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Tendi’s Lazy Day
D’Vana Tendi was enjoying making the most of her lazy day off.
In practice, a “lazy day” for Tendi involved working on just as many projects as a working day, but she at least got to enjoy her various diversions without a set time table, for her own enjoyment, and, since her promotion and the acquisition of her own (admittedly tiny) quarters, she could do so in her own space while focusing on her own comfort.
She was in the process of cataloguing future recipe ideas to try with the all mighty pesto when she heard her door chime.
It would be Rutherford, of course. They had a “date” to meet up and work on their new prototype scale-model warp generator. He was twenty minutes early, which she should have predicted, but she had just been in her own head. She hadn’t really had time to clean or finish getting ready, but she comforted herself that he was never the type to cast judgment.
She was sure she was forgetting something, though.
“Come in my house!” She sang excitedly.
The door whooshed open and Rutherford stepped in.
“Hi, Tendi!” He called out. As he walked through the door, the young Engineer met her bright, cheerful smile with one of his own… and then his jaw dropped when he got a good look at her.
Tendi was confused at first… and then she remembered what she was wearing. Or wasn’t.
Tendi was fully dressed in her black and blue Starfleet uniform complete with Lieutenant Junior Grade pips. At least on top. On her lower half, all she wore were her favorite comfy purple panties and her nice warm socks.
“Oh, jeez, sorry!” she said, feeling her cheeks blush with embarrassment. “I didn’t even think that I was technically out of uniform. I’m just most comfortable out of pants and since I’ve had my own quarters I’ve just gotten used to enjoying my freedom.”
“Oh, ummm… it’s fine, I just…” the clearly flustered Rutherford babbled, his eyes staring fixedly at the ceiling. “…was expecting pants… I guess…”
“Here,” she said, grabbing a small blanket for her chair and wrapping it around herself as a makeshift skirt. “Is that better?”
“Ummm… sure, I guess…” he agreed hesitantly and sat down next to her on the floor next to the model warp generator.
“Great! Then we can get to work on improving efficiency!” Tendi declared, happily pumping her fists. “Ooh! I love efficiency!”
“Yeah, I love it, too…” Rutherford said distractedly. “It’s totally my favorite ever…”
———
They spent the next half hour going over their plans, Tendi’s own excitement for the project making her somewhat oblivious to Rutherford’s distraction.
“Hmmm…” Tendi mused over a PADD. “If we can’t stabilize the Warp Bubble, it could cause a Matter-Antimatter leak that would kill half the crew.”
“Oh, those are always good…” Rutherford mumbled.
Tendi arched an eyebrow. “Rutherford, are you okay?”
“Smooth green thighs!” He shouted, shocked out of his reverie. “I mean… yes?”
Tendi felt the heat rise to her cheeks again. While she felt more at home aboard the Cerritos than she ever had on Orion, there were still times where she stumbled with Federation standards. Sometimes she misjudged things and it got awkward. And now she had done it again and her best friend in the universe totally thought she was a total weird creep!
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to weird you out,” she said, now taking her own time to be unable to meet his gaze. She lightly slapped her own head. “Stupid D’Vana! Sorry for being gross.”
Rutherford shook his head so rapidly, she thought his implant was going to jar loose. “It wasn’t gross or weird at all! Please don’t feel bad about it!”
She could tell he was being sincere and that he was genuinely concerned that he had hurt her feelings. But that just confused her more. “Then why are you so flustered? You’ve seen me naked before.”
“I haven’t!” he insisted. “Not really! Sonic showers are a communal activity in the lower decks, sure, but there are rules and it’s based on trust! Sure, there’s always people slipping off together when they aren’t in official use, but during normal shower times, keeping your eyes to yourself is part of the protocol!”
Tendi nodded. On Orion it was considered rude NOT to peek, but she was always a little uncomfortable about certain aspects of her culture. She appreciated the clear honesty in Rutherford’s words.
“Anyway, it’s different when it’s just the two of us,” he said, his eyes downcast. “It’s… intimate. And now I’m trying to get it out of my head, but… I just can’t focus on anything else.”
Tendi’s eyes widened. “Rutherford… are you saying…?”
“I’m sorry, Tendi, I don’t want to make things weird either, but…” he nervously brought his eyes to face herself. “I just can’t stop thinking about you. I’m trying to get past it, but my mind keeps drifting back to you. It’s like nothing else matters to me right now.”
Tendi couldn’t believe it, he WAS saying what she thought he was! “Rutherford…” she whispered in disbelief.
“Tendi…” he whispered in response.
“You really think I used pheromones on you!?!” She was panicked, aghast. How could he think that for even a moment? “I can’t even do that and I wouldn’t if I could! I know how a lot of people in the Federation see Orions, but I thought you knew that I wasn’t like that.” She could feel the hot tears stinging her eyes.
“What?” He said, shocked that was where her mind was going. He wrapped his arms around her and took her into a warm hug. “No no no no no, I would never think that about you Tendi.”
“Then what?” she demanded.
“I know it’s nothing like that, but… I was just having a hard time dealing with… my feelings, I guess,” he admitted nervously, his whispers warm against her ear as the flesh side of his face was almost touching her. “You’re my best friend and I don’t want to screw things up, but… I keep having these thoughts about you that I know I shouldn’t. I’m sorry.”
She felt so warm in his arms and the slow realization of what was happening came to Tendi: she was hugging the person she’d been pining over for years in her private quarters. While not wearing pants.
“Rutherford?” She asked softly.
He could almost hear him gulp. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I thought the worst, it’s just… hard to believe we’d want the same thing,” she admitted.
“The same…?” For a moment he looked confused, probably as taken aback as she was. Then, slowly, revelation took him. “Oh… Oh!”
He was probably going to say something else, but Tendi took the initiative and leaned into to kiss by the light of the miniature warp engine, softly at first, but meaningfully.
As she deepened their kiss, Tendi couldn’t help thinking “who would have thought it would be so easy? I didn’t even have to wear his gym shorts with nothing on top?”
End