Painting (Data Soong x Reader)
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You and Data had participated in an android-human romantic relationship for three months, ten days, eleven hours, forty minutes, and thirty-seven seconds. Every day was a new experience, testing the waters and exploring your feelings for him and his thoughts about you that he had never had regarding anyone else before.
In two weeks, Data realized that he could enjoy certain forms of affection without being equipped with an emotions chip - holding hands for example. Or using the Holodeck to escape to your favorite spot on Earth Colony II which was a field filled with wildflowers, where you would sit on a picnic blanket and Data would lay with his head on your lap, your fingers absentmindedly playing with his hair as you read him poetry.
Data was fascinated as you tried your best to explain the depth of your feelings for him, showing it through small gestures of affection, like placing a hand on his chair when he was on the bridge. Resting a hand on his shoulder would be considered unprofessional, but by resting your hand on the chair, he could still feel your touch - something he was always acutely aware of and always anticipated when you were both off-duty. You would always greet him with a smile and wrap your arms around his neck when you had time alone and Data would admire your features from afar, wishing that even during your shifts, you could always greet him that way. Although he understood the reasons why it was not a good idea, although he was sure Jean-Luc wouldn't comment on it as the Captain had encouraged him to spend more time with you after your relationship - or experiment - as some lesser crew members called it, became common knowledge throughout the Enterprise.
On more than one occasion you had endured painful shifts during which you were questioned about your relationship with Data and shut down remarks about his incapability to express or feel emotions. You had known Data for two years before you started dating, and in that time you recognized the ways in which he expressed emotions in his own way. And on days like that Data somehow seemed to know you needed him, as he would show up at the end of your shift, even if he still had duties to perform, just to talk about your day. And when he smiled you were able to put it all behind you, as he proved that he could still understand and feel in his own way, even without an emotions chip.
Throughout your relationship, Data had many questions, some of which he would ask Geordi or Deanna. He was particularly interested in the hobbies you partook in during your free time. And painting was one of them.
Data tilted his head to the side, approaching you while you painted on a canvas, music filling the silence in the room. You were unaware he had entered as Data was light-footed by design and when he spoke up after inspecting your painting, you nearly fell off your stool.
"Is that me?"
A gasp left your lips and you clutched onto the stool, trying not to drop the palette that you had balanced on your arm. You looked at the android who appeared to be suppressing a smile at the sight of your shocked expression, sending him a small smile.
"We talked about this."
"I remember. I am still intrigued by how easily startled you can be." He replied.
You stood up from your stool, moving to stand beside him. "It's the field from the Holoprogram."
Depicted in the painting was Data standing in the field of wildflowers and the android noticed that you had painted him with a smile on his lips.
"What do you think?" You asked.
"I have not read many books on painting or hold any knowledge on the -"
"Do you like it?" You interrupted with a smile.
"Like..." Data considered the painting for a moment, slowly nodding his head. "Yes."
You smiled whilst placing the palette and paintbrush in your hands on the table. "You know, art is a great way to express yourself. You should give it a try." You kissed his cheek. "I'm going to get cleaned up." You walked to the bathroom to scrub the paint off your hands and arms and Data watched you leave until the door closed, returning his gaze to the painting. There was something missing and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
When you exited the bathroom, you were in the midst of offering Data one of his favorite beverages when you were called to your station.
"Alright, change of plans. I will be right back, you, stay here." You lifted your hand to your lips, blowing the android a kiss. Data looked at his hand before mimicking the movement and you sent him a smile as you left.
He turned to the painting, looking at the paintbrushes you kept by the easel. He tilted his head to the side as he pondered your words. "Art is a great way to express yourself."
Data picked up a paintbrush, examining the painting for a moment as he pondered what was missing before dipping the brush in a mixture of paints, beginning to fill the void in the painting.
You returned over an hour later and sighed when you saw Data was still in your quarters. "Sorry, something went wrong with the..." You trailed off as you stood beside him, seeing the paint on his clothes. You looked at the painting, seeing he had added another person to it. "Is that me?"
Data nodded. "Yes. I knew there was something," He used air quotes, quoting a word you had explained to him after he brought up the frequency in which you used it, "off," He placed the paintbrush down, "about the painting. It was you."
You stared at him for a moment and Data looked at you when he felt your stare. "Did I upset you? You said art was a form of expression, and I would never visit the field without you."
You shook your head, a smile forming on your lips. "No, I love it." You wrapped your arms around his neck and a smile formed on his lips when you kissed his cheek.
You knew this was his favorite gesture of affection, and at that moment it was the perfect way to explain how you felt. You loved him and although he claimed he could never love as it was an emotion, he understood your theory that he could still care without it. One night when you were struggling to sleep, Data was working beside you as he did most nights, and you entered into a debate about the ways he showed his feelings. And Data understood what you meant. Through small actions, he portrayed how he felt about you, the way he would initiate hand-holding, or the many weeks he had spent searching for a suitable pet name for you, reading your reactions to each one to find which one you favored. The time he spent reading your favorite book and memorizing it for nights when you couldn't sleep and recite it word for word. Small things that showed that, in his way, he cared.
As you stared at the detailed depiction of you in the painting, you could see how Data saw you and felt everything that he felt for you.
You had explained the feeling of being 'in love' to him before and although he reminded you that it was impossible for him to feel any emotion, including love, there was no other word to describe the emotions radiating from the painting of you.
In the painting, Data had shown you smiling back at your depiction of him, hair blowing in the wind, hand resting on his arm.
"Do you like it?" He asked.
You nodded. "I love it."
Data's lips turned upwards and you closed your eyes when he pressed a kiss to your temple, an action that had once shocked you but had become a regular occurrence. His reasoning, he enjoyed the feel of your skin against his lips.
There were times when Data mentioned that without an emotions chip, he could not feel as you do, but you argued that the android had more emotions than he believed. And he showed it all through his actions.
You knew he wanted the emotions chip, to feel how you felt. But you knew that you didn't need a chip to know how he felt about you because he showed you every day, in his own way.
