The meeting with engineering had run longer than he’d expected, so Zach was running on fumes by the time he was heading back up to his quarters. The bright moment in the evening though was that his XO was now aboard, which meant tomorrow was going to be so much easier.
Thinking of his XO had him looking toward the door to her quarters, just down the hall from his. He blinked in surprise as the door opened and a tall man with the most shocking crop of bleached blond hair stumbled out.
Zach blinked. First at the hair then, “G? Is that you?”
Griffin froze, mid-stride in a manner that had to be comical. Turning his head, he spotted the one person he knew aboard, aside from Vynnie as of a short while ago. Moving into his normal stance, he smiled.
“Hey, Zach,” he greeted a little too brightly.
Zach wasn’t an idiot, even though some people had called him that. His gaze flicked from G to the door and back again. Then he grinned broadly.
“Well, that didn’t take you long, did it? The woman’s only been aboard a few hours!”
Griffin’s expression went blank for several seconds, mirroring his train of thought before the proverbial light bulb went on above his head.
“It’s not what you think,” he started, realizing exactly what it looked like. Any hopes of it not looking as bad because he was in his uniform went straight out the nearest airlock due to the fact it was Zach who caught him.
“She didn’t know where her quarters were, and I helped her find them.” He didn’t like the grin on Zach’s face. It didn’t bode well for him. “Found it.”
Zach’s grin just got broader as he started to herd G along the corridor toward his own door. “How long have I known you, G?”
Uh-oh. There was no use resisting. What was the saying with the Borg? Resistance is futile. Not answering Zach’s questions at any time was exactly like that.
“A long, long… long time,” he replied, resigned to his fate. Instead, he attempted to redirect. “You look great, Zach. Have you been working out?”
”Don’t change the subject.”
The doors to his quarters swept open and he blocked G from trying to escape by side stepping.
“And yes, a long long time which means I know you. So spill…” he ordered, eyeing G up and down. He was tipsy, for sure.
“No more real alcohol for you. Coffee?”
Rocking up on the balls of his feet, Griff conceded defeat with a nod. “Coffee would be great, thanks.”
He crossed the room to look at the books on the shelf briefly before moving to take a seat on the sofa. “Honestly, nothing happened. Except for her saving what’s left of my sanity,” he began, then pointed to the white-blond hair on his head. “I was on the lift when she came on. In a matter of minutes, she noticed I was struggling with my scalp itching me straight into madness. She offered to help.”
Running a hand over his hair, he sighed with relief that it didn’t set off another round of itching. Belatedly, he noticed the coconut scent. “Huh? Smells pretty good.”
”Yeah? What’s the story with the hair?” Zach offered him a mug of strong coffee before settling into the chair opposite with his own mug. He shouldn’t really be drinking coffee this late at night, but with the deficit he was running, it probably wouldn’t make a dent in his tiredness.
“Never seen you as a bleach sort of guy.”
“I’m not.” Griffin groaned. “Lost a bet,” he admitted, rolling his eyes. “Poor decision making on my part. Thought this was the better option rather than shaving my head.” He took another sip of the coffee. It was stronger than the brew he’d had with Vynnie. “Damn, Zach. Either you’re trying to melt your stomach, or you’re looking to see if you can stand a spanner upright in your coffee. This is strong.” Another sip. “Still damned good coffee, though.”
Zach snorted. “Something like that. Your Vynnie will have saved two men tonight. I’ve been running without an XO for a few days so I’m really glad she’s here.”
He took a sip of coffee and closed his eyes. It felt like the caffeine actually touched his soul.
“She seems extremely capable,” he commented thoughtfully. “Though she didn’t let on she was the XO until after she’d seen me at my worst.” Griff frowned. “Maybe not my very worst, but I had to seem pretty pathetic. Bitching about itching until she offered coconut oil as treatment.” A small smile pulled at his lips. “She even put it on for me. It had to be one of the top moments in my life, and that’s just… well, it couldn’t have made the best impression with her. She’s a real stunner. I’m surprised I didn’t make a bigger fool of myself in front of her.”
“What? Like actually put it in your hair?” Zach’s eyebrow winged up. She’d seemed a little reserved to him. “Lucky bastard. She’s beautiful.”
Griff nodded, leaning forward with a wide-eyed expression. “I know, right? Beautiful, tall, intelligent… “ She was the whole package. “Yeah, she put it in my hair, rubbed it in, rinsed it. Even gave me the jar so I can use it in a few days,” he said, leaning to the side to pull the jar out of his pocket.
“We drank a cup of coffee afterwards and then had some whiskey. Had to test the quality of it, since it appears she’s going to need to have the good stuff stocked if she has to host any kind of official or non-offical functions as XO. I drank on an empty stomach, so that’s on me, not her. We had a nice talk, got to know a bit about each other… now I realize she was learning more about me than me about her,” he chuckled. “She’s interested in learning how to rock climb.”
Zach laughed. “She got you tipsy and found shit out about you? Mate, you’d never last in an interrogation.” He shook his head, taking another swallow of coffee. “She obviously likes you though. Especially if she put that shit in your hair. Probably need to get her in for mental assessment for her taste in men.”
