— USS Falcon, Federation Space on the Edge of the Triangle —

Lieutenant Leylani Aka finished inventorying the last of the photon torpedos that the USS Falcon had received from the planetary base below. They’d expelled enough in their defeat of the Vaadwaur that a restock had been in order. Though they had no destination yet the higher ups were doing their best to plot a course, and find a place where their intervention would be useful.

Lieutenant Commander Jake Dornall entered the storage area and glanced at the torpedoes with interest. He glanced at Aka and nodded, they had spent a lot of time together since the Vaadwaur attacks though Aka wasn’t sure if that was just because of an interest Dornall had in their weapons stock or an interest he had in her.

“Come to check on your precious torpedoes?” Aka asked, trying to gauge what this all was about.

Dornall offered only a shrug in response, glancing at the stock of weapons that had been loaded onto the Falcon. It was enough to wage a small war, which of course was what they were doing. The ship had been through a few of those, most recently against the Dominion, so it was not odd to think that this was once again what it was meant to do.

“As soon as we shove off I’ll be thinking about who we’re fighting and what our target is twenty-four hours a day,” Dornall said finally, “I figured maybe right now I should think about something else.”

“Us in ops don’t get that luxury, we don’t make sure everything is in its right place the Falcongoes into a fight with no torpedos, and the replicators don’t work,” Aka said. Other sections, such as Intelligence, got the glory but it was operations that made sure the doors to the bridge opened properly. Their work might, in others minds, consist of a series of small things, but it was a series of important small things that added up to a larger whole.

“Do you ever wonder, about all of this, why we have to fight so hard against all these threats?” Dornall mused.

Aka rolled her eyes, she was more practical and not about to indulge the philosophical discussion at this point. She supposed, being fair minded, that it was something that intelligence officers were prone to considering they needed to speculate on why things were happening and the motivations of others. Practically it made no difference to Aka why people did things, just that she had done her part to ensure the proper functioning of whatever starship or starbase was under her care.

“You look young for a mid-life crises,” she noted.

He grinned, “Sorry I’m probably coming off more morose than I feel. My father fought during the Dominion War, he ran an intelligence network on Cardassia Prime. He died there during the final days of the war, and I never really got to know him. Facing war now, well I don’t want to miss out on life like he did.”

Leylani Aka frowned, her father had been a professional surfer. Had not died during the war, and had actually been a bit disappointed that she had chosen a ‘square’ job like Starfleet. Maybe it was just that the slightly older officer was attractive, but she felt some sympathy for him. She supposed he thought about dying more than she did, as she preferred to focus her thoughts on the ship and the crew. What it or they needed, rather than her own needs.

Still she recognized that the threat of the Vaadwaur had likely cast people’s lives in a new light. They weren’t just pirates or the kind of threat that they faced all the time, a regular part of their lives as Starfleet officers. People accepted the day-to-day dangers of the job but when confronted with a new and novel threat. A seemingly unstoppable force, they started to get all questioning of what it was about and why they fought.

“At least you don’t have any kids at home waiting on you,” *Aka said as she double checked the ties that held the torpedoes in place. Then lead Dornall towards the turbolift up to the mess hall.

“No, I’ve focused on my career, to the point where any relationship I’ve had has failed,” Dornall said, “Too busy with reports. Work.”

“I thought you were tying to be romantic and sweep me off of my feet, but admitting to be a workaholic isn’t as attractive as you might think,” Aka inclined her head, “You need more chill as we say on the islands.”

Dornall smirked as the turbolift rose through the ship’s decks. He looked at Aka and made a sound by clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he studied her, “Are you always this blunt?”

She offered a shrug back, “I don’t know, I’m just how I am. I’m hardly a Vulcan or anything.”

“I’m trying to open up, be vulnerable. I thought women like that,” Dornall said.

“I don’t know what women want, but it’s not a big monolithic thing, we all want something different,” Aka said.

Dornall nodded, “I was trying to be emotionally available. My last girlfriend was a Betazoid and it was a big thing with her.”

“I’ve got enough emotions of my own without having to handle anyone else’s,” Aka said.

The turbolift doors opened in the midst of the mess hall. The Excelsior-II ship did not have a culinary staff, except for the Captain and state dinners, so they headed towards the bank of replicators. Replicated food was not great, but most Starfleet officers had learned to live with it, and to employ some hacks such as adding salt or their own spices to help add taste.

“Is this a date?” Aka asked once they both had a meal and were seated in a private book in the mess hall. It seemed best to attack the question head on, rather than dancing around it.

Dornall smiled. Aka thought, and not for the first time, that he was good looking. He might have been too emotionally available for her taste, but there was nothing to complain about in the looks department. She wasn’t sure if she hoped it was a date or not.

“I don’t know,” Dornall said gesturing with his fork, “Yes, no. I’d want to take you somewhere better but we’re at the edge of Federation space eating recycled poop.”

“You’re really good at this romantic stuff,” Aka said sarcastically.

“But the Vaadwaur could open another portal tomorrow and blow us all up, so I can’t wait for the perfect moment,” Dornall reasoned.

Nodding Aka understood that logic, that life could be fleeting and that the chances of them all being blown up was well above what it normally was. There were not guarantees in life, less so in the middle of a war.

Relenting she smiled, “I wouldn’t mind if it were a date, though don’t mention poop again.”

Dornall smiled, leaned across the table and kissed her. She did not mind that his sleeve got in her fish a bit, it felt good. Making a connection, even if neither of them were the kind of romantic leads that were in holonovels.

“That was nice,” she said when he finally sat back, “Do you want to come to my quarters?”

“Mine are bigger,” Dornall said, the Lieutenant Commander confident in that.

“No I assigned the quarters, mine are bigger,” Aka said grinning.