Afterthought
Title: Afterthought
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: It's all Paramount, not me.
Summary: What is going on in Tasha's mind the day after The Naked Now.
“I’m sure we all did something that might be considered…less than becoming for a Starfleet officer, but it remains that we were all…infected…with the virus. We ask that you treat this as you would any other strange or interdimensional happening. Counseling will be given to those of you who request such attention.”
The crowd milled a little. This was the first time that the full crew, except for current bridge crew, had been collected in one area As Tasha moved her gaze from one row to the next of her Security personnel, she saw confusion, anger…bewilderment, and maybe just a little self-satisfaction. She didn’t know what to think about her own…interdimensional…happening. She could recall nothing between dropping Geordi off in SickBay and being found in a corridor in a purple silk babydoll some hours later.
Deanna Troi was in her full uniform looking as ‘official’ as Tasha had ever seen her. She also knew, after stopping by Deanna’s cabin the previous night, that this was the busiest that her friend had ever been in StarFleet. It wasn’t something that Deanna enjoyed, this almost overwhelming as this…but she wanted to help. As they had discussed the night previously:
‘One thousand people on this starship, Tasha…and about two thirds did something they either really liked or really enjoyed. And half of those want to forget they did it. The other half want to relive it. That last third can’t remember a bloody thing…’ She smiled at Tasha.
‘I’m one of them,’ Tasha had admitted. ‘The doctor found me in Level 10 corridor in lingerie and I can’t remember anything about how I got there.’
Deanna stepped to her and held her hands. ‘Eventually it will come to you…and I’ll be here for you. But I will tell you that it wouldn’t make you do something that is not in your personality. It simply removed your…inhibitions. You aren’t a bad person, Tasha; you didn’t do something horrible.’
She hoped that was true. But, she thought bitterly, simply doing something while not under control was horrible for her.
Tasha stood at attention in the back of the shuttle bay. Worf manned the other exit. They exchanged a nod. Her second in command had not been affected by the virus at all and had remained on the bridge throughout the entire situation. She was proud of that, however… she didn’t want to think what he thought right now. She shifted a little and watched as Deanna assigned different duty rosters to different counselors. It was amazing to watch how efficient she was.
“I am assigning times to have teams of counselors meet with subdivisions. Your commanding and or bridge officer will coordinate with you. But, please, know that both my team and I are here for you.” Deanna stopped speaking and smiled widely. “Our doors are always open…Now…”
“…Security,” Deanna called out. Tasha held up her hand and walked towards the center. Troi slipped her the PADD with the assignments for her teams. She glanced at it and tapped her combadge. “All security report to the Security Command Center in 30 minutes.”
With a smile at Deanna, she moved back to her post by the door as the other Operations Groups moved out of the shuttle hanger.
Worf approached and gave a nod as he passed her. The evening before, he had escorted her back to her cabin from the corridor on Deck 10. He had barely met her eyes and hadn’t spoken to her since. What did he know about what had happened? She had studied the security tapes, but it had shown nothing. The only thing she had were two slight bruises on her hip bones that she couldn’t explain. And for what she could remember…
Lights turning off in her quarters…one solitary candle illuminating the bed. And a feeling of gentleness and joy…and love…
“Tasha?”
She was startled out of her reverie as a warm hand closed on her elbow. Her gaze moved to the hand, up the arm, to a familiar face. Data was standing next to her, his head cocked to one side in what she had come to know in the last two months as either confusion or concern.
“Hi, Data…” She looked around the cargo bay. “Are your groups coming on for Deanna’s talk?”
“Yes, Tasha,” he responded. “We are scheduled next. How are you?”
“Fine…why?” She asked as she watched the last of her shift leave the room. “I apparently didn’t drink to distraction as other did…” She laughed.
His gold eyes didn’t blink and his hand remained on her elbow. It was a good thing too, or probably would have bolted at the next thing he said: “The hematomas on your hips…do they cause you pain?” He asked. Before he could continue, she grasped his hand and pulled him hard towards the control booth off to the side.
“How the hell did you know about the bruises!?” She nearly shouted as the door slid shut behind them, enclosing them in the small, empty space. Tasha rounded on him; she hadn’t told anyone about the bruises; hadn’t seen Medical about them. She realized that her hand was still gripping his hand hard. She released it and took a deep breath; ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry, Commander…”
“It is understandable. You appear…I think the term is…distressed.” Data stood where she had led him. His hand slowly returned to his side. “And we are on a first name basis, Tasha. If you recall…when we met-“
She nodded and drew a deep breath. Slowly, she sat on the control panel; her hips still hurt. “How did you know about the bruises, Data?”
“Regrettably, I caused them.” His head was slightly inclined to the left side. “You do not remember?”
Tasha found her next breath was harder to draw. She frowned and demanded better control of her body. “No.”
“It is rare that I forget my strength, Tasha. I apologize for the bruises…” He held up his hands, his long fingered artist hands and gave them a slight frown. “There were two minutes when it was not important that I concentrate on the degree of pressure, but rather my tempo. I also found my ability to concentrate on several…”
“Tem..po?” Tasha whispered.
“Yes,” he agreed. His voice was so bass and quiet that she wondered what his thought processes were. “I was dealing with many variables at the time: Pressure on your hips, my weight on your body, the amount of pressure and vibration that Starfleet issue beds can take, how to properly match my tempo to your internal muscle spasms. Likewise, my subroutine for operations was calculating the number of persons who can be on shift at any one time…and then…when the infection invaded my upper positronic brain…everything except what was happening at the time seemed not to matter much…”
“What…didn’t matter?” Tasha was glad she was sitting. Her intuition was lit up like a Christmas tree; she didn’t like where this was going.
“Doctor Crusher and Geordi say that when I was infected with the virus, only subroutines needed were allowed to run. In essence, my primary controls were allowing only certain programs to run and those were ones being used by my sensory pathways. And at that particular time signature, the main sensory input was you…” He took a step closer to her. “Tasha, you look unwell.”
Tasha swallowed and stood. Her steps were slow and deliberate as she neared him. “Data? What…exactly…were we doing?” She wanted it expressly spelled out to her. She needed it to be. She felt a shock of warmth and her stomach sank; she was nervous and…
Dark hair between her fingers…pale lips teased her taut nipple…
His next words mirrored her sudden memories.
“We were…” Data said quietly, his gaze following her, as if he was now worried about her reactions. “…mating.”
**
Deanna could feel Tasha’s distress before she entered Ten Forward. She could almost taste the…uncertainty…in her. It wasn’t often that she delved into her friend’s mind, in fact; she made it a point to stay OUT of her friends’ minds. However, the level of distress from Tasha was such that she wanted to help alleviate it.
The lithe lieutenant came forth at a very clipped pace and eased into the chair across from Deanna.
“Are your hips bothering you?”
“Yes,” Tasha said with a grin. “And before you ask…I’m not going to Sick Bay about it. I’ll just deal with it the old fashioned way.”
“Suffer?”
Tasha gave a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.” As Guinan moved passed her, she glanced up at her bartender friend. Before she could say anything more, Guinan nodded and moved off towards the bar.
Deanna watched her go with barely contained laughter. “She’s a better counselor at times than I am. I wonder what drink she’ll bring back for you this time.”
“Something Synthehol and yummy as usual,” Tasha said. “She knows I need it.”
“As I felt. You are completely out of sorts, Tasha,” Deanna urged as she sat forward. “What’s happened?”
Tasha sighed. Deanna saw the moves she was used to in her friend: the slight shrug of her shoulders with crossed arms, the movement of her gaze off to her left. It was typical when Tasha was closing herself off to an issue or a situation. She shook her head slowly. “Just talk to me as your friend, Tasha.”
“I...have a reason for the pain in my hips. I’m bruised there and that is directly related,” Tasha began, “…to what I was doing last night.”
“And?”
“And, what?” Tasha said. “It’s a bit…thanks, Guinan…” she said quietly as the bartender set a large glass with lavender liquid in front of her.
“No charge, Tasha,” Guinan said cheerfully. She bent a little forward, her hand on the Lieutenant’s shoulder. “But not talking will cost you, and only you,” she said cryptically and smiled at her before moving off towards the bar.
Tasha gave a nervous laugh which grew into a full giggle as Guinan stepped to her usual spot. She met Deanna’s gaze and shook her head. “Between the two of you, I don’t have a chance not talking about things,” she said and sat forward to put her hands around the glass. “I was in my quarters last night…with Data.”
Deanna could see the shift in Tasha’s attitude as well as feel it. There was a flush of something like…embarrassment, confusion, betrayal of self, but also warmth, but it was laced with… She could almost taste…residual arousal and heat…but she usually only felt those emotions when counseling…lovers. Her eyes widened just a bit. “Oh?” She said non-committedly.
Tasha closed her eyes and then sat back against the chair with her arms crossed again. Then she drew in a deep breath and her eyes opened like a shot. “We had sex.” Ah, Deanna thought, Tasha sensed a challenge.
“Sex.”
Her non committal tone spurred Tasha to spout off more quickly, almost angrily. “I don’t remember any of it…well…bits and pieces…”
“Bits and pieces.”
“Images,” Tasha said loudly and then quieted with a glance around the room.
“The bruises?” Deanna asked.
“He forgot his strength after he was infected. Apparently he gripped my hips a…never mind,” Tasha’s voice was quieter; Troi sensed withdraw from the conversation. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Data told you about it, I gather?” Deanna said quietly, looking at her glass. “Did he tell you the intricacies?”
“I wouldn’t let him.”
“You don’t want to know?”
Tasha’s gaze moved to her glass. “You aren’t-“
“Judgemental? Shocked? No. I’m a counselor and a Betazoid. Sex is in my blood,” Deanna laughed. “It is natural.”
“Not where I’m from,” Tasha offered. Deanna studiously lifted her glass to her lips. “Where I was born, sex was either a power play, a way to control someone, to inflict pain.”
“And Data would have done this,” Deanna said. She set the glass down as slowly as she had picked it up. When Tasha didn’t respond quickly, Troi shook her head. “I’m not asking this as a counselor, but as your friend, Tasha. You think he used sex to get power over you, or to control you? Do you think he actively wanted to inflict pain on you? Do you think that Data would ever use having sex…against you?”
After a moment, Tasha gave a small laugh. “No, and Data wouldn’t harm an ant if he could help it.” She sobered. “But he also wouldn’t have initiated…sex… either. That means I did.”
“Yes, that logic is correct,” Deanna nodded. “You have a very healthy sex drive, Tasha, and a sensuous personality. You obviously found Data attractive and indulged in what is a very primal, very basic need that you avoid often and it seems at high cost.”
Tasha swallowed a mouthful of her drink and sighed. “I shouldn’t have indulged in that…need…this time either. Whether I found him attractive nor not is…well…it’s irrelevant.”
“That’s silly, Tasha. Under those circumstances, finding him physically and psychologically attractive to you is primal and innate. But…you still feel that you gave power to someone else. That you involved someone in your existence beyond yourself, and you think that you compromised yourself.”
“Maybe.”
“That’s how you always feel with sex,” Deanna said.
“I know, I know.” Tasha said harshly, almost slapping her glass against the table, then moments later, she said again, softer: “I know.”
Deanna turned her glass to catch some of the lights in a prism. “Let me ask you another question…off topic, only slightly: How exactly did you deal with Data pertaining to this…encounter?”
“I,” Tasha began and then leaned forward on the table. Deanna could feel the resolution in her friend. “I told Data that it never happened.”
Troi shook her head. “Tasha, he might very well erase it from his memory. Will that mean that it never happened…to you? To him?”
“No,” Tasha agreed. “But that means that he won’t mention it again to me. In a way, I’m glad it was him…if it was anybody…I can trust him.” She downed the rest of her drink. “I appreciate that you are trying to address my emotional state. This isn’t anything that distance and time won’t cure. Can we not mention this again?”
“As you wish,” Deanna stressed. “But let me say…not all men are like the rape gangs and controlling fiends you dealt with in the past. I won’t bring this up again, but I’m here if you ever want to talk about ‘what hasn’t happened…’”
“I know…” Tasha said as she rose and then tapped on the table. “I know, Dee. See you tomorrow?”
“For exercise…”
“Definitely.”
Deanna nodded and watched as Tasha moved off quickly and through the doors of Ten Forward. With a knowing smile, she lowered her gaze back to the glass. Those feelings she had from Tasha, the after-glow of the knowledge wasn’t entirely fear or distance or anything…standoffish. It was more… she couldn’t put her finger on it. As she stared at her glass, she allowed herself a moment to think about what they had discussed.
Then with a sigh, she shook her head. It was her duty as a friend and as a counselor to help Tasha if she needed it, but not to interfere. Guinan walked by the table to gather up Tasha’s glass and nodded. Deanna was still getting to know this strange humanoid, but she loved her. “She’ll learn Deanna. Someday. Hopefully,” was all she offered as she moved back through the bar.
All Deanna could do was nod.
**
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: It's all Paramount, not me.
Summary: What is going on in Tasha's mind the day after The Naked Now.
“I’m sure we all did something that might be considered…less than becoming for a Starfleet officer, but it remains that we were all…infected…with the virus. We ask that you treat this as you would any other strange or interdimensional happening. Counseling will be given to those of you who request such attention.”
The crowd milled a little. This was the first time that the full crew, except for current bridge crew, had been collected in one area As Tasha moved her gaze from one row to the next of her Security personnel, she saw confusion, anger…bewilderment, and maybe just a little self-satisfaction. She didn’t know what to think about her own…interdimensional…happening. She could recall nothing between dropping Geordi off in SickBay and being found in a corridor in a purple silk babydoll some hours later.
Deanna Troi was in her full uniform looking as ‘official’ as Tasha had ever seen her. She also knew, after stopping by Deanna’s cabin the previous night, that this was the busiest that her friend had ever been in StarFleet. It wasn’t something that Deanna enjoyed, this almost overwhelming as this…but she wanted to help. As they had discussed the night previously:
‘One thousand people on this starship, Tasha…and about two thirds did something they either really liked or really enjoyed. And half of those want to forget they did it. The other half want to relive it. That last third can’t remember a bloody thing…’ She smiled at Tasha.
‘I’m one of them,’ Tasha had admitted. ‘The doctor found me in Level 10 corridor in lingerie and I can’t remember anything about how I got there.’
Deanna stepped to her and held her hands. ‘Eventually it will come to you…and I’ll be here for you. But I will tell you that it wouldn’t make you do something that is not in your personality. It simply removed your…inhibitions. You aren’t a bad person, Tasha; you didn’t do something horrible.’
She hoped that was true. But, she thought bitterly, simply doing something while not under control was horrible for her.
Tasha stood at attention in the back of the shuttle bay. Worf manned the other exit. They exchanged a nod. Her second in command had not been affected by the virus at all and had remained on the bridge throughout the entire situation. She was proud of that, however… she didn’t want to think what he thought right now. She shifted a little and watched as Deanna assigned different duty rosters to different counselors. It was amazing to watch how efficient she was.
“I am assigning times to have teams of counselors meet with subdivisions. Your commanding and or bridge officer will coordinate with you. But, please, know that both my team and I are here for you.” Deanna stopped speaking and smiled widely. “Our doors are always open…Now…”
“…Security,” Deanna called out. Tasha held up her hand and walked towards the center. Troi slipped her the PADD with the assignments for her teams. She glanced at it and tapped her combadge. “All security report to the Security Command Center in 30 minutes.”
With a smile at Deanna, she moved back to her post by the door as the other Operations Groups moved out of the shuttle hanger.
Worf approached and gave a nod as he passed her. The evening before, he had escorted her back to her cabin from the corridor on Deck 10. He had barely met her eyes and hadn’t spoken to her since. What did he know about what had happened? She had studied the security tapes, but it had shown nothing. The only thing she had were two slight bruises on her hip bones that she couldn’t explain. And for what she could remember…
Lights turning off in her quarters…one solitary candle illuminating the bed. And a feeling of gentleness and joy…and love…
“Tasha?”
She was startled out of her reverie as a warm hand closed on her elbow. Her gaze moved to the hand, up the arm, to a familiar face. Data was standing next to her, his head cocked to one side in what she had come to know in the last two months as either confusion or concern.
“Hi, Data…” She looked around the cargo bay. “Are your groups coming on for Deanna’s talk?”
“Yes, Tasha,” he responded. “We are scheduled next. How are you?”
“Fine…why?” She asked as she watched the last of her shift leave the room. “I apparently didn’t drink to distraction as other did…” She laughed.
His gold eyes didn’t blink and his hand remained on her elbow. It was a good thing too, or probably would have bolted at the next thing he said: “The hematomas on your hips…do they cause you pain?” He asked. Before he could continue, she grasped his hand and pulled him hard towards the control booth off to the side.
“How the hell did you know about the bruises!?” She nearly shouted as the door slid shut behind them, enclosing them in the small, empty space. Tasha rounded on him; she hadn’t told anyone about the bruises; hadn’t seen Medical about them. She realized that her hand was still gripping his hand hard. She released it and took a deep breath; ran a hand through her hair. “Sorry, Commander…”
“It is understandable. You appear…I think the term is…distressed.” Data stood where she had led him. His hand slowly returned to his side. “And we are on a first name basis, Tasha. If you recall…when we met-“
She nodded and drew a deep breath. Slowly, she sat on the control panel; her hips still hurt. “How did you know about the bruises, Data?”
“Regrettably, I caused them.” His head was slightly inclined to the left side. “You do not remember?”
Tasha found her next breath was harder to draw. She frowned and demanded better control of her body. “No.”
“It is rare that I forget my strength, Tasha. I apologize for the bruises…” He held up his hands, his long fingered artist hands and gave them a slight frown. “There were two minutes when it was not important that I concentrate on the degree of pressure, but rather my tempo. I also found my ability to concentrate on several…”
“Tem..po?” Tasha whispered.
“Yes,” he agreed. His voice was so bass and quiet that she wondered what his thought processes were. “I was dealing with many variables at the time: Pressure on your hips, my weight on your body, the amount of pressure and vibration that Starfleet issue beds can take, how to properly match my tempo to your internal muscle spasms. Likewise, my subroutine for operations was calculating the number of persons who can be on shift at any one time…and then…when the infection invaded my upper positronic brain…everything except what was happening at the time seemed not to matter much…”
“What…didn’t matter?” Tasha was glad she was sitting. Her intuition was lit up like a Christmas tree; she didn’t like where this was going.
“Doctor Crusher and Geordi say that when I was infected with the virus, only subroutines needed were allowed to run. In essence, my primary controls were allowing only certain programs to run and those were ones being used by my sensory pathways. And at that particular time signature, the main sensory input was you…” He took a step closer to her. “Tasha, you look unwell.”
Tasha swallowed and stood. Her steps were slow and deliberate as she neared him. “Data? What…exactly…were we doing?” She wanted it expressly spelled out to her. She needed it to be. She felt a shock of warmth and her stomach sank; she was nervous and…
Dark hair between her fingers…pale lips teased her taut nipple…
His next words mirrored her sudden memories.
“We were…” Data said quietly, his gaze following her, as if he was now worried about her reactions. “…mating.”
**
Deanna could feel Tasha’s distress before she entered Ten Forward. She could almost taste the…uncertainty…in her. It wasn’t often that she delved into her friend’s mind, in fact; she made it a point to stay OUT of her friends’ minds. However, the level of distress from Tasha was such that she wanted to help alleviate it.
The lithe lieutenant came forth at a very clipped pace and eased into the chair across from Deanna.
“Are your hips bothering you?”
“Yes,” Tasha said with a grin. “And before you ask…I’m not going to Sick Bay about it. I’ll just deal with it the old fashioned way.”
“Suffer?”
Tasha gave a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.” As Guinan moved passed her, she glanced up at her bartender friend. Before she could say anything more, Guinan nodded and moved off towards the bar.
Deanna watched her go with barely contained laughter. “She’s a better counselor at times than I am. I wonder what drink she’ll bring back for you this time.”
“Something Synthehol and yummy as usual,” Tasha said. “She knows I need it.”
“As I felt. You are completely out of sorts, Tasha,” Deanna urged as she sat forward. “What’s happened?”
Tasha sighed. Deanna saw the moves she was used to in her friend: the slight shrug of her shoulders with crossed arms, the movement of her gaze off to her left. It was typical when Tasha was closing herself off to an issue or a situation. She shook her head slowly. “Just talk to me as your friend, Tasha.”
“I...have a reason for the pain in my hips. I’m bruised there and that is directly related,” Tasha began, “…to what I was doing last night.”
“And?”
“And, what?” Tasha said. “It’s a bit…thanks, Guinan…” she said quietly as the bartender set a large glass with lavender liquid in front of her.
“No charge, Tasha,” Guinan said cheerfully. She bent a little forward, her hand on the Lieutenant’s shoulder. “But not talking will cost you, and only you,” she said cryptically and smiled at her before moving off towards the bar.
Tasha gave a nervous laugh which grew into a full giggle as Guinan stepped to her usual spot. She met Deanna’s gaze and shook her head. “Between the two of you, I don’t have a chance not talking about things,” she said and sat forward to put her hands around the glass. “I was in my quarters last night…with Data.”
Deanna could see the shift in Tasha’s attitude as well as feel it. There was a flush of something like…embarrassment, confusion, betrayal of self, but also warmth, but it was laced with… She could almost taste…residual arousal and heat…but she usually only felt those emotions when counseling…lovers. Her eyes widened just a bit. “Oh?” She said non-committedly.
Tasha closed her eyes and then sat back against the chair with her arms crossed again. Then she drew in a deep breath and her eyes opened like a shot. “We had sex.” Ah, Deanna thought, Tasha sensed a challenge.
“Sex.”
Her non committal tone spurred Tasha to spout off more quickly, almost angrily. “I don’t remember any of it…well…bits and pieces…”
“Bits and pieces.”
“Images,” Tasha said loudly and then quieted with a glance around the room.
“The bruises?” Deanna asked.
“He forgot his strength after he was infected. Apparently he gripped my hips a…never mind,” Tasha’s voice was quieter; Troi sensed withdraw from the conversation. She wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Data told you about it, I gather?” Deanna said quietly, looking at her glass. “Did he tell you the intricacies?”
“I wouldn’t let him.”
“You don’t want to know?”
Tasha’s gaze moved to her glass. “You aren’t-“
“Judgemental? Shocked? No. I’m a counselor and a Betazoid. Sex is in my blood,” Deanna laughed. “It is natural.”
“Not where I’m from,” Tasha offered. Deanna studiously lifted her glass to her lips. “Where I was born, sex was either a power play, a way to control someone, to inflict pain.”
“And Data would have done this,” Deanna said. She set the glass down as slowly as she had picked it up. When Tasha didn’t respond quickly, Troi shook her head. “I’m not asking this as a counselor, but as your friend, Tasha. You think he used sex to get power over you, or to control you? Do you think he actively wanted to inflict pain on you? Do you think that Data would ever use having sex…against you?”
After a moment, Tasha gave a small laugh. “No, and Data wouldn’t harm an ant if he could help it.” She sobered. “But he also wouldn’t have initiated…sex… either. That means I did.”
“Yes, that logic is correct,” Deanna nodded. “You have a very healthy sex drive, Tasha, and a sensuous personality. You obviously found Data attractive and indulged in what is a very primal, very basic need that you avoid often and it seems at high cost.”
Tasha swallowed a mouthful of her drink and sighed. “I shouldn’t have indulged in that…need…this time either. Whether I found him attractive nor not is…well…it’s irrelevant.”
“That’s silly, Tasha. Under those circumstances, finding him physically and psychologically attractive to you is primal and innate. But…you still feel that you gave power to someone else. That you involved someone in your existence beyond yourself, and you think that you compromised yourself.”
“Maybe.”
“That’s how you always feel with sex,” Deanna said.
“I know, I know.” Tasha said harshly, almost slapping her glass against the table, then moments later, she said again, softer: “I know.”
Deanna turned her glass to catch some of the lights in a prism. “Let me ask you another question…off topic, only slightly: How exactly did you deal with Data pertaining to this…encounter?”
“I,” Tasha began and then leaned forward on the table. Deanna could feel the resolution in her friend. “I told Data that it never happened.”
Troi shook her head. “Tasha, he might very well erase it from his memory. Will that mean that it never happened…to you? To him?”
“No,” Tasha agreed. “But that means that he won’t mention it again to me. In a way, I’m glad it was him…if it was anybody…I can trust him.” She downed the rest of her drink. “I appreciate that you are trying to address my emotional state. This isn’t anything that distance and time won’t cure. Can we not mention this again?”
“As you wish,” Deanna stressed. “But let me say…not all men are like the rape gangs and controlling fiends you dealt with in the past. I won’t bring this up again, but I’m here if you ever want to talk about ‘what hasn’t happened…’”
“I know…” Tasha said as she rose and then tapped on the table. “I know, Dee. See you tomorrow?”
“For exercise…”
“Definitely.”
Deanna nodded and watched as Tasha moved off quickly and through the doors of Ten Forward. With a knowing smile, she lowered her gaze back to the glass. Those feelings she had from Tasha, the after-glow of the knowledge wasn’t entirely fear or distance or anything…standoffish. It was more… she couldn’t put her finger on it. As she stared at her glass, she allowed herself a moment to think about what they had discussed.
Then with a sigh, she shook her head. It was her duty as a friend and as a counselor to help Tasha if she needed it, but not to interfere. Guinan walked by the table to gather up Tasha’s glass and nodded. Deanna was still getting to know this strange humanoid, but she loved her. “She’ll learn Deanna. Someday. Hopefully,” was all she offered as she moved back through the bar.
All Deanna could do was nod.
**