hormonal imbalance

[warpfairy]

They study Klingon. They work out a sleep schedule. They approach Betazed.

They are two days away from the system when Isabella notices something - troubling.

She takes longer than usual to compose herself that morning, and emerges from the living quarters with carefully measured steps, and avoids eye contact.

"Do you," she asks Lalita quietly, "have the ability to fly this class of ship?"

Comments

[dream_me_up]

He double-checks the navigational calculations on the course to Betazed. He uploads his collection of Klingon operas to the ship's library.

He daydreams. Idly, he looks at files in the temp folder where he stored the intermediate numbers for his navigation checks.

[alicornucopia]

There they are, behind some minor encryption, along with a few drafts of Isabella's personal files: diaries with dates, "processing" files, a text file entitled "polarbear".

[dream_me_up]

Breaking minor encryption is not much more of an effort than breathing. He barely notices he's doing it.

The diaries are obviously personal, but what about the polar bear?

[alicornucopia]

The polar bear file appears to be the first half of an essay of unpopular, pseudonymous political opinions.

[dream_me_up]

...That wakes him up.

He closes the file and restores all the encryption.

[warpfairy]

Isabella goes on sleeping, peacefully oblivious, uttering nouns. She's on a string of Vulcan plants at the moment.

[dream_me_up]

Lalita snuggles up again.

[warpfairy]

Snuggles!

Isabella has been awake for a week; she sleeps for fourteen hours. Then she wakes up, rested, clear-headed, and stark naked with very tangled hair.

She sits up slowly and looks around her, organizing her memories of the last seven days.

[dream_me_up]

In the interim, Lalita has gone back to sleep, for his first full six hours since the week began; he is curled up next to her, also stark naked.

[warpfairy]

Okay then. She'll pick out an outfit, quietly, and take it into the bathroom, and take a shower, and come out wearing it, and then resume course for Betazed.

[dream_me_up]

Lalita wakes up just as she is doing the last thing.

He puts on a pair of trousers and goes to see what she's up to.

[warpfairy]

"Hello," says Isabella. "And thank you."

[dream_me_up]

"You're very welcome."

[warpfairy]

Her cheeks go a little green at that. "We'll be there in just under two days."

[dream_me_up]

"You blushed!" he observes delightedly.

[warpfairy]

"That is physiologically possible," she says delicately, "but I can neither confirm nor deny, lacking a mirror."

[dream_me_up]

"Does that mean you don't want to have sex again?"

[warpfairy]

She blinks.

"I - had given the question no thought."

[dream_me_up]

"Well, think about it. We have two more days," he laughs.

[warpfairy]

"I may be worn out. I can look you up in seven years," she suggests, "presuming I still don't have a designated mate at the time."

[dream_me_up]

"All right."

[warpfairy]

Speaking of which, she makes a note in her calendar for the relevant projected date. Now that she's had one, she can predict the others and make arrangements for them in advance.

[dream_me_up]

Lalita sits down in the copilot's chair.

[warpfairy]

Isabella seems inclined to adopt a policy of Not Necessarily Ever Speaking Of It Again For At Least Seven Years.

[dream_me_up]

Perhaps he should go put on a shirt, then.

(He doesn't.)