son'a situation to come aboard the Enterprise to learn as much as you could about the universe. Ba'ku had always been less than interesting to you. Starfleet had allowed your visitation, but had obviously given you civilian restrictions seeing as you aren’t an officer. During your short while aboard the Enterprise before embarking onto that planet, you had grown very fond of Mr. Data. And why not? He’s adorable without even trying to be. And not bad looking, either, kudos to Dr. Soong.
Data had spotted you the moment you entered the room. With his emotion chip in, he was able to look back on your interactions with him and he was surprised to find that he had sincerely missed your presence aboard the ship. You were intelligent, very quick to learn. He and Geordi had given you informational references to build your basic scientific knowledge to help you comprehend your daily starship life, from the replicators to the transporter to the artificial gravity, and you had caught on astoundingly fast. And you were funny, too, he now realizes. He chuckles to himself remembering a few of your puns and jokes and certain mannerisms. And beautiful. By god you were beautiful. He had seen other beautiful people, of course, but none of them even compared to you, and he had absolutely no idea why. He had asked Geordi what it was about you, because in reality your facial features were not that uncommon in other humanoid life forms. Geordi had been nose deep in some calibrations of the warp core but he had mumbled above his work, “When did you realize you thought this?”
Data had taken a moment to pinpoint the exact moment in his memory that activated that part of his emotion chip. “After boarding, precisely 15 days, 18 hours, 45 minutes and 32 seconds. Of course, my emotion chip had not been installed, but that is the moment in my reflection to which this feeling correlates.” Geordi had asked him what it was you were doing at 15 days, 18 hours, 45 minutes, and 32 seconds. Data smiled slightly to himself. “Sitting in a chair in Ten Forward, reading Gravitational Abnormalities of the Scorpius System.”
Geordi had paused from his work and looked at Data. “That’s it?”
“Yes,” Data responded.
Geordi had smiled then, a genuine smile which reached well into his artificial eyes. “Data, my friend, you’ve got it bad.”
Data had been puzzled of course. “Got what? And how is it bad?” But Geordi had gone back to his work, ignoring his adorably dense android friend who still did not know what “it” is, nor how he had contracted it.
But seeing you walk in, there was nothing like it. It was like he was hyper-focused on you, like everything else faded away, which makes no sense because he is still in Ten Forward and Geordi is still rambling on about the way this delegation’s planet had avoided becoming victims of the imminent supernova-ing of their sun by generating a freezing element that still allowed the sun to continue to burn but which slowed its implosion for another 4,000 years, giving them enough time to figure out another solution. It was fascinating, Data recognized that, but the second those doors had slid open, nothing else in the entire universe mattered. He watched you take in the sights, saw you notice the captain and Beverly and Deana, followed you with his eyes as you snaked over to Guinan. He watched you throw back the amber liquid she had poured in your class and watched you ask her for another, a double this time.
Geordi had stopped talking, noticing his friend’s distraction. He followed Data’s gaze and smiled. He stood up, clapping his friend on the back. “I’m going to turn in, Data. Have fun.” He winked at the android and started towards the exit.
You had seen Geordi get up out of the corner of your eye. You watched him head towards the door before you followed his path back to the source. You blushed slightly when your gaze met the mechanical gaze of Data. You waved slightly, smiling at him, and were surprised to see him smile back, rising from his seat. You said a quick goodbye to Guinan who had been watching the entire interaction before you weaved your way through the crowd to the greenish man. Once you got there, you set your glass down, but before you could look back up, you felt strong arms wind around you. You blushed brightly but returned the hug, laughing slightly. “Hi, Data,” you breathed.
He released you a little too soon for your liking but he smiled at you and you noticed something in his eyes you hadn’t seen before. Happiness. Actual happiness, not just a cheap imitation. “Please, won’t you sit?” he said, stepping around you to pull out a chair.
You smiled at him and sat as he pushed it slightly into the table. He rushed back to his seat and sat across from you. “How was your excursion upon ZhuFang 12?” he asked.
You smiled slightly and started talking about the welcome you got, explaining the surprising intricacies of the fungus-people’s civilization, explaining that you had mastered their language in only a few weeks because they don’t have a very complex language structure or word bank. He seemed to hold onto your every word with baited breath, his eyes boring deep into yours. You stopped talking to take a drink of your whiskey before you smiled at him, tucking your hair behind your ear. “And, how have you been, my friend?”
Data grinned. “I am much better now that you are here.”
Your eyes widened slightly and your blush rose again in your cheeks. “I-Is that so?”
He nodded, still grinning. “Yes.”
He stopped for a moment, his head cocked to the side and you blinked, looking around. It took you a minute to realize he was listening to something.
He suddenly looked at you and took your hand. “Please, Y/N, would you join me in this dance?”
You were surprised at his openness, wondering if he even knew how to dance. ‘I mean, he’s an android. I’m sure he’s learned before.’ You smiled at him, nodding, and you both rose to your feet. You let him guide you towards the dance floor which had emptied. You wondered why he was asking you to dance the last three measures of a Mozart piece (a few hundred years ago, the Ba’ku had intercepted an ancient Earth time capsule which included music and they decided to keep it, claiming it was of Ba’ku origin,) and your confusion was deepened when he stopped you on the edge of the dance floor. And then with the first three beats of the next song, you realized why and your eyes went wide. Data lifted your hand in his and walked you to the center of the floor, gently whipping you around to face him, taking your waist in his other hand.
This song was a tango. Data must have known the playlist, or maybe he overheard a request, or maybe he remotely arranged it himself, you had no idea. But, it was most definitely a tango.
It took you another two beats to snap to, but you quickly took his shoulder. He wrapped his hand around to your other hip, spreading his fingers as he slowly dragged it back in time with the slow-paced introduction, and once the beat picked up, he moved you across the floor with such skill and grace it took your breath away. The way he lifted you in his spins, the way he quick-dipped you, the way his eyes looked into your soul, the way his hands felt on your body—all of it was deliciously overwhelming, and you got the feeling from his smug smile and the look in his eyes that he enjoyed the way you reciprocated his moves, hooking your leg over his hip in the spins, twirling away from him and snapping back into him, one hand on his face and one on his chest, all of it. The song ended too quickly, but it ended with him dipping you parallel to the ground. You were panting as you looked up at him, flushed, smiling, hair a mess. If he had breath, you were sure he’d be panting, too.
He held you in the dip for a second or two longer than one normally would. You thought he was going to lift you up to your feet, but instead, he leaned down into you and pressed his lips to yours in a surprisingly passionate kiss. Your eyes went wide for a second before you melted into it, wrapping your arms around his neck. He slowly lifted you back to your feet and broke the kiss. You smiled bashfully at him before you realized literally the entirety of Ten Forward was cheering, much louder than necessary thanks to the alcohol. You reached up and touched your cheeks, laughing and grinning with them. Data was even laughing as he pulled you into his chest in a warm embrace. He leaned his head down to “whisper” into your ear. “I finally understand what Geordi was talking about. I am in love with you, Y/N.”
You looked into his yellow eyes and grinned, pressing your lips to his again, gently cupping his cheek. “I love you too, Mr. Data.”