Espresso Keb and Oolong Erich Keb pulled away from her protective embrace. She’d hugged Erich instinctively, and now felt embarrassed. She attempted to shield him from the panicked emotions that flooded him when the ship’s systems failed, and...it had somehow worked. Now as he calmed down, she realized his team had all seen them in an intimate embrace. Keb had wanted to help him, as he’d helped her...but perhaps she had only made things worse. “Erich...I’m sorry. I--I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” she said, though she was the one blushing. “I just...wanted to help you.” She wondered why she’d even thought she could help him. “When you grow up reading minds, the idea of embarrassment is meaningless.” Still, he was thankful she couldn’t read him. “I could have shoved you away.” He looked at the crew moving about Stellar Cartography, their silhouettes passing in front of lit consoles. “I think something is happening between us, perhaps on a chemical level.” Erich sensed her confusion and deepening self-consciousness. The dim light felt like a shield against prying eyes. “What do you mean--some kind of chemistry?” she asked quietly. “I was waiting to tell you, and after what happened earlier, I was not sure I’d ever tell you.” He turned away and then took a deep breath. “You have a very...open mind. It’s difficult not to hone in on your thoughts. It’s...intimate. I’m relaxed when I can hear your mind only, and I seem to have some calming influence on you as well. Your mind is an espresso in a galaxy of decaf.” He cringed at his own metaphor. “There must be a chemical reaction between us.” Keb’s discomfort increased as he further explained; she stepped away from him, protesting what he was saying though she’d experienced it herself. She wasn’t used to being an open book, or being somehow special. “I...I don’t know much about how Betazoid telepathy works,” she said, looking for a way to put her confusion in words. It was far more...diplomatic than where her thoughts were; it was one thing for him to read a moment of public shame, and quite another for him to know her most private thoughts. His eyes captured hers. “It normally doesn’t work this way. Your private thoughts should be just that, private. Look, you are very attached to this ship. I’ll put in for a transfer after this weather disaster passes us.” His heart fell into his stomach. “Wait, what?” she asked, shocked. “N-no, you--you shouldn’t have to leave just because of me.” He felt her dismay and walked past her, sitting against the rear wall of Stellar Cartography. It felt good to sit and talk even in the midst of the chaos. “I do not wish to leave, but I don’t want to make your life here more difficult.” Swallowing, Keb hesitated a moment before she sat next to him. “You haven’t made my life more difficult...you helped me just a couple hours ago when...you know. And whatever you did--I dunno, I just felt...lighter somehow. In a good way.” It was hard to put it into words, but Erich sensed how what he’d done made her feel closer to him and less isolated in her recovery. She should be angry over the mental violation but couldn’t bring herself to feel that way. And it wasn’t just that she didn’t want him to go on her account--it was that she would miss him. Erich looked at a spot on the ground in front of him. Her thoughts touched him. “That’s very nice of you. Not since leaving Betazed has anyone mentioned missing me.” Perhaps they could make coexisting on the ship work. He smiled as some thoughts from others filtered into his own, slipping through Keb’s tangled web of emotions. He laughed out loud at one of them, then looked up at her puzzled expression, hearing her question before she spoke. “Ensign Nosy over there thinks we should get a room. Someone’s getting a double shift.” He glanced around, wondering what her reaction would be. “Not the first thought like that I’ve heard.” Her cheeks glowed in the darkness. “I...was seen emerging from your quarters the other night. You know how gossip is on this ship.” “Gossip is second to only hydrogen as the most abundant element on a starship.” He smiled. “What’s done is done.” “I just don’t want it undermining your authority.” Or further undermining mine, if there’s any left. She bit her lip, curious. “Do...do they think we make a good couple?” she asked. “I do.” He hadn’t intended to let that slip, and hurried his next statement. “They think we are two dilithium crystals short of a matter/anti-matter reaction. So, yes. I’ve not sensed anyone thinking otherwise.” He mused for a moment. “I could send a poll to all crew asking that very question.” Keb looked alarmed until she realized he was teasing about the ship-wide poll. The notion of dating Erich hadn’t crossed her mind before; it felt strange at first, like tasting Klingon bloodwine for the first time. And yet the flavor of the idea had an appeal she couldn’t shake. “Bloodwine? That smarts,” he said playfully. “I’d like to think I’m more like Oolong tea, myself.” Realization dawned that he could hear her considering him, feel her appraising gaze from both sides. She buried her face in her hands. He changed his tone. “Seriously, you don’t have to feel ashamed around me. I’d be concerned if you blindly considered it.” He lied, a little. Seeing her embarrassed was an evil treat. Delicious emotions cascaded through her. She was amused, intrigued--and fearful of the sudden shift in their relationship. “We don’t have to jump straight to the reaction chamber, but let me buy you dinner when we get power back.” He wrapped his pinky finger around hers, a small gesture to break the ice. She curled her finger around his in acceptance. “Okay.”