Rollercoaster - On A Day Like This - part 2

[r_scribbles]

ROLLERCOASTER

-x-

On A Day Like This

-x-

Two

-x-

They were taking refuge in a series of mountain caves before Tasha had chance to speak with Marven again. Even then, it was he who found her rather than the other way around.

'Do you like our caves?' he asked, conversationally.

'Dank,' noted Tasha, 'dark, dingy… everything a cave should be.'

'I knew you'd be impressed, Spacegirl,' Marven grinned, leaning against the cave wall and stretching out his legs. 'So, I was wondering if you weren't doing anything right now… which, it appears, you aren't…'

Tasha was suddenly aware of a gaze burrowing into the back of her head. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Data had somehow positioned himself less than a metre away from Marven and she.

'Can I help you, Data?'

'No,' replied Data, matter-of-factly.

Tasha bit down a swell of aggravation. 'Well, would you mind moving elsewhere? This is a private conversation.'

Data nodded, smoothly. 'Of course.'

He moved away, but not far away enough. Tasha could still see him, and was sure that he could still hear everything that she and Marven said. She considered asking him to move even further away until she realised that the cave was so small that there would be nowhere that the android could go that would be sufficiently far for her to feel comfortable talking privately with Marven.

Marven seemed to pick up on her unease. 'Now's not really the time,' he resolved, 'is it?'

'Marven…' attempted Tasha as he walked away.

'Maybe later,' he replied over his shoulder… and then, he was lost amongst the throng of refugees.

Tasha clawed angrily at her fringe and huffed out in frustration. Matters certainly weren't helped by Data walking back up to her.

'Is your private conversation over now?'

'Yes,' seethed Tasha, 'thanks to you.'

'I do not know what you mean.'

'Well, of course you do.' Determined to be left alone by that damned android, Tasha turned off into a small hollow in the cave's wall – anything to afford her a bit of privacy. Unfortunately, Data followed her in to the grotto.

'I do not,' persisted Data. 'Did I embarrass you in some way? Did I say anything untoward to the man with whom you were conversing?'

'It's not that, Data…'

'Then, why are you angry with me?'

The grotto had no exit bar the one that Data was – unintentionally or not – blocking. Tasha had no way out, and no other vent for her growing anger unless she was to just come out and say it.

'Because, Data,' she blurted, 'because you're always there! Why do you always have to be there?'

'I do not…'

'You've said that you're not interested,' continued Tasha, building up steam, 'and I've dealt with that heartache, but you just won't go away! Why can't you go away and let me get on with my life?'

'But…'

'I flirt a little with Marven – you're there. I tried to go on a date with Morton – there you were. I tried to make things work with Rocco – you, again, getting under my feet, under my skin… You know, I used to chastise myself for being the one who was always drawing you close when it suited me and then pushing you back when it got too serious, but you? You're worse than I ever was. You said I should stop seeing you as my emotional property by default – well, why can't you do the same for me? You've set yourself free from this relationship, why can't you do me the same favour?'

'I was not aware that I…'

'I started screwing you when I was 27 years of age, Data, and now I'm starting to see 40 looming up on me. I am too old for this crap. I'm too old to keep myself on the shelf for somebody who can't love me.'

'But…'

'Why can't you leave me alone, Data? Why do you always have to be there? You're ruining my life – what reason can you possibly have for tormenting me like this?'

There was a pause. Evidently, Data hadn't realised that Tasha's furious speech was over and that her final question had not been rhetorical – or if he had, he had no ready answer to give.

'Well?' prompted Tasha, hotly.

Data paused again, before answering, meekly, 'Because…'

'"Because"?' Echoed Tasha.

'Because…'

'Because what?'

'Because…'

'"Because, because, because…" spit it out, you dumb sack of circuitry!'

'Because I love you!'

Tasha froze, her mouth slack with surprise. From his expression, Data had been expecting to say what he had just as much as Tasha had been expecting to hear it.

After a moment, more to break the silence than anything, Tasha demanded; 'what?'

'Oh,' said Data, flatly. He sank himself down smoothly into a seated position, gazing off into the middle distance. 'I did say that out loud, did I not?'

'Yes. Yes, you did.' Tasha paused. 'Did… you mean it?'

'Of course.'

Tasha licked her lips, dryly. 'Since when?'

Data shook his head, as though presented with a scientific impossibility. 'Since the moment I said it… since the moment I first experienced emotion… since the moment we first had sexual contact… since the moment we met… I do not know. I cannot tell when the change occurred. Perhaps it never did. But that does not make any sense.'

'Irrational, nonsensical, bewildering… sounds like love to me, all right.'

'Apparently so.' Data exhaled deeply, a troubled look on his face. 'What am I supposed to do now?'

Tasha stared at him. She found an involuntary smile of amusement creeping over her lips. 'Wait a minute – are you still trying to find problems with this? Do you have any idea how long I've been aching for you to feel this way about me?'

'But you just said that you wanted to be set free from any emotional ties to me.'

Tasha sat down next to him. 'I'm still in love with you, Data. So if you feel the same way about me that I do about you…'

'What about Marven?'

'Nobody's denying that your timing on this matter sucks like a malfunctioning airlock.' She laughed a little, lightheaded. 'I mean – eleven years we've been doing this dance; six since I fell for you and began this wretched vigil for your affections. You might have put me out of my misery long ago, but no. You had to wait 'til I'd got myself lined up for my first date in years and wreck the thing, just like you did the last one.'

'Eleven years,' muttered Data. 'Eleven years.'

'Bet you can round it down to the second.'

'To the nanosecond,' Data confirmed, 'that is, depending upon whether we are to count the "dance" from when I first encountered you, or our first kiss, or the first time that we… in fact, as I recall, we did not share a kiss until after we had commenced our first sexual union.'

Tasha smirked. 'Well, not on the lips, anyway.'

'Ours has been a most peculiar courtship, thus far.'

There was a pause, as they both stared down at their knees. At first, Tasha thought that Data had began to softly cry, although when she looked across at him in concern she realised that, in fact, he was trying and failing to stifle a laugh.

'What's so funny?'

'I am capable of processing thousands of separate items of information at the same time,' Data replied through his giggles, 'I can solve scientific and mathematical problems that would take a team of great human or Vulcan minds months of research in a matter of moments. My positronic brain has been lauded as one of the great wonders of our age, yet it has taken me eleven years to comprehend something as simple as how much I love you. I am an idiot!'

He was laughing hard now; clutching at his shaking shoulders. Tasha found herself joining in with the infectious hysterics.

'The fabulous, miraculous Mister Data,' she added, 'the 24th Century's Great Detective – two time outfoxer of the terrible, inscrutable Borg…'

'A halfwit!' laughed Data. 'A numbskull! A clod!'

All of a sudden, it wasn't just their shoulders that shook. The floor of the grotto, the walls and the rocky ceiling of it trembled, causing a thin crack to appear in the stone above them. Their laughter broke off as they peered around the grumbling grotto with concern.

'Look at that,' noted Tasha, getting to her feet, 'you tell me you love me, and the earth moves.'

'These tunnels must be structurally unsound,' Data added, wiping his eyes. 'We must get back to the main group and organise an evacuation.'

Tasha nodded in understanding, and began to head towards the grotto's entrance. 'Crappy timing strikes again.'

Data caught her arm. 'There must be time for a kiss while we are still alone, at least…?'

She smiled, and leaned in towards him.

The whole cave shifted and rumbled again. The fissure above their heads split wider, showering them with a fine dust.

'Nope,' Tasha replied, hurriedly pulling him out of the grotto, 'we have definitely got to get outta here.'

-x-

It was over. The Son'a were defeated, and the Ba'ku free to live their lives as they had for so very many years. The sun shone, birds chirruped… this was paradise. Yes, this was truly paradise.

They had made their excuses as the others had mingled with the Ba'ku, and had found a secluded spot behind a barn. Tasha was drenched in warm sunlight, the buzz of a successful mission and the mysterious whatever-it-was about the Ba'ku planet that was making everyone so very perky. She had one hand in an android's hair, another cradling the small of his back and her tongue down his throat. And the android loved her. Paradise. She moved the hand on his back down and round, over his hips and managed to get it to his thigh before he stopped her.

He pulled out of the kiss with an expression of embarrassment. 'Sorry…'

She gazed down at him. 'Same trouble as… as in the escape pod…?'

'I thought that it would have righted itself by now.'

'Hey. It's OK. These things don't get better overnight. I should know.' She played her fingers through his hair. 'We'll take it as slow as you like. I've waited this long, after all.'

He reached up and pushed her fringe away from her eyes. 'Thank you.'

She leaned down again and gently kissed him, just the tip of her tongue playing at the entrance of his slightly parted lips, her hands making a pretence at weighing his down by the sides of his head.

He smiled a little. 'I like that.'

'Thought you might. Let's do it again…'

'Tasha?'

Tasha looked up with a start. Marven had spotted them, and was striding towards them.

Tasha cringed inwardly. Marven! She hadn't had the chance to spend any time alone with him since the caves – hadn't had chance to explain. And now he'd seen them. Dammit, this was going to be Morton Baker all over again. She quickly got up off Data and they sat up, as innocently as they could muster, side-by-side – but surely, the damage had already been done. They had been caught.

Marven sat himself down in between the pair. If he was angry, he certainly wasn't showing it. He seemed perfectly calm – cheery, even.

'Hello,' he smiled.

'Hi, Marven,' muttered Tasha, nervously. 'How're you doing?'

'Pretty good,' replied Marven, without irony. 'You saved my planet today. I'm impressed and relieved in fairly equal measures. Only dampener on my day, really, is that I haven't been able to spend any time with you since the caves, and now they're saying you're going to be leaving soon. I wanted the chance to thank you… and perhaps to finish off the conversation we were having…?' Marven acknowledged the distinctly sheepish looking android for the first time, but did so without any apparent animosity. 'You seemed to be busy, though. Hope I haven't interrupted anything important…'

Tasha exhaled. Time to face the music. 'Well, as a matter of fact…'

'Tasha and I have a lengthy and highly involved history together,' Data interjected.

Marven nodded, sagely. 'She did say that her love life was "complicated".' He turned, brightly, to Tasha. 'See? I do understand warnings!'

'I love her,' Data announced. 'Perhaps I always have – perhaps I just needed this world to show me that I did.' Data shared a small smile with Tasha. 'She waited for me. For so many years. I apologise, Marven. This is all my…'

'But you're a machine,' interrupted Marven.

'I can feel emotion,' Data retorted, 'ever since…'

'This place can even help biological and electronic beings discover their adoration for each other?' Marven's face was alight with joy. 'I love this world! Have I mentioned my unfathomed gratitude for the way you saved it for us yet?'

'You have,' Tasha replied. 'But… aren't you disappointed? Upset?'

'I'm so happy for you!' Marven grabbed Tasha's face in giddy delight and kissed her passionately on the lips.

'Um,' replied Tasha, once her mouth was finally free, 'I don't think you've quite got the…'

Marven turned to Data, his glee not fading. 'Congratulations, both of you.' Marven planted a second kiss, just as passionately happy, on the android's mouth.

'Ah,' muttered Tasha, watching the kiss, slack-jawed. She now remembered notes from the Federation's earlier study of the Ba'ku mentioning a trend in younger, childless adults for polyamorous groupings. No wonder Marven hadn't been upset at seeing Data and she together – as far as he was concerned, he'd just bagged himself two dates instead of only one.

Three seconds into the kiss, she started thinking that she should really stop it and bid Marven a polite goodbye.

Five seconds into the kiss, she realised that clearing her throat wasn't going to break it up, but could find no other way of interjecting that she felt comfortable with.

Seven seconds into the kiss, she decided just to let it run its natural course, and started taking mental snapshots for the record.

It was a good ten seconds or so before Marven finally released Data.

'Oh, good kisses from Mister Robotic here. Consider me an Electro-Convert. Praise be!'

'Thank you…?' replied Data, for want of a more apt response.

'Marven.' Tasha laid a hand on Marven's knee, in what she hoped could only be construed as a conciliatory manner. 'Considering the difficult past me and Data have had, and how long it's taken us to get this far… I think, right now, we just want to work this out between the two of us.'

'Really?' Marven's face fell for the first time.

'I believe that that would be best for us,' added Data.

'Besides,' continued Tasha, 'we'll be leaving very soon.'

'On top of which,' Data disclosed, 'I have recently had a… distressing sexual experience, from which I am still recovering. I am struggling enough in intimate situations with only one partner, whom I know and trust…'

Marven's expression crumpled into one of childlike pity. 'Oh, you poor, sexy thing.' He leaned in for another kiss, but Data blocked his lips with an upheld finger. 'It is my problem, not yours. Please do not take this as a personal rejection.'

'I understand.' Marven still looked dejected. 'I just wish there was some way I could thank you people – these kind strangers who risked their careers… their lives… to save our planet.'

Tasha thought. 'There might be. You remember our Doctor Crusher?'

Marven found his smile again. 'The lady Doctor. Hair like the first rays of dawn; skin like porcelain. Wonderful hands. Yes. I remember her.'

'She likes you.' Tasha squeezed his arm. 'And I believe the words "alone and frisky as a midsummer stoat" were mentioned.'

'Say no more.' Marven got to his feet and straightened his collar. 'Best of luck, the both of you. Maybe some day in the future you can visit and we can all have sex.'

'Maybe…' conceded Data, 'but probably not.' The android took Tasha's hand.

Marven's face was the very picture of syrupy sentimentality.

'Monogamy. How sweet. Well, goodbye, then.'

Tasha waited until Marven had wandered off before turning back to Data. 'Well, that was an education.'

'Did you think so?' Data replied, innocently. 'Bisexuality and polyamory have been well noted in many Ba'ku adults…'

'I didn't mean his approach,' Tasha retorted, 'I meant, your response. Almost as though you had been in the same sort of situation before.'

'Not exactly the same.'

'How so?'

'That was the first time that I have found it pertinent to refuse such an offer.'

Tasha blinked.

'What part of "programmed in multiple techniques of pleasuring" did you fail to comprehend, exactly?' added Data. 'You know that I have had varied casual encounters in the past…'

'You are gonna have to start writing your sexual memoirs down for me,' Tasha told him. 'Maybe make a couple of Holodeck programmes of the best ones…?'

Data looked at her, blankly, then shook his head with a faint roll of the eyes. 'What am I to do with you?'

'I'll give you a hint,' Tasha replied, taking his hand and laying it on her thigh as she leaned in for another kiss, 'but I'll take your lead. Go as far as you want to; if you wanna stop, then stop.'

They kissed again - slowly, gently. His hands moved up to her back and pulled her down on top of him again. He pushed his fingers through her hair for a moment before running them down the side of her neck to find the clasp of her tunic.

There was the sound of a scuffle and a muffled laugh from a side of the barn. Tasha tried to pull herself away from Data at the sound, but they became all the more entangled, and were unable to free themselves from their clinch before a second couple, in similar uniforms and similar disarray, tumbled giggling around the corner. The new couple noticed the amorous scene in front of them as one, and froze with a unified chorus of 'Oh' – although, Tasha noted, neither of the other pair had the decency to look anywhere near as embarrassed as she felt.

For a moment, nobody moved. It seemed that the interlopers were looking to Tasha or Data to react first.

'I'm sorry,' announced Tasha at last, sitting upright and re-fastening her uniform, 'are we disturbing you?'

Will seemed to remember that he still had his hand inside Deanna's tunic, and removed it appropriately.

'Well,' he replied, gruffly, 'Deanna and I, see, we…'

'She already knows about us, Will,' interjected Troi. 'The whole ship already knows about us. Even Data knows about us.'

'That is true,' Data added. 'You were not particularly good at hiding the renewal of your love affair.'

'Said the pot to the kettle,' Will retorted. 'You and Tasha were so snippy with each other yesterday, everybody knew it was building up to something. We'd started a Sweepstake, as a matter of fact, so if you'd be so good as to let Beverly know at what time you kids got back together at your earliest convenience, she can notify the winner.'

'It was early afternoon,' said Deanna, plainly. 'In the caves.'

Tasha narrowed her eyes. 'Deanna Troi, were you eavesdropping?'

'After a fashion. An android realising he's in love for the first time – you'd better believe I felt that one.'

'Love?' from Will's wide, sappy grin, you'd think that a hundred clumsy puppies had just scampered up to him, voluntarily assembled into rows and started yelping a well-rehearsed but adorably imperfect rendition of "Take Five". 'This is actually love requited?'

Data nodded, with an expression of faint pride.

'Aww.'

Tasha addressed Data, irritably. 'This is sickening. He thinks this is cute again. Why does he always think this is so cute?'

'Are you kidding?' replied Will. 'One of my best friends finally gets the guy she's been waiting for so many years…'

'Way to make me sound like a lonely old spinster, Will…'

'…And another of my best friends,' continued Will, unabated, 'is falling in love for the first time ever. Your first time! You're a Love Virgin, Data.'

'I believe that you are correct, Tasha,' Data told her, an odd look on his face. 'This is "sickening".'

'What?' protested Will. 'I'm just saying. This is a beautiful moment.'

Deanna patted Will's chest. 'Stop talking now, dear.' She turned to the other couple. 'We'll leave you two alone.'

Tasha huffed and shrugged. 'Mood's gone, now. As well you know.'

'Sorry.' Deanna sat down next to Tasha. 'If it's any consolation, it's me who ends up stuck with the hairy testosterone monster who won't shut up.'

'I shaved,' objected Will, sitting with the rest of them.

Tasha curled a small smile. 'Mine has trouble shutting up too.'

'Please refrain from referring to me as though I am absent when I am, in fact, sitting right next to you.' Data met eyes with Riker. They shook their heads in unison. 'Women.'

Tasha hugged her knees up to her chest, allowing her head to rest on Data's shoulder.

'So, what happens now?'

'I think our actions against Admiral Dougherty's orders have been adequately justified,' Riker replied. 'I imagine, once we've left here, it'll be business as usual.'

'But it won't be, will it? Everything's changed.'

'Has that much really changed?' Deanna asked. 'Have we really changed, or have we just been made to start seeing things in a different light?' She gave Tasha a smile. 'You think it isn't even a little daunting for us, re-embarking on a long-defunct love affair?' Deanna squeezed Will's arm. 'We'll make a new path for ourselves – we're older and wiser – we'll learn from our past mistakes. And so will you. Will was right – it's just business as usual. And I think you're going to be fine. We're all going to be fine this time.'

-x-

Six weeks later.

-x-

A hand, running gently over her hair as she read. She smiled, and only batted it playfully away once the fingers had moved down to brush the curve of her neck.

'That tickles.'

'Are you studying?'

'Yes.'

'Is it necessary that you study right at this instant?'

'It's always necessary that I study. This meat brain of mine can't just download information in a zip, the way yours can.'

'Can it wait a while?'

She turned to him. 'What's up with you tonight?'

He gave her a smile that appeared genuinely free – genuinely the happiest and most unfettered that she believed she had ever seen on him. 'Very little. Very little indeed is "up", if, by "up", I am to take it that you mean "wrong".'

'Good Counselling session this evening, was it?'

'It is not Deanna Troi who is making me feel better…' he paused, and pondered this statement. 'Well, it is, but for different reasons. And it is not regarding my relationship with her that I have reached an epiphany.'

She cocked her head at him. 'An epiphany…? What are you talking about?'

He pulled her up out of her seat. 'I have had a difficult time of late. I have had trouble adjusting to my new capabilities, and to certain psychologically harming events that have befallen me. But you have waited for me. You have given me the opportunity to heal myself of my damage. And what I want now is gentleness. And joy. And love. From you, Tasha.'

'Oh. I see what you did there.'

He pulled her a little closer. 'You are fully functional, are you not?'

She brushed her thumb over his temple. 'I'm capable of multiple techniques,' she replied. 'A broad variety of…'

She never got to finish that sentence. And she didn't do any more studying that night.