Bridgebuilder

Killing Time

"You- your shirt is in the cleaner." She stood beside the cleaner embedded in the wall of her room, the lid open, a curious sort of shock in her voice that carried over to wide eyes that glared at Alex sitting on the bed..

"Yeah, my jumpsuit is in there too." He didn't look up from reviewing the handful of fixes the diagnostics recommended for the drive, and honestly he hadn't thought much of it... They were sleeping together, after all. Mixing clothes in the cleaner hadn't seemed like that big a jump. Plus his cleaner was inoperative as its function was tied to the computer core he'd pulled from his room to calculate their impending waveride.

Her jaw worked, still a bit bewildered. "It is inappropriate!"

"It is?" He looked up from his tablet, startled by the severity of the look she was shooting his direction before realization dawned upon him, "oh. This is a Tsla'o thing, isn't it?"

That was, perhaps, not the best way to put it. Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, large fuzzy ears and antenna pulled down tight against her head. "Yes, it is our way. Males and females do not mix their clothing when it is being washed."

"Huh." Alex scooted over and looked into the cleaner, a sliver of grey showing among the black cloth before he reached in and plucked the shirt out. His jumpsuit came next, set over his shoulder. "Didn't know. I just... every girlfriend I've had was wearing my clothes around by the time we were sharing a living space. Don't worry, it won't happen again."

Carbon considered that for a long second, leaning in with wide eyes studying him as he folded the shirt. She waved a hand dismissively. "It is fine, I may have overreacted."

"You sure? I think I've got enough to get... by with." His words petered out as he noticed the intensely expectant look on her face, the social trespass of the cleaner set aside for the time being.

"Do you really think of me like that?"

Alex reviewed what he'd just been saying. Girlfriend? Did that even cover aliens? Probably. He was sure the dictionary definition didn't have any restrictions for other sapient species. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I do."

"Could you say it?"

"You're my girlfriend?"

Carbon nodded slowly, not quite satisfied. "As a statement?"

He grinned at the request, "you're my girlfriend."

Carbon's face melted into a sublime smile, eyes sparkling happily in the cabin's lights. She didn't say anything as she got up and hugged him with a gentle kiss on his cheek before resting her head on his neck with a content sigh.

This should have tipped him off, but he was still surprised when she came to breakfast later that morning wearing one of his Civilian Pilot Program t-shirts, a jumpsuit with the sleeves tied around her waist, and cuffs rolled up to her ankles even though she was still wearing boots. It probably would have worked better with gravity, she was practically swimming in the large shirt. She had that look like she was getting away with something again, too.

He suspected that she was, in some way. She had a brief window to elude her duties as Lan - a vacation because there was nothing else she could do just yet. From what Carbon had shown him, she had spent her life earning it.

So, he indulged it as well. "Hang on, that's not going to work like that." He said, gesturing for her to come closer as he got up from the table.

Carbon started to protest, even as she approached. "I am just-"

Alex took hold of the t-shirt and pulled it tight around her waist, eliciting a surprised peep from her as she stiffened, not expecting this. He folded all the spare fabric up, very studiously not mentioning he learned how to do this from his last girlfriend, and tucked it into the waist of her jumpsuit-turned-pants. "No loose clothes while working in the shop or performing maintenance on the ship." He added with a cheerful smile as he tightened the arms of the jumpsuit down and added a second knot to keep them snug while they were acting as a belt, and hiding the excess sleeves under it.