Lieutenant Commander Elsa Chapel had quite the legacy to live up to, and everyone in Starfleet was well aware. Years of fighting the stigma of her great-grandmother's legacy, of enduring the ceaseless "Why aren't you studying to be a doctor?" comments when she made her way up through the Academy. By the time she finally graduated and entered the field as a science officer, it was more grim determination than shining hope that got her there.

Additionally, there was the fact that she was one-eighth Vulcan. Emotions did not come so easily to her as they did to her peers. Though she rejected all Vulcan ancestry and identification within herself, fought hard to live as normal a human life as possible, sometimes biology won out over personal desire. Those who knew her lineage would sometimes call her "Vulcanish" or "Slightly Vulcan". Most of her former fellow cadets merely called her "Ice Queen", not being able to tell she was not fully human and taking her sometimes-emotionless bearing at face value. That didn't do her any favours.

But it did help her with her studies, and her training. She could focus like none of her human friends, excelled at anything she put her mind to. By the time she was stationed on the USS Barrett, people avoided her like the plague. She'd resigned herself to that life, to being friendless because she simply could not comprehend human behaviour sometimes, despite her earnest wish to do so.

And then along came Ensign Anaa.

The first week aboard their ship, Anaa had managed to break a turbolift. No one could figure out how, but it happened all the same. Though she apologised profusely and had promised to fix it herself, she had only the most basic of engineering training and somehow managed to whack Security Officer Kristoff in the knee with a tricorder while she was picking up her things from the stalled lift. Chapel chuckled, but tried to hide it immediately as she ordered her to return to her post at tactical.

Then there was the mess hall incident, wherein the Betazoid redefined the word "mess" within that context. The cleaning crew had to work four hours, all while the engineers did their best to stop the replicators from spewing out more tapioca pudding.

Things had been quiet for a few weeks. The ensign was finding her feet, making less obvious (and less scandalous) errors, doing her job to the best of her energetic ability. Elsa began watching her more closely after those two incidents - both because she was a threat to their entire ship if she kept wrecking equipment, and then because she felt invested in tracking her progress. Perhaps it was the scientist in herself, or perhaps it was just that she had grown attached to her after watching her for so long.

Chapel had just been promoted to Lieutenant Commander when it happened. Anaa forgot to set the privacy settings properly for her latest holodeck adventure, and poor Elsa wandered right in, seeing that she was reenacting a simple native wedding ceremony. She wasn't scheduled to report for duty for another hour or two, and her scientific curiosity wanted to know how the ritual was performed. It seemed safe enough, right?

Wrong. Apparently, she had forgotten a few key sections on Betazoid culture from her pre-Academy studies. One eyeful of a naked ensign's smooth, toned back was enough to make her turn and fling herself back through the archway.

"Oh my GOD, I'm so sorry, Commander!" the girl breathed as she ran out after her a few moments later, a silky pink robe clutched around her body. "This wasn't- how did you even get in there?! The deck was supposed to be locked out to all who don't have security clearance to override!"

"You..." Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the wall, trying her best not to meet the younger officer's eyes. "Ensign, you neglected to properly lock in the security settings. Granted, you weren't engaged in anything... unseemly, but it does count as immodest according to Starfleet protocols!"

"I know, I know," she sighed. "But Lwaxana's ceremony has been widely known as one of the most beautiful events in our history, I..." Gulping, she looked down. "You have my sincere apologies."

"Apologies only go so far. You have to adjust your behaviour if you hope to remain on a ship of this class for much longer. I say this not as your commanding officer, but merely as a dose of friendly advice. Putting your body on display and wearing out our replicators are not how you make Lieutenant!"

Anaa was quiet for a few seconds. When she never responded, eventually Elsa did glance over at her - and found tears were sliding down her lightly-freckled face.

"What? Officer, I must say, this is a most unbecoming and unprofessional thing to do here in the hallway!" Luckily for Anaa, no one else was around, but her point remained true.

"I'm... I'm never going to make it here! I know my stuff, can quote the Starfleet manual word for word, but... every other day, I'm d-doing something stupid, messing up, I don't know what's wrong with me!"

"Don't be silly," Elsa told her, though her voice was quiet. "You... haven't done anything nearly bad enough to-"

"Yes, I have!" she shouted, looking up at her with those wide, black-irised eyes that seemed to devour her soul. "You know it's true, you know I suck more than the vacuum of space! I've felt everyone's disapproval stabbing into me like knives, I'm... my mother was right, I should have gone into counseling like the rest of my kind!"

Her heart squeezed when she thought about that. Betazoids can sense the emotions of others, and here she was, widely known as "The Bumbling Betazoid" and mentioned as a sort of court jester among the rest of the crew. She had to have felt it around every corner, during every briefing and every interaction. Scorn, derision. Disapproval from every senior officer. Sometimes people could be so callous.

"No," Anaa followed up, wiping at her cheeks angrily. "Don't feel sorry for me. That's worse than thinking I'm stupid... that I'm so pathetic I deserve sympathy. I'll transfer back to the Academy, or onto a smaller station somewhere. Figure out a job I can do without ruining everything all the time."

"Can... you turn that off for a bit? It makes me uncomfortable."

"Oh," she snorted. "Yeah, I can; it's just hard when I'm upset. Should have known it would be harder for you to put up with."

Both of Elsa's slightly-pointed eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Harder for me? As your commanding officer?"

"As part-Vulcan."

"You... know about that? Guess word travels fast." But the ensign was shaking her head. "It doesn't?"

"Maybe, but that's not how I know. I read your file. You're kind of the best ever, and I know you'll make Captain in a year or two at this rate. So... yeah, I know your lineage, too."

"Why? I mean, why the interest? I'm just one Lieutenant among many."

"Because... I felt your sympathy before. On the turbolift. Everybody there thought I was ridiculous, and that I should have known better, done better. But you were the only one who actually felt bad for me; it stood out." Shrugging, Anaa retied the belt around her robe, trying to make sure it wouldn't slip. "So I wanted to know more about what kind of person you are - what kind of officer. Is that weird? Did I do a weird thing?"

It took her a moment to decide upon an answer. "Well... I suppose not. My file is a matter of record, open to all of Starfleet. It's not as if you sent inquiries to my parents or anything of that prying nature."

"Now who's being silly?" she chuckled. "Though I'd love to meet them. Tell them what an awesome daughter they raised."

"Stop flattering your superiors, Lwirri; that won't get you anywhere in Starfleet, and doesn't work with me."

Now was Anaa's turn to blink. "You... know my first name?"

"What? Oh." The tiniest tinge of pinkness crept into her pale cheeks. "Well, I may have taken a peek at your file, as well. As one of my subordinates, it seemed prudent."

"Oh, did it?" she replied, voice clearly dubious. "You've seen mine and I've seen yours. Guess we're even."

The innuendo wasn't missed, but it had been so subtle that Elsa felt as if pointing it out would only be more telling about her own state of mind. "Suppose that's one way of looking at it."

"Hey, do you wanna join me for the rest of the ceremony?" When the Lieutenant Commander's blue eyes shot wide, she held up her hands. "Kidding! I mean, you obviously wanted to see it, but not to see me in it, right?"

"I was curious, and have quite satisfied my curiosity on that point, thank you very much!" she blustered, which only caused Anaa to giggle. "And don't you have some paperwork to process?"

"Come on, you know neither of us are on duty." When Elsa arched an eyebrow, she shrugged. "I'm not, and if you were, you would have gone back to your post by now instead of standing around and talking to the nudist."

"Well... alright, that's a Holmesian bit of deduction I'll grant you. But no, I do not wish to see any more of the ceremony. Thank you for the offer."

Chagrined slightly, the young redhead lowered her eyes as she said, "Sorry about flustering you, by the way. I'm..." She paused to clear her throat. "I didn't know anyone would come in and my powers were flowing free, so, um, I felt what you felt when you saw me. Just please believe that it wasn't on purpose, okay?"

"What I felt when..." Then Elsa felt the blood draining from her face. She honestly hadn't given much thought to her own reactions at that time, couldn't quite remember what they were, but now she had a sneaking suspicion. "Ah."

"I won't tell anyone," she whispered softly, earnestly. Her face was as serious as Chapel had ever seen it, and even though it was a little comical it also made her innate beauty quite stark. "It's none of my business, and definitely none of anybody else's. Just wish... wish I'd known you were coming in, or something. Useless to say that now."

Passing a hand over her face, Elsa breathed, "Thank you for... your discretion." Then she looked back to Anaa again, to her earnest eyes, and found herself babbling, "It wasn't you, though - I don't... y-you aren't- I'm not harbouring those feelings for you specifically! Your body, however, it's very..." The redder her face got, the less she seemed to be capable of coherent speech. What was the matter with her?

"So I've been told," Anaa said with a wide grin, her own freckles a little brighter than usual. "Thank you, though. And, um, it wouldn't take an empath to tell what you're feeling now, so do you want me to change the subject?"

"PLEASE."

"Okay. Can we go get some raktajino in the mess hall? I promise not to put tapioca in yours."

Chapel considered. So far, it had been her policy not to mix business with pleasure - partly because she had no close friends on the ship, and partly because fraternizing with immediate subordinates tended to complicate working relationships. However, she didn't want to stop talking to the ensign quite yet. It felt... nice.

"Very well, on one condition." Anaa merely cocked her head to one side, so she followed up, "You get back into uniform."

"Oh? OH!" Glancing down at her nearly-bare legs, she laughed and backpedaled toward the arch. "You got it, Chapel! Aye, sir!" Saluting, she let the doors swish shut.

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at a table, sipping the hot liquid and discussing anything other than the birthmark on Lwirri's lower back. Even when she asked why Elsa was suddenly blushing again, the topic was deftly avoided.

~ End ~

"Plot a course for Alpha Centauri," Captain Elsa Chapel told Ensign Olaf as she strode from the lift doors to her command chair, seating herself comfortably. "Warp two."

The young officer turned to raise his eyebrows at her, and she was again struck by his prominent nose. "Don't we have to be there in time to pick up Ambassador Wesselton?"

Her stately lip curled. "The ambassador is not a high personal priority. Every time I see him, I feel the urge to snap 'Shut up, Wesselton' before he even speaks. Old fool." Glancing around at the rest of her crew, she arched an eyebrow in challenge. "What? You have your orders. Make it so."

"Aye, sir. Making it so."

As the USS Norrberg's impulse engines pivoted the bulk toward its destination, Lieutenant Commander Anaa strode over and handed her a data pad. "Those reports on the chemical composition of the asteroid crystals you requested, sir."

"Thank you." When she took the pad, however, there was a popup in front of it. The question was simple: "Ready room?" Such a phrase would seem like an innocent mistake or a nonsense bit to anyone else. To her, she had to suppress a grin before thumbing for the two words to vanish without trace. Once glancing over the report briefly - or pretending to - she sat up straighter. "Might I see you in my office?"

The feigned surprise was just the tiniest bit theatrical. "Of course, sir."

"Commander Gerda, you have the conn."

"Aye, Captain." While the First Officer moved to fill Elsa's seat, Kristoff's eyeroll was too knowing, but he kept his silence as they moved toward the door off to the port side of the bridge.

Chapel's ready room was rather spartan, devoid of many personal effects. There was a ship in a bottle on the corner of her desk, fine art on the walls. Rows of books on the shelves. A mounted bat'leth, which she had received from a Klingon warrior who had pledged her life to the captain for fighting honourably at her side. Behind the dress jacket on her coatrack in the corner hung a pink robe, but most would never notice.

Of course, there were no traditional Vulcan artefacts. Not a single one.

"You wanted to see me?" Anaa asked, fluttering her eyelashes innocently once the doors had closed behind her.

"Oh, stow it," Elsa sighed as she sat on the edge of her desk. "You have to stop doing this."

"Doing what? I haven't done anything at all." When the tick began going in Elsa's jaw, she ducked her head slightly. "You won't talk to me outside of work if I don't create an opportunity. So... here I am. Creating."

Another sigh, fingers coming up to massage her own temples. "You don't understand, and have never understood!"

"Let me do that. Everybody swears by my massage skills, you know."

"NO!" Dropping the hands immediately, she stood and put her hands in the small of her back. Formal, military stance. Sterile and proper. "Commander, you need to remember our mission out here in the starfield. To remember our stations, our ranks. If I have to demote you to make that happen, I will gladly do so."

Finally, the coy smile that had been playing around Anaa's lips died. "Fine. I won't ever bother you again, if that's what you really want. But is that the truth? We both know all I would have to do is-"

"Yes, I do know that, and I appreciate that you're exercising restraint. In that area. But it is still inappropriate to use a report as pretense for this private, ill-advised conversation while we are on duty!"

"But you're always on duty!" she burst out, fists clenched down by her hips. "All I want to do is talk to you, to work through this at least, even if we can't be who we really are to each other! But you shut me out, keep the doors to your quarters locked no matter how many times I stop by, or how long I do or don't wait between attempts! It's..." Biting her lip for a moment, she took a few breaths to force herself to say what was necessary. "I'm not the one who slipped up, so why are you punishing me?!"

So now they were going to have to talk about it. Again. Gripping her own hands tighter and tighter, she growled, "This isn't 'punishment'. My advances toward a junior officer are not appropriate, no matter how much Romulan ale is in my system. They had to stop, and I stopped them. Please respect that."

"I can't. Not when they were everything my heart ached for."

"And stop saying things like that!"

"NO! I won't, I don't have it in me!" Her hands reached up, brushing the pips on her captain's collar. "Elsa, please..."

The blonde's eyes slid closed, and her breathing increased in speed as she held perfectly still. When Anaa did not force herself on her, did not make any other move or say anything else for a few seconds, she whispered, "You have permission... to read me... right now."

"Oh?" The Betazoid took in a sharp breath, face entirely stricken. She had rarely seen her look that pained in their years of service together. "No, Elsa, you- please don't be scared. Not scared of me, that's..."

"Those are my feelings," she ground out, obviously barely hanging onto her decorum. "The very idea of giving in, of letting what may happen, happen... nothing is more terrifying to me."

"Because of your bloodline? Your rank? My rank?" Shaking her head, she smoothed her hands over her shoulders. "Chapel, I'm crazy about you. Always have been. I'd resign my post and become your trophy wife if you asked - if that's what it took."

"What?!" Eyes wide, she gaped at the shorter woman, at the earnestness in her wide, beseeching black eyes. "You would- no, Lwirri. No, I will not have that; you have become one of my most trusted officers, and a capable tactician like none other I've served with! Turning you into... arm candy would be a waste of a valuable resource, not to mention would leave your life completely unfulfilled!"

"But I wouldn't be unfulfilled, because I would have you!" Elsa opened her mouth again, but she rushed ahead to close off her protests. "Damn it all, I want you so bad! Sure, I'd miss being an officer, but I could find something else to do on board! Maybe be the cook's assistant!"

That made the captain laugh softly, and Anaa found herself nodding in resignation at the absurdity of her statement, even before the reply. "Picturing you going anywhere near our cook's stores is more or less picturing a month of paperwork about damage reports and rehires!"

"Wow, thanks! See if I ever try to make you a birthday cake again!"

"Picturing your previous efforts, I'd rather not." Then her smile became tinged with bittersweet. "No, I cannot ask you to resign your commission. Would not and will not. You are too valuable to my crew, to the team I have built here."

"And what about Team Chapel-Anaa? What's their status report?" When Elsa didn't respond, Lwirri pressed in as close as she could, feeling her captain stiffen. "If I can't be with you... I don't know if I could survive. Or would want to. You're all I care about; even my duty to Starfleet comes in second place."

"Then... that is something to take into consideration. An officer's duty should always be first. Clearly, you are delirious if you have forgotten that. Perhaps I should relieve you of your post and confine you to sickbay."

The Lieutenant Commander's smirk was so very coy, and the accompanying finger that danced up to Chapel's collar cheeky. "You're about to force me to make another 'Nurse Chapel' joke."

"Don't," Elsa warned her sternly, but not as sternly as she would have warned anyone else under her command.

"But you're the only one I want nursing me back to health."

"Stop!" They both chuckled, and by the time they were done, she found her hand was in the small of Commander Anaa's back. Her throat was tight as she whispered, "This... can't happen."

"It's happening already."

"It shouldn't. We shouldn't."

Shrugging, Anaa leaned up and touched their noses together. "Please, just let me in. We need each other - and want each other besides. Always have."

"You cheated." Her questioning gaze made the captain glare down at her. "Showing me your nude body was jumping over a few crucial steps in the courtship dance, you knew that."

"You found my nude body, you revisionist historian!" Her thumb and forefinger found the hidden zipper amongst the stiff regulation material and began tugging it down. "Besides... that has actually given you the unfair advantage, hasn't it? Knowing what I look like in the buff when I can't exactly say the same about you."

Both of Elsa's hands came up to grip the younger woman's wrists, chest heaving with ill-suppressed anxiety. "Are y-you completely out of your head?! You mean to STRIP ME in my own ready room?!"

"Stop me, Captain." The zipper went further down. Further still, until it opened, revealing the soft grey fabric of the shirt underneath. "You're doing a pretty bad job of keeping your officers in line, huh?"

"Lwirri, you..." When the hands glided up her stomach, so much easier to feel now than before, her eyes eased closed. "You... are so... incorrigible."

But the hands didn't go any further upward. They stopped and slipped around to press into her back, still underneath her jacket but in a relatively harmless place. Anaa's cheek pressed into her neck, contented at the closeness, the warmth.

"We'll stop here," she promised. "I... I can feel how scared you are, and I understand. You're not Betazoid, so I'll just tell you outright that yeah, I am, too. But I'm also really excited."

"I've no doubt of that," she murmured shakily.

"Not that kind of 'excited' - though now that you mention it..." The squeak from Elsa's throat made her grin, but she had the good grace not to laugh aloud. "I meant excited to move forward with you. For the slow dance we've performed around each other over the past couple of years to come to fruition. I... I've been aching for this so much, and hating that it was asking too much of you, and waiting for you to be ready... and even if you aren't completely right now, you're ready to start, at least. And that's the best news I've heard in my entire life."

Tears were pricking the corners of Elsa's eyes. "You... have wanted it that earnestly? From when?" No comment. "Just tell me; as you pointed out, I'm no mind-reader. Was it the moment outside the holodeck? Or maybe Risa?"

"The holodeck gave me my first clue about your feelings, yeah. Our shore leave earlier this year, you in the sarong on the beaches... and what happened the second night..." Now it was Anaa's turn to blush, and as heavily as she ever had. "Risa was simply when I figured out that my little schoolgirl crush was never going away. That it was the real deal. I'm in love with my captain."

"Love..." Anaa nodded. "Even though I'm the absolute worst person for you? A woman who puts duty above her personal feelings, who will no doubt hurt you in the worst ways imaginable?" Elsa's teeth gritted as she stared away. "My Vulcan blood is going to ruin this someday. We both know it. I'll be the best I can, but someday when I need to feel, it's not going to work right - I'm going to be confused by something every other human understands on instinct, and it will hurt you more than I can bear! You deserve far better than an ice queen like me!"

Biting her lip, Lwirri allowed her eyes to close, and she simply breathed while her head laid on the woman's shoulder. Then she softly told her, "That's why. Because you care that much about what happens to me. Even if you end up hurting me, it won't be on purpose. People hurt each other all the time; it's what happens because no one is perfect."

"So... that potential margin for error is well within acceptable levels for you?"

"Listen to this lame science officer," she snorted, and Elsa grunted in annoyance. "It is. You're worth the risk. I'd risk way more than just momentary pain for you." At last, she pulled back to look directly into her eyes, bodies flush and voice the barest of sounds. "I'd risk anything to be yours."

Neither of them could remember how long they had been kissing when they heard a light feminine voice from the speakers say, "Bridge to Captain Chapel." However, Elsa did notice she had to literally disentangle her hands from deep within Anaa's red locks before she could pat her combadge and reply.

"Go ahead, Ensign Riker."

"We have an unidentified vessel off our starboard requesting supplies. Say they've been victim of a Maquis raiding party."

"Tell them to wait; I'll take it in here momentarily after I conclude other business."

"Aye, sir."

Anaa grinned as she kissed her chin again. "What other business are we concluding? And how many times are we concluding it?"

"ANAA! That is not the business we're concluding!" Elsa breathed as she reached down to grip her subordinate's hindquarters very briefly - eliciting a gasp of mingling surprise and enjoyment. "This is merely, well, a treatise. We've agreed to a ceasefire so that our... parties may enjoy the benefits of each other. Mutually."

"Mutually, yes." Then she pulled back and began to zip up her captain's jacket, careful to make it as straight and orderly as she could. "Then I am glad we had this, um, summit. And look forward to the celebration tonight. In... my quarters, or yours?"

"Hmm, I don't think I have a preference."

"Mine has a jacuzzi." When Elsa's eyebrows shot up, she grinned as she helped smooth down her the taller officer's blonde locks. "It pays to be nice to Systems Engineer Oaken, you know; he can make pretty much anything happen."

Shaking her head, she pulled her lithe body in closer, heart pounding as she breathed her in, relished her nearness for once instead of dreading it. "You know what? You have me starting to think you're the one that can make anything happen, Lwirri. Anything my heart desires."

Soon after, the alert on Captain Chapel's desk beeped for her attention. And was ignored for yet another minute still.

~ End (Again) ~