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Staring at her drink in Ten Forward she tried to get her mind straight again. She had been incredibly distracted the past few weeks and she was not sure how she was supposed to handle this situation.
“A penny for your thoughts.” the familiar voice of her friend Will came from beside her as she looked up, a small smile grew on her face as Will sat down across from her.
“Just thinking about how to approach a sensitive topic with someone who tends to be rather blunt.” she muttered, rubbing her eyes, the tiredness was beginning to get to her. She had been pulling double shifts to make sure that the project she and Data had been working on for weeks would be done in time to get it on Station 78 when they would be docking there in a few days.
“Does it have something to do with the project you and Data have been working on?” Will asked as he took a sip from his drink, a slight smirk on his face. A soft sigh escaped her lips.
“Yes and no. It has nothing to do with the project per se but with Data. I have to tell him something important that I just need to get off my chest but I don’t know how to approach the topic with him.” she muttered. She really did not want to tell Will what this whole thing was about, but she knew that she needed to talk to someone about it.
“Well, I don’t know what you want to tell him, but from experience I can tell you that it is easiest to simply be straightforward with him.” Will took another sip from his drink, still looking at her.
“I know!” she cried out, “It is just-” she broke herself off, another sigh escaping her. She needed to tell Will now to make sure that he really understood the gravity of her situation. “How do you tell someone with theoretically no emotions that you are in love with them?” she lowered her voice and leaned forward. Will looked at her for a long moment, simply staring, not saying anything.
“I still think telling him straight forward like that is the best possible way to go about it.” Will answered, for a moment she was taken aback. Why was Will so relaxed and not surprised at all, she had not told anyone that she had feelings for Data and she had also been rather good at hiding them from her point of view.
“Why are you not surprised at all, did you know?” she asked, panic seeping into her system. If she had been really obvious then this was going to be even more embarrassing than it already was.
“Yeah, practically everyone guessed as much. You were not being very subtle about it.” Will took another swig from his drink as she felt her cheeks, ears and neck heating up. This was really embarrassing. “I mean it became obvious to everyone that there was at least something going on when you started pulling all these double shifts to help Data finish the project. We all saw how you looked at him, like he had hung the sky, we really were not surprised, and I asked Dianna about it. Just wanted to make sure that I was right.“
She stared at Will, not sure if she was really understanding him right. Then suddenly all the other instances came to her mind where she had slightly doubted that what they had was more than friendship. The time Data had painted a portrait of her, he had told her that it was his best work yet, she had not really agreed he had painted other portraits and this was by far not the best, however to him it appeared to be his best work.
How they had sung opera together on the holodeck, she had asked him to sing with her but she had let him pick the operas, Orfeo ed Euridice, Fidelio and so many more. She had loved the time they had spent together. Playing as these characters, singing such pieces.
When he had asked her to play the Sherlock Holmes holonovels with him and Geordi, always making sure to include her in their games.
She was not sure how long she had been in love with him, but it seemed to have crept up on her without her noticing.
“Damn,” she muttered, “I have been in love with him longer than six weeks.”
“You are only realising that now?” Will leaned back.
“Shut up, this is embarrassing.” rubbing her face with her hands again.
“Commander Riker,” then her name, she peeked between her fingers and saw the familiar alabaster skin from the android standing beside the table. Exactly what she needed right now.
“Data,” Will smiled at the Android, “Why don’t you sit down? I have to get to my quarters and I think the two of you need to talk anyway.” With that Will disappeared from the table, making space for Data to sit down.
“Is Commander Riker not satisfied with our progress?” Data asked as he faced her. She raised her eyebrow at Data.
“What makes you think that?” she asked as she leaned back in the chair, looking at the Android. His dark hair and the black of the uniform are a stark contrast to his pale skin and yellow eyes.
“He seemed to be intent on us speaking with one another, our main objective at the moment is to finish the project, so I came to the conclusion that it has something to do with our project.”
She nodded slightly as she looked at her hands, clinging to the glass in them. She knew that she needed to get this off her chest, this might impair her work with him in the future if she just bottled these emotions up. If he rejected her then she could live with it, if he agreed to pursue a relationship that would be the best outcome, but simply not telling him was out of the question.
“Are you well?” Data asked, slightly leaning forward. Looking up she could see the slightly wider eyes and if she didn’t know any better she could see concern in his eyes. A sigh escaped her lips again, the lurching of her heart almost painful at this point.
“Yes, Data, but I have to tell you something.” she paused, Data straightened up, tilting his head inquisitively, something she was already used to at this point.
“Please do.” His voice was gentle as always. Swallowing hard she looked at the Android, the yellow eyes solely fixed on her.
“Data, the last few weeks we have worked together so intensively have been some of the best times of my life, I would say.” she paused, trying to keep her head straight.
“I have also thoroughly enjoyed the time we have been able to spend together.” The ghost of a smile etched on his features.
“I,” she swallowed harshly, “I have come to realise that I like you more than a simple friend.” Before she was able to continue, Data spoke again.
“I also see you as one of the closest people to me.”
“No, Data, I think you misunderstood me.” she paused, “I don’t see you as a friend. Not anymore.” As she said these words something that resembled disappointment flashed across his face. “I have fallen in love with you.” These words were probably the hardest thing she had ever said, but it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The expression on Data’s face was unreadable as she spoke these words.
“Oh,” was all that left Data’s mouth at that moment. She stared at him, Data looked back at her, there was a long stretch of silence between them, neither of them said anything, only looking at one another. A strong feeling of shame began settling in her stomach, how could she have been so stupid, god damn it. Quickly getting up from where she had been sitting she grabbed the glass to bring it back to Guinan at the bar, as she walked past Data she slowed down a little, but as he did not react she bolted out of Ten Forward, this was worse than any rejection she could have ever experienced.
Hurrying through the corridors she finally reached her quarters. People looked at her, some with a certain worry, others simply continuing their normal duties. Punching her code into the door pannell, the doors slid open. Entering her quarters she waited until the doors closed again before she slipped out of her boots and uniform, changing into her sleepwear, laying onto the bed, snuggling into the blanket and feeling the hot tears she had been holding back finally falling. How could she have been this stupid, this naive, to believe that Data could ever reciprocate her feelings. As she cried she slowly slipped off into a dreamless and restful sleep.
The next morning she had felt better than in a long time, she was not sure if it was because she had actually slept properly or if she had finally gotten rid of this weight bearing down on her. Sitting at the table she looked at the PADD in front of her, checking what the last things she had Data had to do were.
Suddenly the chime on her door pulled her out of her thoughts, looking at the door she shouted for the person to come in. As the doors opened she felt her throat close, Data stepped into her quarters.
„Data, what can I do for you?“ she asked the Android, noticing how heavy her chest felt as she asked.
„I came to apologize,“ he stated, tilting his head slightly. „I clearly upset you, however I did not mean to.“ he paused, but before she could even say something he continued, „After your confession I did analyze our interactions during the past months.“ he paused again, gently she urged him to continue. „While analyzing our interactions I came to the conclusion that I sought you out more often than even Geordi, your opinion became the one that mattered the most during my work. While we sang I chose romantic operas. I have no such program yet, however our interactions have exceeded all of my friendship programming. I believe in my limited understanding of human emotion my program has created an equivalent of love.“ His voice was gentle as she stared at him for a long moment.
Carefully she took his hand, feeling the artificial skin, cooler than human skin, still just as comforting. Smiling at him she tilted her head to the side.
„Thank you for telling me, Data.“ she smiled at him, her heart beating so hard that it felt like it might come out of her throat at any given moment.
„I believe now is the appropriate time for us to kiss.“ he stated so plainly that it drew out a huff of laughter from her.
„We can, but we don‘t have to. Would you like to?“ She asked, Data seemed slightly taken aback, but nodded.
„I believe so, yes.“ Data nodded. Carefully she pulled Data closer, connecting their lips in a short kiss, drawing back slightly, however Data pulled her closer again, kissing her again. As they broke their kiss she rested her forehead against his, looking at him with a small smile.
“I think we should get to work, otherwise we won‘t get anything done today.“ she spoke gently as she pulled away.
While they left her quarters Data offered her his arm, which she took, as they walked through the corridors he spoke again.
„Are we in a relationship now?“ he asked, his voice so innocent in a certain manner.
„If you want to be, we can begin one.“ she said gently as they continued towards their lab. Data nodded simply.
„I believe I will have to write a new program for this situation.“ he stated, he was right, he needed to write a new program. “What courting traditions would you like I include in the program?“ he asked.
„Just the human ones for now.“ she gently padded his hand, feeling contentment settle in her chest.
Their interactions had exceeded what his friendship programming was capable of understanding, even in his programming, even with the fact Data cannot feel human emotions he had somehow fallen in love with her.