#emotion chip!data

You could barely recognize the Academy as you approached it with Deanna and Beverly beside you. You had beamed just beyond the building, deep enough in the gardens to appreciate the splendor of it all, “to make an entrance” as Deanna had put it, and the building was even more done up than you lot were. Boothsby had worked some serious magic, it would seem, because each and every flower bed was full to bursting with beautiful, vibrant flowers illuminated by garden lights. Along the walkways were strings of softly-glowing yellow lights, and around every door into the Academy were a myriad of floral strands and bouquets. Music and the sounds of laughter and conversation drifted out through the open doors. Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Geordi were standing outside the doors, talking animatedly with two other officers you didn’t recognize. Upon seeing the three of you approach, they politely excused themselves and came to greet you. Geordi greeted you with a friendly hug and a warm smile. “You sure clean up well, Y/N.”

You chuckled and nudged his shoulder. “I could say the same to you, Geordi.” He, like most of the male officers in attendance, was dressed in his formal uniform. “Where’s your date?”

Geordi smiled and gestured a short ways away in conversation with a scientist you recognized from your time visiting DS9 this past month. “They’ve been at it for nearly half an hour now. If I were a lesser man, I might be jealous.” You chuckled with him but it died quickly when you began scanning the crowd. Geordi, as if reading your mind, gently patted your shoulder. “He’s around here somewhere. You should head on in. The buffet is to die for.”

You nodded and hugged him quickly before splitting from the group. The inside of the building had been decked out even better than the outside, red and gold carpets laid out and blue tapestries and banners hung overhead. From where you stood atop the grand staircase, you could see nearly everything from below. Groups of people milled about along the edges of the room, and directly across from the staircase was the band, playing a jaunty dance tune. In the center of the room, a few dozen people danced, many of them wearing flashy and fine outfits. You swallowed hard and looked down at your dress, smoothing it down nervously before you set off down the stairs.

As you meandered your way through the crowd and each moment that passed, you grew a little more nervous, a little more disheartened. True, Data hadn’t officially asked you to come to this ball, but you’d hoped he would’ve sought you out and ask you at least for one dance by now. You found yourself at a buffet table, a plate of various finger-foods and desserts in your hands, completely enraptured by a Trill woman who was the very epitome of beauty and grace. She was telling a rapturous tale of adventure to the crowd which had grown to nearly 10 people around her, all of you hanging onto her every word when she stopped mid-sentence to smile brightly. “Worf!” she yelled.

You blinked and looked in the direction she was, surprised to see your former crewmate making his way over to where the crowd was situated, looking very uncomfortable by the amount of people in the room. The small gathering broke away, some people grumbling at the lost end of the story, leaving just you and the Trill woman standing to receive the Klingon. “I have been looking everywhere for you,” he grumbled to her.

She gave him a dazzling grin that made even your knees weak and leaned in to place a warm kiss to his cheek. Though he glowered at her, you could tell he thoroughly enjoyed it, which only added to your confusion. “I’m sorry. I was storytelling.”

Worf shook his head but, upon seeing you, he let a small smile touch his face. “Ensign Y/L/N. It is good to see you. With whom are you here?”

You blinked and smiled warmly. “It’s Lieutenant now, actually. Technically, I’m on my own, but I was hoping to catch a dance or two with Data.”

Worf quirked a brow but nodded. “Congratulations.” Whether on the promotion or the formation of the relationship between you and Data that had occurred after Worf left for DS9, you weren’t sure.

“Aren’t you gonna introduce us, Worf?”

He jumped at the Trill woman’s words and swallowed. “I, uh. Yes. Lieutenant Y/L/N, this is—”

“Jadzia Dax,” she purred, her hand outstretched to you. “Worf is my husband.”

You took her hand, mouth agape. “Your… Oh. Oh wow. Congratulations, Worf! I had no idea!”

He tilted his chin up in an obvious display of pride. “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Worf, there you are!” Riker appeared out of seemingly nowhere. “Listen, we’ve got some guys over here who want to hear about that thing you did with the bat’leth and the Risan moonberries, would you mind?”

Worf looked back and forth from you and Jadzia, struggling to find a way to say no, but Jadzia smirked and waved him off. “Go, go.” Turning to you with another knee-wobbling grin, she purred, “Maybe the Lieutenant and I might share a dance?”

“Oh, I—” you started to protest.

“Splendid!” The plate was moved hastily out of your hands before you were dragged out into the very middle of the dancefloor just as the song began to change into a simple waltz in a 4/4 time. You were blushing furiously as Jadzia’s hands slipped easily about your waist and down along your arm to hold your hand. She led you easily, her steps smooth and fluid which more than made up for your stumbling. She grinned at you, her eyes alight with excitement. “You’ve known Worf long, then?” she asked.

You stumbled at the question and had to speak haltingly, your brain fighting to focus on words and feet at the same time. “For about… five years…” You winced as you stepped on her toe, but she didn’t seem to mind. “I was transferred… to the Enterprise… two years before… he left.”

“I see. It’s a shame we’ve never met. You seem fun.”

You blushed under her stare which made her laugh. The song was beginning to come to an end, but just before the last phrase began, Jadzia stopped rather abruptly and turned. You followed her look and grinned brightly, seeing Data standing there, looking very smart in a black tuxedo and bowtie. “May I cut in?” he asked.

Jadzia nodded and stepped back, smiling graciously. “By all means.”

Data took your hand in his and slipped his arm around your waist, pulling you closer than necessary. His lips moved down to press against your cheek in a warm kiss before trailing along to your ear where he whispered, “You look… breathtaking.”

You swallowed hard at the tone in his voice and pressed just a bit closer. “I could say the same about you.”

The next song began. It was alien to you, something you’d never learned before, and for a brief moment you panicked. Data could see the fear in your face and placed a kiss to your forehead. “This is a Denobulan dance reminiscent of a Terran tango. I will lead.”

Except… he stepped away. As you looked around, you saw that most of the other couples were mirroring it, the lead stepping back from the other. You opened your mouth to ask what was about to happen when a string instrument chimed in in a rather sultry way, and Data and the leads stepped in beat. He circled slowly around you, and though you doubted it was part of the song, you could feel his hungry eyes roving over your body like a hunter stalking prey. It was slow, languid, step two three step two three. Then, with a sudden molto crescendo, Data snapped around to the front of you, just barely within arm’s reach, and he reached up slowly, his fingers ghosting along the shape of your nose and across your lips, catching the lower one ever the slightest. You found yourself following his hand as he pulled it away, but the music moved again, and Data slipped closer to you, your bodies nearly flush but not touching. His hands followed the length of your arms, close enough to feel the disturbance of the air left behind his movements, until his hands mirrored yours at your side. “Do as I do,” he breathed, and you found yourself nodding, unable to tear yourself away from his impassioned gaze.

He lifted one hand slowly, brought it up towards your shoulder and curved it back down to your side. You followed his movements easily, and again as he mirrored the movement with his other hand. The music once again changed with a shift not just in volume but in time signature to something a little louder, much faster, split into twos instead of the previous threes.

His movements snapped quickly with the change, one hand slipping into yours, the other coming up to cup your cheek as he pulled you along into a quick set of steps. You stumbled after him, but he did not look away from your face for even a moment, so neither did you. Unsure of what to do with your unoccupied hand, you rested it against his elbow, and from the way his grin twitched, you could tell it was the right move. His thumb brushed against your cheek and down across your lips again in what you doubted was part of the actual song (though, with Denobulans, who knows?) and his eyes followed the movement hungrily, his grin faltering just the slightest while his teeth dragged across his own lip.

His other hand tightened ever the slightest on yours before he slipped from your grasp again, the beat of the song returning to one rather like the first. You stumbled, breathless, and looked around bewildered as did several other dancers. As you righted yourself, he stepped in from your back and you had to stifle a moan as you felt his arms slip about your waist. His lips met the crook of your neck as the two of you stepped slowly, slinking, and his hands roamed across your hips. You leaned against him, putty in his skilled hands, your hands resting easily atop his. He kissed up your neck just below your ear and practically purred. “I will never tire of the way you feel,” he whispered.

You shivered and leaned your head back against his shoulder, blushing furiously. Your mouth opened to whisper his name but his grip on you changed, his hand sliding along your far arm and tugging you into a spin away from him. You stood apart for nearly two whole beats, eyes locked on one another before he slid his way back into your embrace and met you with a fiery kiss, his hand upon the back of your head as the song came to a close. Applause broke out along the ballroom, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care as your arms slipped about Data’s shoulders to pull him closer.

After a long moment, he stepped back, chuckling at your pout, and brought your knuckles to his lips. “I hope that this was a sufficient way to make up for my previous absence.”

You chuckled, squeezing his hand slightly. “Hm, gee, Data, I don’t know. I mean, you did keep me waiting a long time.”

He affected a faux-horrified look and stepped close, already moving in time to the subtle song the band had taken up. “Perish the though, my love. Please, tell me how I can make up for this deficit.”

“Hmm. I can think of a few things. Though, they’ll have to wait.” You cast a glance about the ballroom, taking note of the surprising amount of eyes set upon the two of you. Leaning in, you lowered your voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I don’t think our present company would be too thrilled by the um… dress code.”

Data let out a hearty laugh that set your heart soaring and tugged you closer to him, practically hugging you as you swayed. “Once we return to the ship, you will have to tell me more.”

You smiled, laying your head against his shoulder. “Oh, I will.” After a few more minutes, you sighed contentedly. “Data?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

The fish drifted lazily past the window, illuminated by the lights from all around, the sounds of centuries’ old melodies drifting lazily in the background. You let out a contented sigh, a lazy grin spread across your face, pride in your heart. This program had taken you weeks to develop, your progress impeded by the heavily degraded source material, but the end result was…breathtaking, if you do say so yourself. The computer trilled a door bell, startling you a bit, but you cleared your throat and responded with, “Computer, open the door.” You turned in time to catch the fascination on Data’s face as he took in the surroundings. Shoving to your feet, you turned a grin to him and gestured towards the room. “Well? What d’you think?”

He cast his golden eyes about the room, studying the details and dilapidation before coming to stand near you, his eyes moving to watch the fish pass by the window. “It is… certainly detailed.”

You chuckled and folded your arms across from your chest. “It’s from an old video game from Earth called Bioshock.” He looked at you with a raised brow, silently asking you to explain. “It takes place in the 1960s. Your character is in a plane crash which strands them in the middle of the Atlantic, and they find a sort of door that takes them here, to the underwater city of Rapture. It’s a dystopia now after a sort of drug-like epidemic turned the denizens volatile, and the character has to make their way out of the city and back to the surface.”

He blinked at you and cast another glance around the room. “I… see. And this is… fun?”

“Well, not yet. I haven’t gotten around to programming the actual game. But look how pretty it is!” You gestured broadly out the window at the city, the glowing lights and signs illuminating the many spires and sighed happily.

“It does look very well rendered. My compliments, Lieutenant.”

You ducked a blush by moving to sweep your hair behind your ear and flashed a grin at him. “Why, thank you, Commander. I’m working on a deviation from it, actually, just a world exploration. The city outside goes for—”

“La Forge to Commander Data.”

Data gave you a rueful smile which you conceded to with a nod. After a quick tap to his comm, he looked back out towards the window. “Go ahead, Geordi.” You watched his reflection in the window, the way his hand drifted back to his side, the way his lips formed his words. He seemed too lost in studying the various life forms you programmed into the deep beyond to notice your roving eyes.

“Data, could you come down to Engineering? I need a second set of eyes on this analysis.”

“Acknowledged, Georid. I am on my way.” He looked at you with another guilty smile. “My apologies, Lieutenant.”

“Oh, no, please.” You flashed him a brilliant grin to hide your dismay at his departure. “I’ve got a few more things to work on in here before my own shift starts in a few hours. Maybe I’ll see you down there,” you purred.

He studied you a long moment before tilting his head ever the slightest in one final nod. “Yes, it is a possibility. Until later, Lieutenant.” With that, he turned and left back through the archway, leaving you alone in your program.

With a wistful sigh, you turned to look back out at the ocean you created and rubbed your face. “Leave it to me to fall in love not only with my best friend but with an android,” you grumbled.

You spent the next three hours hard at work on your creation, the first half hour or so of the game being put into it. The work was going so smoothly that you almost missed the computer reminding you that you had only fifteen minutes to get down to Engineering, like you’d asked it to. Though you were loathe to leave, you jogged quickly back to your cabin to wash your face and put your hair up before darting down to Engineering. As you stepped through the door, you couldn’t help glancing around, nor could you help the sudden wave of disappointment that hit you when you noticed that neither Geordi nor Data were there. ‘Oh well,’ you thought dismally. You’d see them sooner or later.

It was a routine day for once. No near explosions, no near ejections of the warp coil, not even so much as a stray bit of unusual radiation. It was a nice change of pace from the past few weeks which had brought quite a bit of trouble for the ship, and you allowed your mind to wander back to your holoprogram as you worked. From there, it didn’t take long for your mind to wander back to Data, and a smile touched your lips as you replayed his compliment in your mind a few times. So slow was this day at work that nobody seemed to notice when you zoned completely out for a solid hour and forgot to track the computer’s readings, the numbers across the screen replaced by the way Data’s eyes seemed to glow against the lights of Rapture. And then it was back to your plans for the program. You wanted to include an exploration feature for Rapture, with a glass-cased bathysphere you could pilot around out in the ocean. Just cozy enough for two… You got so lost in your daydream, in imagining pale hands along your body, in your hair, slipping your clothes off you, that you barely recognized Geordi’s voice coming across the room in time to snap back to attention and make it seem like you were working. He paused when he saw you and quirked a brow. “Y/L/N, what are you still doing here?”

You frowned slightly. “How d’you mean?”

“Well, your shift was over nearly an hour ago.”

You blinked and looked at your screen. “Oh.” He was right. How deep had you been in that daydream? Clearing your throat and turning your head to hide a blush, you stood from the terminal. “I guess I lost track of time. Thanks, Geordi. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that, you were off, darting your way back up to the holodeck to get some more work done.

Some hours later into your work, the door chirped, and you told the computer to open it again. You had your back to the archway, and you were so deep into the algorithms going into the computer that you didn’t turn to look to see who it was, didn’t even care that you’d removed the jacket of your uniform and were in just your pants and a tank top. “Whossat?” you mumbled.

“The program is showing considerable improvement.”

You squeaked and spun around to face Data, but he had his back to you, observing one of various plasmid bottles you’d written into existence. Clearing your throat, you looked back down at the screen. “Thank you. I’m pretty excited.”

“Lieutenant, I wanted to…”

You blinked and turned towards him. “Yes?”

But Data was facing you now, an expression upon his face that made your heart jump to your throat. His eyes were widened a bit as they roved over your body, his lips parted in the beginnings of a wide grin, and the way he stood was far more relaxed than normal. The grin burst across his face the same time his eyes snapped back up to your face, and he breathed out a soft, “Y/N.”

“D-Data? What are you—” You squealed, then, because Data darted across the room to you and swept you up in his arms, laughing heartily as he spun you around. “Data!”

He set you back down and looked at you, his golden eyes flicking across your face as if seeing it for the first time. “I never realized…” he breathed.

You blushed furiously and set your uniform straight. “Wh—What?”

A pale hand reached up and tucked a stray bit of hair behind your ear. “How beautiful you are.”

Your eyes went wide and your blush burned warmer. “I… What? Data, what’s going on?”

The hand moved to brush your cheek gently, and his eyes followed the movement hungrily. “My… my emotion chip has been repaired. And I…” He stepped closer as if unconsciously, his other hand moving to ghost across your arm, barely touching. “I’ve made a discovery.”

You swallowed thickly, struggling to keep your breath let alone your voice steady as you looked back up at him. “O-Oh? And uh, what um, what discovery is that, Data?”

His thumb swept across your lower lip, his head ducking closer. “I find myself preoccupied with thoughts of you. You elicit an emotion from me, something completely unique to any other person. It… It is consuming, as if the world around us is fading away, and it is just you and me.”

You watched his lips as he formed his words then looked up into his eyes and moved to press your hand against his cheek. You reveled for a moment at its smoothness, as you always did when the situation called for you to touch him, but this was different. The way he looked at you, the way he inched just the smallest bit closer, it set an electricity along your skin. “Data, I…” You shook your head and stretched up on your toes to press your lips to his, your arms snaking around his neck. A soft whimper escaped your throat as his arms went about your waist and pulled you flush against him, his head tilting to deepen the kiss.

He pulled back after a moment and let you catch your breath, a fascinated and awestruck grin on his face as he looked down at you. “Yes, I am sure now. I love you,” he whispered.

You beamed so brightly it nearly hurt and pulled him down for another kiss. Against his lips, you purred a soft, “I love you, too, Data.”

You squealed as he lifted you against him with one arm with ease, your legs going about his waist for support, and he carried you over to the desk near the window. He set you down with great ease and moved his mouth down to your neck, placing feather-light kisses that made you giggle. He paused, his cool breath ghosting across your skin, and whispered your name hoarsely.

You ran one of your hands down across his firm chest and managed to whisper out a soft, “Mm?” in your haze.

“I do not mean to… overstep.” He pulled back enough to look at you, a cautious earnestness in his eyes as he took in your flushed expression, your parted lips. “I must ask, is this… ok?”

You bit back a chuckle and nodded eagerly, moving your hand through his hair. “Computer,” you said. He raised a brow at you, and you grinned back. “Lock the door, please.” The grin that broke across his face with the chirping confirmation of the computer made your heart flutter.

He brushed your hair back over your ear, his eyes glued to the movement before he crushed his lips back against yours, his hands moving to the hem of your tank top. In the flash it took to get the fabric off, he moved his lips back to your neck and nipped ever so softly at your skin. Breathless, you pushed the hem of his shirt up and off his body, and were delighted to see the shirt underneath come off with it. You bit your lip as your eyes roved over his marble chest, and gingerly you reached to touch his skin. Data moved his hands down to the hem of your pants and placed another kiss at your neck, his hands paused as if asking permission yet again. You purred and nodded, leaning back against your elbows upon the desk. You watched as he slowly, carefully undid the fastenings and began to pull your pants off, his eyes glued to it as if savoring the experience. You blushed under his hungry gaze and lifted a finger, beckoning him to you.

He met your lips fervently, his hand drifting down to hold your hip, the other moving to your breast. You hooked your knee up to his waist and pulled him closer to you and couldn’t help the gasping moan that you gave when the hand moved between your thighs. A finger teased at your entrance for a moment, drawing slow circles in your wetness but not going in. It wasn’t until you let out a whimper and whispered a trembling, “Please, Data,” against his lips that he allowed the finger to go in.

His lips left yours and trailed warm kisses down your neck and across your shoulder before coming to rest at a nipple. You gripped his hair, clutching desperately as he licked ever so lightly at your bud. The finger inside you moved slowly, thrusting languidly into you as if he were trying to draw more desperate whimpers from you. And as his thumb brushed against your clit and you gasped a breathless, “Data,” he froze in his ministrations.

You watched as he slowly lifted his head and shivered under the heat of his gaze as his eyes roved your face. You were about to ask what was wrong when he scooped you into his arms, turning so that he was sat beneath you on the desk. His hands moved across your back, feeling the shape of your muscles, one moving down to grip the curve of your ass and the other drifting up to hold your hair. He pulled your mouth down to his and nipped playfully at your lip, squeezing your ass at the same time. It occurred to you then that his pants had disappeared, cast away in the fluidity of the switch, and you could feel him nestled against you, warmer than you’d expected. You moved your arms around his shoulders lifted your hips over him and settled slowly down onto him.

He fit so perfectly in you, as if he’d been designed with you in mind. You tilted your head back in a moan as he filled you, as his hands traveled along your body, as his mouth moved to suck at your nipple. He held you closer against him, and your hips lifted again, moving slow against him. It was soft, gentle, two years of waiting urging both of you to savor it, to savor each other. His mouth trailed along to your other nipple and the hand under your ass, after giving one final appreciative squeeze, ran along your thigh, his touch leaving electricity in its wake, until he brought it up over your hip and to your nub. Your deep moan seemed to spur him on again because his other arm snaked down around your waist, holding you firmly as he abandoned your breasts in favor of your mouth again.

Perhaps it was the two years of waiting, but the combination of him in you, upon you, around you, it was quickly too much. You could feel the edge coming, the heat in your stomach urging your muscles to tighten around him, and you whimpered against his lips. “Data, I’m—”

He broke the kiss and leaned back, hungry eyes watching your face as his teeth bit at his own lip. With a sharp thrust into you and a calculated brush of your nub, you were undone. As the ecstasy flooded through you, your body tensed, a cry torn from your throat, and you gripped tightly at him.

As you came down from your high, you slumped breathlessly against him, your forehead upon his shoulder. His hands rubbed delicately along your thighs, across your back. His lips pressed a soft kiss against your shoulder before turning towards your ear. “I love you,” he whispered, barely more than a breath, and he kissed the corner of your chin.

You grinned and buried your face into his neck, your arms dropping around his waist. “And I love you, Data,” you whispered back. Gently, as if he were scared to hurt you, he pulled out of you and cradled you to him to lie the two of you back. You pressed into his side and laid your head on his shoulder and breathed a contented sigh.

The two of you lay like that for a long time, not speaking, Data’s fingers trailing delicately along your skin as he held you, the two of you watching the bioluminescent ocean life drift lazily outside the window. Finally, after almost an hour, he spoke up again. “It really is a beautiful program.”

You smirked. “Wait until I get the bathysphere exploration sub-program running. I think you and I will… really enjoy that one.”