Two to Tango

Posted on Sat Oct 15th, 2022 @ 6:11am by Lieutenant JG T'Kek [Naxea] & Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani

Mission: Season 5: Time Warp
Location: Colorado Estate; Earth
Timeline: 27/07/2397 - Early Evening
2540 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Previously in

T'Kek watched as the numerous couples moved onto the dance floor. Everyone seemed happy and having a great time. 'It's certainly more fun than Vulcan weddings,' T'Kek thought with a grin as he spotted Miraj nearby. He had somewhat of a crush on her though he doubt he would admit it. He moved over towards her. "Excuse me, would you care to dance?" he gestured to the filling dance floor. "I am surprised you came alone," he stated. " I would have figured you would have had someone special to bring with you to the dance," he explained. "You are after all, quite a beautiful woman."

She knew she had to say something, and groped for anything that didn't sound completely dumb. "If beautiful people are supposed to be here with someone, shouldn't you like be here with three people?" She cringed at her own words, lost the rhythm of the music, and quietly wished to die as she flailed awkwardly.

T'Kek could only laugh at her comment along with the flailing. "I appreciate the comment. Thank you," he replied as he grasped her hand, twirling her gently. "I simply haven't found the time to ask anyone to the dance I've been pulling an extra shift in Sickbay lately due our annual inventory inspection. So why is it that you are alone if you do not mind me asking?"

And now...

---

Miraj shrugged, which threw her off the beat and she did a few quick steps to get back into rhythm again. "Busy I guess, and no-one's really interested, except creeps and weirdos."

"Well, I do not consider myself neither a creep nor a weirdo," T'Kek smiled.

"No-one would say you are," she replied, glancing down to make sure she wasn't about to get her bare toes under his feet. "But that's the only sort I get, if I get anything at all. Whatever is in the water on Elysium, I think I'm immune."

"Well, if I am honest, I believe I know how you feel," he looked at her. He found the way she kept watching her feet cute. "Among my own people, I am considered an outcast. Because not only am I half Vulcan, but I also have embraced emotions instead of fully suppressing them. You are simply being too critical of yourself, Miraj."

"Not critical just....observing what's there." She dismissed the thought, it didnt seem important just then. "Don't your parents support you? I mean, it's a choice isn't it? You're as much human as you are Vulcan?"

T'Kek chuckled. "Try telling that to my father--he did his best to raise me as a vulcan child while my mother was less strict. So, I ended up with a combination of human and vulcan customs. You too, have a choice on who you are to be. And from what I have seen of you so far, you are an amazing woman and officer."

"You've not seen that much of me." Their entire interaction to date had been several terryfying hours in the mirror Universe before they'd been seperated, and the fifteen minutes it had taken to cut her out of the steel manacles she'd ended up in when she'd gone back in time to earth past. And while she had a lot of fond memories of those fifteen minutes, she didn't feel any of it could possibly justify his assessment.

"I have seen enough," T'Kek replied as he looked at her. "I have also heard enough about you throughout the ship. You are a competent pilot. Your uniform is always within standards and I find your general attitude a fresh relief from the seriousness of Sickbay and those I normally interact with."

"I am an amazing pilot," she pointed out, Then, "My uniform is always within standards?"

"That did come off a bit too vulcan," T'Kek admitted. "I suppose I just mean that you appear to be organized. I have noted some officer's uniforms out of regulation when on duty. It goes to say a lot about them as a person."

Miraj laughed out loud. "You have not seen the death glares I get when I take my shoes off at con. Or how long it takes me to sort out the rota everytime someone wants a chauffeur off ship."

"You prefer to take your shoes off due to your Boslic genetics that allow your feet to feel how a vessel is performing, in turn allowing you to perform your duties better. Therefore, there is no fault in that. As for taking your time to fill out a rotation, it is better to take your time and get it right instead of rushing and making a mistake." If he learned anything new about Miraj, it was that it was hard to give her a compliment.

Up until that point, concentrating on the dancing, on staying as close to the beat had kept the flush at bay, but now she could feel it creeping up on her. The man in front of her seemed to have far more confidence in her than she deserved. It was suddenly ridiculously hard to look at anything but her feet. "That's uh, very, uh... logical.... of you."

"Well, I am a doctor. It's my job to know such things," he teased with a grin. So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so critical of yourself?"

The blush of flattery was turning to the burn of embarrassment, "Not really." she managed to stutter our, now completely unable to look up. "Just..would rather be flying... not a lot or room for anything else." She wanted to change the subject desperately. "So.. what do you do when you're not inventorying sickbay?"

T'Kek could only grin at the cuteness of Miraj looking at the floor. "Well, I practice Akido and Suus Mahna, though parts of Suus Mahna are too difficult for me to master. I also meditate--yes, I know, quite cliche of a vulcan but it does help me control my emotions better. I also enjoy archaeology, learning how different cultures lived that are no longer around. What about yourself? Other than studying floors?" he teased as he gently lifted her chin with his right hand.

The touch shot through her and sent her heartbeat into overdrive. It wasn't like when he'd treated her wounds after the time travel, or even the fleeting touches as they danced. She could feel his pulse thrumming in his thumb where it brushed her jaw, dizzying in its speed compared to a human, but regular as a metronome. The pads of his fingertips were pinpoints of heat that set fires under her skin and burnt through her nerves. The tiny flexing of the tendons in his fingers, the delicate press of them as he lifted her eyes from the floor, held in a barely quivering tension that spoke volumes about the strength within them and the control he had over it.. Her breath caught as she was made to look up, the electric frisson of even the smallest portion of his skin against her drowned out every other sensation, even the heavy rumble of the other dancers across the dancefloor that ran through her feet . Her entire being was focused on where he held her, electric and overwhelming, swallowing up every other passing thought.

T'Kek watched Miraj seemed to be lost in thought. Her skin felt warm to the touch as his fingers lingered. He could tell that she seemed to have a mutual attraction to him as he did to her. For a fraction of a second, he felt guilty as he debated whether or not he was coming on too strong. Was she feeling his emotions through contact as she did with machines? "Are you alright, Miraj?" he asked softly, looking at her as he finally decided to withdraw his hand.

Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out. Miraj's brain lurched back into drive at the question, and she took a breath. "Yes! Yes, I'm fine, its just..." Don't say anything, you will sound weird "Its not just my feet."

'Her feet?' he wondered at her statement. Then he concluded what she must mean. "You can feel emotions through physical contact with your entire body?" he asked.

"Not emotions, no. Thank goodness. That would be horrible. I'm so glad that I can't do that. But yes, it's all over and it was kind of intense. I mean, everything's magnified and I'm not used to people I'm not related to. I'm not really used to anything but ships, so it caught me off guard." Miraj was standing still now, toes gripped into the dance floor to try and get the vibrations from the other dancer, trying to ground herself before she said anything else that made her sound too weird.

"I apologize if my touching you caused you discomfort," T'Kek said sincerely. "But know that I find your ability very fascinating, as well as you. Would you like to sit down?"

Yes! No! Blow me down, Miraj, you're an idiot. get a grip. "Just, just maybe be where people aren't going to trip on me.?" She said weakly.

"Come," he replied as he escorted her gently with a slight touch to Miraj's covered back as not to cause her another shock. He motioned her to a not so busy corner before pulling out a chair for her. He couldn't help but to feel guilty about causing her so much distress. "Do to need anything to drink?"

"Anything with rum in it?" She asked hopefully. Maybe she could do a runner while he was gone. At least that way she couldn't embarrass herself any further. "I don't mind what sort."

The request was an odd one as most people had a specific choice of drink but he chalked it up to still recovering from the shock. "Of course, Miraj. I will return shortly with something with rum in it." T'Kek then turned and headed for the bar.

Miraj watched him go,  which made her brain short out again, and she could feel her ears trying to match her hair, just in case her brain wasn't getting the message from her eyes that it was absolutely worth watching.  And then reality shook her.  He was handsome and a doctor, which meant smart, and he could dance just fine so what on earth was she thinking?  He was waaaayyy out of league.  Like the kuiper belt out. Light years out.  

But he thinks you're fascinating a small hopeful voice points out.  And she was being weird at him, couldn't keep her own skin under control and kept losing track of everything because he kept flattering her, like saying she was beautiful.  Which was lovely, but also not really true.  She was too off normal for either side of her double helix to  qualify,  there was no way this was going to end well.   Mal made this look so effortless.  When she'd seen him in action he'd only have to look at someone and she knew she'd be finding  their underwear kicked into a corner on the Tides.  She couldn't even think anything to say.

The young pilot took a breath, and checked on where the handsome vulcan was. He was talking to the bar staff. Okay. Maybe she could sneak away to another part of the wedding. Pretend she was going to the head, or to check on Queen Anne, or something. Heave wind and put an end to this before she bilged herself on her own anchor and sunk irretrievably.

She'd wanted this so much, always confused at how easily people she knew in the academy had paired up, or how quickly her brother and his friends pulled when they went out drinking and had soon realised that she was either too much or not enough for that game. Too busy, too unimportant, too good at flying. Not normal enough. Not old enough. Not human enough.

And now faced with everything going right, she was panicking. This couldn't be happening. Things like this didn't happen to her. It was going to go wrong and it was going to end badly and..



Arriving at the bar, the bartender made his way over. "What'll it be?" he asked.

T'Kek thought for a moment as he recalled a list of popular human drinks that contained rum. He and his friends from the Academy would often visit various areas on Earth and some of those included visit to various bars and restaurants that served alcohol. "A Pina Colada and a Mai Tai, please."

"Sure thing," the bartender replied as he got busy making the drinks. T'Kek looked back at the table where Miraj sat. He could spot the nervousness in her body language as she sat. While he did find her attractive, he wondered if he was being too nice or coming on too strong. "Here are your drinks," he replied, setting the two drinks onto the counter.

T'Kek took the drinks and made his way back to Miraj. As he approached her, he handed her the Pina Colada. "Here you are," he offered with a grin.

She shrieked, jumping half out of skin, and knocking the cocktail all over him. "oh no!" Miraj wanted the ground to swallow her. She'd been so wrapped up in freaking out she hadn't even seen him coming, and now he was drenched in something that was probably pina colada. He was going to smell of coconut and rum all night and it was all her fault. Why wasn't the earth opening up and swallowing her? Stupid planets. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I was just thinking and I didn't hear you. Oh hells bells, its everywhere."

T'Kek stood there for a moment trying to recover from the shock of suddenly being drenched in the drink that he had tried to serve her, catching the attention of several people nearby with amused looks. "So...," he looked at the other drink still in his hand. "Care for a Mai Tai?" he offered the drink to her, as he decided it would be safer to set the drink on the table and grabbed a nearby cloth napkin on the table to wipe himself off the best he could.

Miraj felt mortified and miserable; she'd made such a mess. She couldn't face him anymore. "I'm really sorry, but I think I should go, It was lovely to dance but I can't do this and I didn't mean to make such a mess, so I'm going to go, so, goodbye." She turned and scurried off as fast as she dared.

T'Kek stood there, flabbergasted at watching Miraj leave is such a hurry. A part of him wanted to go after her but he knew she would only be even more frightened, deciding to give her some space. Looking at the remaining drink, he picked the glass up, downing it in one long gulp before setting it back down onto the table. 'Better go and shower and change,' he thought before turning to make his way out of the reception area.

 

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