Baby Steps

Posted on Wed Feb 10th, 2021 @ 12:12pm by Lieutenant Azusa Nakano & Lieutenant Trei Jansum

1,476 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Caverns of the mind
Location: Trei's Quarters

It had been several days since Azusa and Trei had been cured from their 'ordeal' on the planet. Azusa was meant to be returning to duty tomorrow, however she had spent the last few days in her quarters hiding away. She was still trying to come to terms of what had happened on the planet, what had happened in those dark caves between her and Trei.

She could remember everything clearly, how she had wanted to be with him and how he had reacted towards her, not to mention what they had done together. She blushed in embarrassment as she thought back to the moment that had shared together, even if they hadn't been thinking like themselves and their very basic instincts were unleashed.

Finally, she decided it was time to go and talk to Trei about what had occured. She needed to work things out. She found herself standing outside his door, standing sheepishily in civilian clothes, out of uniform and keeping her gaze low. She reached out and pressed the chime.

Trei had just gotten out of the sonic shower and was getting dressed. He was just pulling on a sleeveless tshirt when the chime sounded.

"Who's there?" he called. He had no desire to be pscyoanalyzed by the counselor. Then again, he would definitely like to talk to Azusa.

Azusa stood there for what seemed like a few seconds before saying quietly. "Its... me. Azusa"

He smiled. "Come in"

The doors opened and Azusa walked in. She allowed the doors to shut close behind her, but she didn't venture very far into the room itself.

She came in wearing a simple white buttoned up shirt and dark blue skirt looking quite nice, making him feel very self-conscious in his worn workout pants and bare feet. He cleared his throat and he tried to tame his curly hair. For some reason his hair decided to get some extra curl and go into the realm of kinky.

He cleared his throat and said, "So. What brings you by?"

"Well..." Azusa said looking down at the floor, crimson flooding into her cheeks. "I think we should talk about what happened. You know... between... what..." she began to stutter her words. She hadn't yet accepted what had happened.

Trei took a deep breath, putting his hands on his hips. "Yeah. Yeah, we probably should. Would you like to sit down? Do you want something to drink?"

Azusa blushed brighter as she looked up at Trei. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling right now. She moved sheepishly towards one of the chairs and sat down. "I think a cup of green tea..." she said simply. To her it was soothing and often helped her relax, something that she needed at this moment.

He moved over to the replicator and said, "One green tea, one Yridian brandy." After they materialized, he took the drinks and handed Azusa her tea before sitting down opposite her.

"So..." she said simply. "We seemed to have been... affected by whatever it was on the planet right?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows. "That is...putting it mildly. I mean...we...uh...yeah." He took a drink before looking at her and asking, "I'd like to, um...I mean, we are dating anyway. It doesn't mean I like you less. In fact, I feel more for you. More protective." He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess that's the crazy planet again, huh?"

Azusa took a sip of her tea. "Well. Doing... 'that' isn't exactly what I would have done on a date. Its more for when you get married in my culture" she explained. "I know we were getting close and I feel..." she couldn't describe it. Something inside her physically attracted her towards Trei, but she wasn't sure of what it actually was.

After a few seconds she resumed. "I would like to be around you more..." she managed to come out with, her cheeks turning a phase of Vermillion.

Trei smiled tenderly. "I'd like to be around you more, too." Then he got serious. "You'll tell me if it turns out that you...that we made a..." This was not how he saw his first child coming to be, but he wasn't about to abandon Azusa.

"The chances of that are slim..." Azusa said a small smile stretching across her face. "However its not impossible; I don't think I'm ready to venture into that territory yet" she explained to him bowing her head to look down at her tea. Somehow avoiding eye contact with the Betazoid man made it feel less awkward. "I don't know what to do from here... We must have looked like right fools. And to say we did... 'that' as well"

Trei saw her look down, her shyness and smiled a little. It was always the cutest thing about her. "I'm interested in finding out where we go from here." He paused. "You said that sex is something you do during marriage in your culture. I'd be open to it."

Azusa was taken aback by what he just came out with. She looked up at him and stared at him. "Wait. I don't think there's any need to rush. I mean we haven't really known each other that long. Its too soon for that don't you think? I mean, its all just a big accident isn't it? Oh no what am I saying?..." she began to reel off sentance by sentance slightly panicking, even she didn't know what she was really saying or what she wanted to say.

He set down his empty glass and held her hands in his; her hands almost disappeared, she was so small. Looking her in the eye, he clarified, "I wasn't talking about now. I meant I won't run. And yes, it was a big accident, but I'm not going to run away from you, no matter what. I care about you, and I want to see where it goes, good or bad. If we break up, we break up, but...I don't give up easily." He smiled. "I like you. A lot."

His hands were warm, they felt soft. It seemed strange for a security officer to have soft hands. However his voice seemed to calm Azusa down from her little freak out. She blushed again as she looked up at him. "So do I" she said simply. "But... lets. Start slow maybe?" she asked nervously. "I'm still new to this, we got to third base before we even swung the bat"

Trei chuckled again. "Yeah, we kinda did, didn't we?" He paused for a moment, thinking about his version of slow versus hers. Apparently the Japanese of Earth were very conservative compared to Betazed. Betazoids have no problems with nudity, and Azusa seemed very shy about it. "A picnic? Holodeck 1 at 1800?"

Azusa shook her head. "Not today" she said. She didn't like turning him down, but she needed to think things over first. The last few days had been strange and they had both gone through a lot. "I think..." she looked away form him again. "I need a little bit of time to accept what happened. I need to make sure that..." she placed a hand on her belly "Nothing else is... well you know..." she paused. "Growing between us"

"You'll tell me if you are?" he pressed. "I want to help take care of her. Or him."

She nodded. "I will" she said simply. She drank the rest of the tea, allowing it's warmth fill her up. Right now she didn't know how to proceed. She placed the empty cup down on the table. "I need to go home" she said softly. "We're back on duty tomorrow. I think we should... keep this between us.." she told him.

Trei nodded, looking at her differently now. She might be carrying his child. Something like that can change a man. He stood up and helped her to her feet before holding her in his arms for the briefest moment. He knew Betazoid males felt more protective of their mates when they started giving off pregnancy hormones. Then again, he might still have something left over from the planet. Which it was, he didn't know. He'd find out soon.

"It was good seeing you again...with both of us aware of what we are doing," he said as they walked to the door.

"I'll... see you later" Azusa said giving him a slight bow, a formality of the Japanese people and a way of thanking them. "Thank you... Trei" she said.

"Good night, Azusa." He watched her walk away down the corridor to her quarters, before going back into his quarters. "Now I need a real drink," he said to himself.

Posting by

Lieutenant Azusa Nakano
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Trei Jansum
Chief of Security/Tactical

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