Work Text:
At some point, it would be nice to have quiet, normal adventures instead of galaxy-changing desperate battles for their lives, the destiny of the Federation, and everything nice and wholesome. They had gotten the job done (again): the day was saved (again), the Federation hadn’t collapsed (again), and the Discovery had gotten almost destroyed (again). But now she wanted her well-earned rest (so damn well-earned). First a hot shower, then greasy comfort food and to top it off, synthehol. That had been as boring as it ever was, even if she had used a glass with a tiny little umbrella and all.
Despite all of that, some sparring, and a doomed attempt at meditation, her heartbeat still raced and she was still short of breath. Like a cadet with a crush instead of a daring, brave Starfleet pilot (with a crush). She lay in bed, trying and failing to find her courage. In the middle of the twenty-seventh repetition of her new mantra (’it’s not that big of a deal also there was a vibe’), the door opened and of course, Joann strutted in like she owned the place. Which she did, since they shared quarters.
‘I really needed that shower,’ Joann said with a weary smile. ‘And now I’m going to sleep for a million years.’
Keyla sat up on her bed. ‘Can we…?’ She bit her lip. She was sounding so awkward. You couldn’t sound so awkward when doing this type of thing; you had to sound smooth and confident, a bit roguish maybe. That was how you got the girl.
‘Keyla? What’s wrong? Because if you need to talk, you know I’m here for you.’’
She was ruining this. She was so ruining this. But she had to do it, no matter what, so she jumped out of the bed, took a step forward, and then two backward.
‘So maybe I’m imagining things. Maybe it’s the adrenaline or the almost dying for the hundredth time but… I think there was a vibe.’
‘A… vibe? Are you okay?
‘We’re talking. You said I could talk to you. So that’s what I’m doing. Talking. About the vibe.’
‘What vibe?’
‘You know, this vibe?’ she said, waving her hand between them.
She had ruined it. Blown it. Now Joann would deny it and she’d be humiliated. Keyla froze on the spot, waiting for the smile and the ‘but we’re friends’ discussion. Instead of that, Joann just sat there, gaping like a hungry… something. There was no good comparison there because Keyla’s knowledge of galactic fauna had deserted her.
‘Okay, I don’t know if that face’s supposed to be reassuring or what but today, when I saw you, and the ship hadn’t blown up and there was oxygen and you were alive and I was alive, I. Okay, I thought you were going to kiss me.’
Joann closed her mouth. Then she gaped again. Fine. Keyla would have to keep talking then.
‘Because if you were, gonna kiss me, I mean, that’d be fine. Just leaving that there.’
There. She had said it. Everything was said and done. Now she could turn around, lie down on the bed again, turn away from Joann and scream internally until she was due on the bridge. Pretty normal, all things considered.
‘Wait, what are you doing? You just start talking about this and go back to bed, like nothing happened? You think I wanted to kiss you and you’re not going to do anything about it?’
Keyla looked at Joann over her shoulder. She hoped her smirk was seductive. ‘So you did want to kiss me?’
‘Maybe. Maybe I thought there was a vibe too.’
‘And if there was a vibe, what do you want me to do about it?’
‘Kiss me.’
‘Hey. No. I took the first step.’
‘So you can take the second one too.’
‘Nope. That’s your job. If there was a vibe, come here and finish what you started.’
Joann rolled her eyes, but Keyla knew she was tempted. No matter how much she liked to pretend she was the responsible one, she was easy to bait into challenges. And that was confirmed when Joann lunged to the bed and laid on top of Keyla. Not missing a beat, she kissed Keyla: one quick, fleeting peck. Keyla bit her lip. How ridiculous did they look? Weren’t they supposed to be adults? Laughter bubbled inside her and soon she couldn’t control herself.
‘Hey, don’t… don’t laugh.’
And then Joann was laughing too and her eyes looked so pretty when she laughed and they quickly devolved into giggling messes.
‘That was terrible. The worst kiss ever. If we want to check if there was a vibe…’
‘We’ll need to experiment more. Yep.’
Never a woman to use words when she could use actions, Keyla put her hand on Joann’s nape and brought her closer. Another short peck at first, just their lips brushing against each other, but then Joann put her arms around Keyla’s waist, and the kiss deepened. Joann’s heat was on top of her and she caressed Joann’s cheek. Then she slid her hand down and stroked Joann’s breast. There was a moan, and then Joann broke their kiss, panting heavily.
‘Okay. I think we can safely say: vibe confirmed.’