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When he had first seen (well, re-seen) Data’s picture he had been mesmerized, almost unable to look away. He was both glad and a little upset that the crew manifest was on autoplay, so he wasn’t able to linger on the image, but at the same time he really wanted to. Geordi almost didn’t catch who he was because of his swirling thoughts. Who was Data? Were they friends? He managed to clear his head as Captain Picard leaned down to talk to him. “Your next priority will be to retrieve any information you can about this ship’s mission. Contact the Operations Officer to assist you.” Geordi’s cheeks warmed as he quickly nodded an “Aye, sir,” and was about to ask the computer how to do so when the ensign he forgot was behind him spoke up. “He’s in Ten-Forward, waiting tables.”
Walking into the nearly empty room, Geordi looked around. Almost immediately, he saw him. Wow. Data was… beautiful. He was standing behind the bar with a cloth, looking at and rubbing the counter while surrounded by a calm blue glow. It looked almost angelic. Geordi could have watched him forever. After an endless minute, Data looked up and locked eyes with him.
“Hello. Can I get you something? Perhaps a drink?”
“No, I, um. Hi.”
Silence filled the air.
Geordi closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. “I’m Geordi LaForge, Chief Engineer.”
“Ah. It is nice to meet you, Commander LaForge.”
“Please, call me Geordi.”
“Okay, Geordi.”
He was still standing halfway between the bar and the doorway as he opened his eyes and looked away. Data put the cloth down and began to walk towards Geordi, stopping at the end of the bar.
“I would introduce myself, but whatever has affected everyone else has affected me as well. I do not have access to my previous memory logs.”
“Oh, sorry. I… should have guessed. We um. We managed to recover the crew manifest, so I can help a little.” Geordi let out a nervous chuckle. “You’re Data, the Operations Officer.”
Data looked down, perhaps processing this information. “Ah. Thank you.” He seemed confused. “If I am the Operations Officer, then why was I behind this counter?”
Now Geordi felt confused. That was a good question. He’d been a bit caught up in… other thoughts to wonder about that earlier, but now that it’d been brought up…
“That is weird.”
“Perhaps I worked here on my off hours.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Geordi brought his hands to his hips before suddenly remembering why he was there in the first place. “Oh!” He dropped his hands and pointed into the hallway. “I- We should go down to Engineering. We’ve been, um. We’ve been ordered to figure out more about this ship.”
Data nodded and they started towards the turbo lift, Geordi hoping he couldn’t see the sweat rolling down his forehead.
As they waited for the turbolift to arrive at their destination, Geordi did his best to focus on the door and not the gorgeous android next to him. Data’s face was one of concentration, and he soon turned to Geordi, opening his mouth.
However, instead of saying anything, he closed his mouth and turned away again. Geordi raised an eyebrow as he turned towards him. After a second, Data started talking, still looking at the floor. “I am experiencing a strange sensation. It seems that there is a pathway in my positronic matrix that, although not activated, is stimulated by your presence.”
Geordi drew back a little, at first confused, but quickly realizing what he meant. “I guess we must’ve known each other before.”
“Yes.”
“I think I’m feeling it too.” Geordi chuckled nervously again. “It’s funny. I didn’t know you existed before seeing your picture on the crew manifest, but I swear I knew you in a weird way as soon as I did.” Data nodded.
The rest of their time in the lift passed in a silence that followed them into Engineering. Geordi wished Data would break it.
What was our relationship? Were we friends? More? Less? His heart beat faster as he thought about it. Were we dating? His heart soared. Were we just two senior officers on the same ship, only interacting professionally? It stopped. Were we… enemies? It dropped. Do I want to know?
“I don’t get it. I’m still hitting a file wall.” “There appears to be a command path discontinuity. I shall attempt to rewrite the locator subroutine.” Geordi looked over at the artificial operations officer. Data’s hands were a blur as they flew over the screen he was seated at.
“You must have been one hell of a bartender,” Geordi said while walking over. “Not only are you really pretty, you’re also really fast.”
Data paused and looked up, seemingly surprised. “Thank you for the compliments.” He tilted his head down again and resumed his quick tapping.
When they were searching earlier, Geordi had been too nervous to talk or even look at Data. Next time they went to the briefing room, he decided to sit next to the android.
“Once we can catch a break, maybe you should mix me a drink.” Geordi joked as he turned around and went back to the screens on the walls.
“Perhaps I will, when we are finished here. Do you remember your favorite drink?”
“No, but I’d like to figure it out with you.” Geordi grinned and turned his head to see Data looking at him. A slight shiver ran down his back and he stood a little taller as Data nodded and they both turned back to their work. Geordi stood still for a moment, and maybe it was just him, but he swore Data was going even faster now.
After relaying their findings to the rest of the senior staff and sitting together this time, Data and Geordi had gone to Ten-Forward and sat across from each other at a table. Data had mixed them both a drink he called a “traditional Samarian sunset.” It was a very pretty color-changing beverage, but Geordi was too focused on the android to fully acknowledge it. They talked for a while, occasionally taking sips of their respective drinks. The conversation drifted from the other crew members to their possible families to if they had families among other things, but they avoided the subject of their previous relationship for some unspoken reason. Eventually, the conversation shifted to their current dilemma.
“I wish I did not have to be on the bridge and could be with you in Engineering. I would much rather continue getting to know you better, even if I had to work while doing so.”
“Yeah, I wish we weren’t engaged in this stupid war at all. I just… don’t understand. How can we be so technologically advanced and still be locked in this fight?”
“That is a good question, Geordi. Hopefully one that can be answered soon.”
Suddenly, Data’s combadge sparked to life with a message from Captain Picard. “ Commander Data to the bridge. ” The android immediately stood up.
“It appears I must go now. I will see you later.” Geordi stood up as well, and moved closer. “Yeah, you too, Data,” he mumbled, looking down. After a split second, he took another look at Data’s face before giving up and leaning in, kissing Data lightly on the cheek and quickly walking off without seeing Data’s reaction.
It’s fine, if I feel this strongly there’s no way I haven’t told him before, right? Geordi was pacing in Engineering, ignoring the flashing red lights of the battle alert. He had immediately rushed here after leaving Ten-Forward, correctly assuming he’d be needed there soon. Geordi took a deep breath. This was crazy. There’s no way he was in love with an android. And there was doubly no way the android was in love with him back. Why’d I have to kiss him?! He took another deep breath. It’s fine, we might even have been dating before our memories were wiped. The thought of him and Data in a relationship made Geordi’s heart skip a beat but his brain paused. Why was that what he immediately jumped to? He buried his warm face in his hands. “Ugh.” “Commander LaForge? I need your help.” He lifted his head and turned towards the ensign, glad for a distraction from his thoughts.
Peeking around the corner, Geordi watched Data quickly exit sickbay and rush the other way. He let out a small sigh of relief. Overthinking back in Engineering had not helped, and he did not want to talk about what happened right now. He waited a few more seconds before joining the long line of people waiting to get their memories restored. While waiting, he once again began to overthink. Why did Data rush off? Was he looking for Geordi? His heart fluttered before a darker thought crossed his mind. Was Data trying not to find Geordi? Was there something in their past or was it the kiss? Geordi couldn’t tell if he wanted the line to move faster or not at all. However, it was already moving rapidly, whether he liked it or not.
“Data was very eager to get his memories back. It’s lucky the same treatment unlocked his memory files, or else he might never have gotten them back. He was one of the first here, actually,” Dr. Crusher informed Geordi after his memories returned. “It’s interesting to me that you’re among the last. Were you busy in Engineering?” “Yeah.” Geordi offered no further explanation, so the doctor decided to press a little further.
“Why didn't you come together? Do you know why Data was in such a hurry?”
Geordi still only looked down.
Dr. Crusher sighed. “All right.”
Another second passed as Geordi stood up before the doctor asked her final question.
“You two were friends even without your memories, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, we were.” Another pause, and Geordi turned away.
“You should check in with Troi in the next day or two.” Seeing his confused look, Dr. Crusher quickly clarified. ”I’ve been suggesting doing so to everyone. Amnesia, even if for a short time, can be very disorienting, and the way you’re acting suggests that it has been for you.”
Geordi nodded. “Thanks, Doctor. I’ll try to schedule an appointment soon.” He didn’t.
Geordi laid on his bed in his quarters. Without his VISOR, he had much more room in his brain to think, which could be a good thing as much as it could be a bad thing. Memories swirled, all of Data, some from the past years, but most from the past day. The whole experience had actually helped him realize he had been repressing his feelings for a while. Probably because of fear I’d get rejected, Geordi thought with a grimace. He had such bad luck with girls, he assumed the same would be true with boys. He hoped he hadn’t ruined his and Data’s friendship. He hoped he could forget it and convince Data to wipe it from his memory banks. He sighed. He knew that would never happen. “Why’d I do it?” he asked the air.
In the morning, Geordi slowly got dressed. He planned to try distracting himself with work again, and maybe he could avoid Data today. As he was pulling his shirt over his head, he heard his door chime and froze. He quickly pulled it all the way and grabbed his VISOR before calling out “Come in!” However, the door did not open. Maybe whoever it was hadn’t heard him. That meant it wasn’t Data. Relief and a strange longing washed over him at the realization. He swiftly pulled on his boots before opening the door. “Sorry, I-” Geordi blinked. The hallway was empty. He looked around for a second before spotting the PADD on the floor. Crouching down, he picked it up to see it was on and had a message for him. To Geordi. Please meet me in Ten-Forward at 1300 hours. From Data. He stood back up and reread the message. Oh. Heading back into his quarters, he continued staring at the PADD before finally turning it off, putting it down, and rushing to Engineering. For once, he hoped there would be a major problem.
“Geordi, I talked with Counselor Troi. She has informed me that when you cannot remember anything, you may do the things that you have always wanted to do. Is it true that you have always wanted… to kiss me?” Geordi refused to meet Data’s eyes. He refused to look up and just continued to stare at the table. The table where he had kissed Data yesterday. He knew Data remembered this and most likely chose this table for that exact reason. If not for the lively chatter around them, silence would have permeated the air. After a grueling minute of this, Geordi sensed Data lean forward and put his arms on the table.
“Geordi?”
He sighed, hearing the concern laced in Data’s smooth, sweet voice. Thinking about it for only half a second, Geordi quickly looked up. “Yes. Yes, okay? I have always wanted to kiss you.”
Now it was Data’s turn to look down, pull back, and raise his eyebrows. “I was… unaware of this desire.”
nother minute surrounded by silence followed as neither talked but both looked down.
“I’m sorry, Data. I-”
“No.”
Geordi quickly looked up, accidentally meeting Data’s gaze.
“Do not apologize, Geordi. I understand. I…” He hesitated, eyes darting downwards. “If you had not… I might have.”
Geordi leaned back, surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. I have also long desired to kiss you, even without my memory.”
“Well, I…”
Data leaned back in. “Would you like to continue this conversation here or someplace private?”
“Here is fine.” Geordi felt as if he would not be able to walk anywhere else.
“When two humans want to kiss each other, what do they do?”
“Well, uh, they kiss, Data. And then, usually, they start a… romantic relationship.”
“I would like to do both of those with you, Geordi.”
“I… I would too, Data.”