Where There's Smoke There's Dinner

Posted on Tue Aug 25th, 2026 @ 12:00am by Lieutenant JG Grace MacKenzie 'Sabre' & Lieutenant Zachary Addams

3,021 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: Zach's Quarters
Timeline: Dinnertime

Zach had been in Engineering for some of the day, but had spent most of it running all over the ship, putting out small fires and making sure they survived their trip to the docks. He hadn't really eaten lunch, but had nibbled something off of someone's plate in the mess hall while he repaired a replicator. He should've brought something with him to eat later while he was doing paperwork, but he was focused on working and he wasn't about to lose the good pace he'd been on.

That changed immediately, however, when an alarm suddenly went off in his office. It took him a moment to realize it was basically a smoke alarm. Somewhere on the ship, there was a fire, or at least the start of one. He checked the sensors quickly, and was shocked to see it coming from his quarters. The computer registered a lifeform in there and he didn't know how he knew, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was Grace. He feared she'd been looking at some of his private gear and had set something off.

He grabbed a handheld fire suppressor and accessed the transporters. It wouldn't beam him into his quarters due to the smoke alarm, but it put him right in front. He hit the emergency release on the doors and as smoke spilled into the halls, he rushed in, aiming the suppressor like a weapon, ready to call Sickbay for help.

Thankfully, it was all smoke, no fire, however it was quite a lot of smoke, and the sound of coughing nearby snapped him out of his shock. He quickly reached over to the control panel by his door and adjusted the environmental controls, turning the air filters to maximum and deactivating the power to his kitchen.

Zed turned and grabbed the Grace-shaped figure in the haze and picked her up as she continued to cough, bringing her into his bedroom which, thankfully, had been shut and was smoke free. He laid her down on his bed and let her cough the rest of it out while he sank down to the floor and wiped the soot off of his forehead. "Hey, Gracie?" he said after a moment. "Wanna fill me in?"

Grace kept coughing, the smoke having really gotten inside her. At least she’d been able to smother the fire with a large pot lid, but for a few seconds there she’d been freaking out, but at least it wasn’t nearly as bad now and tears forced out of her carved lines in the soot on her face, but she wasn’t crying from sadness, just irritants in her eyes, “Well, you know,” cough cough, “how Ah owed you dinner one night?” She reached up with one hand and smeared the soot on her face even more, without removing any from either hand or face, “Well, I knew you were really hustling,” cough, hack, “So I figured I’d make it up to you tonight.”

He nodded. "Well...thank you?" he said, laughing and letting out a cough. He looked up and smiled at her. "Love the outfit, though."

Grace sighed as she looked down at her sundress she wore. It was ruined, that was for sure, and she had used all her replicator rations on it specifically for this occasion. Now it was hard to tell where the yellow sundress and her creamy skin for all the smoke that had imbued it and her. The tantalizing cleavage she'd been ready to show him was obscure. "It would have been nicer clean..." She mumbled, "Ah was making fried chicken with baked potatoes and maple glazed carrots," She offered, "But Ah think Ah turned the oil on too high and it caught fire, but Ah was able to put it out."

He reached up and rubbed her knee, and despite the soot, kissed just above it on her thigh. "All right," he said, "you get to the sonic shower and get yourself something smoke-free from my dresser. I am going to inspect the living room and we'll figure out dinner, okay?"

"Okay." She gave him a pathetic smile, "Ah was trying, really Ah was."

"I know, hun," he said, smiling. "And I appreciate the effort. You look beautiful. "He moved up and kissed her then squeezed her thigh playfully. "I'll be right back."

He watched her till she got safely to the bathroom and took a deep breath, stepping back into the living room. The air circulators had done their job and the room was mostly smoke free now, but the scent of smoke was still highly apparent. He checked the black, charred pans on the stove and shook his head, smiling. He went back over to the replicator and put in his order, having them appear already covered, to avoid the smoke spoiling any flavors. He replicated some containers with side dishes as well. He loaded the food onto a tray with a bottle of wine and two glasses, then carefully carried the entire thing into his bedroom. He set the tray down on his dresser, then pulled the top sheet off of his bed and spread it on the floor like a picnic blanket.

Curses came from the bathroom for a few seconds, then settled down after a smack was audible through the door. Another couple minutes and the door opened and Grace stepped back out of the bathroom, back into the smoke-stained yellow sundress, though at least it was clear with the color "Ah tried running the dress through the sonic shower and it wasn't gettin' it all out... Ah used all my replicator credits on this, just for tonight."

Zed gave her a sympathetic smile and walked over to her and kissed her now clean lips. "Do you feel better at least?" he said.

"A bit." Grace gave him a tentative smile, "But it's ruined now, Ah just..." She looked at the floor, "Ah was tryin' to look pretty for you. Now? Now Ah've got nothin' else to wear for you."

"Well you absolutely look pretty," he said. "Plus you put on that amazing dress." he gave her a cheeky grin. "Well you're welcome to anything in my dresser you feel will work for you," he said.

"Are you sure?" She lifted the dress from her exposed chest and sniffed at it again, "Yeah, this just...isn't gonna work." She walked over to his dresser with a glance at the bed and the spread on it, again feeling a pang of embarrassment that her own dinner she'd planned on making was also ruined. "You sure?"

"Very sure," he said. "Better you be comfortable."

She opened the middle drawer and found a bunch of t-shirts already stocking the drawer and pulled one out, letting the fabric fall. It would almost go down to her knees, maybe not quite. On the front, it had the Klingon symbol and the words 'Klingons Do It With Honor'. She smirked at it. It was grey, but still.." She clutched it to herself and turned back to him, "Um... Should Ah use the refresher, or can Ah trust you to turn around and not peek?"

Zed blushed a bit as he realized he'd been staring a bit and he gave her a cheeky grin. "Do I have to?"

She made the turning around gesture and as soon as he did, she pulled the sundress off over her head and sighed again at it. All those resources and she'd have to recycle it. She balled it up and tossed it into a corner and again looked at the front of the t-shirt before pulling it on over her head and tugging it down, to where it was a bit more than halfway down her thighs. She'd have to be a bit careful how she sat, but that was only through dinner, she told herself, then it wouldn't matter... Right?

Zed was usually a man of some self-control, but he was surprised by the thud her dress made hitting the floor and he glanced around. His eyes went wide as he got more of a view than he was meant to, but far less than he dreamed of. He turned back around quickly, but the image had been seared into his brain, not that he would ever complain.

She turned around again and cleared her throat, "All right, you can turn back around, Ah'm decent again."

"You're always decent," Zed said, "now you're fantastic." He grinned and laughed at the shirt she picked. "Good choice," he said. He looked down at himself and realized he was almost as bad. "Actually...one moment." He walked quickly to his bathroom and took a moment to divest his uniform and let the shower de-soot him as well. He came back into the room with a towel around him and pulled a few things out of his dresser. "You may want to avert your eyes, lest you see something shocking," he said, smirking and keeping his back to her as he began to quickly dress.

She quickly spun away from him and started at the wall, trying to find a blemish on it, but turned her head ever so slightly, catching a glimpse of his mostly naked form before resuming her inspection of the wall.

Once he was put together, he turned around to face her and smiled. "All right, as we were. He walked back to his bed and picked up the containers, putting the food out on the blanket on the floor and sat down. "And now," he pulled the tops off, showing the fried chicken, potatoes and carrots he'd replicated. "Dinner, take two."

Grace giggled at the sight and shook her head gently as she very carefully held the shirt down as she sat, "Ah see that you decided to do what Ah was tryin' to do, but cheatin' instead." She reached out and rubbed his forearm to show she was just joking, "Ah think it woulda been better if Ah'd done it right, but Ah guess Ah shouldn't really try. Ah just found ways to get it all wrong and almost burned your place down all because Ah wanted to celebrate."

"Well, next time we--celebrate?" he said, looking up at her. "Celebrate what?"

"Well, a couple days after that fight with the station Ah was havin' a talk with Snowflake, that's Fubuki, the Deputy Air Boss." Grace made a gesture, "And apparently what Ah did by flyin' my fighter into the station and blowin' up that weapon was important enough that Ah deserved to get a promotion to Lieutenant junior grade, on the proviso that Ah don't do anythin' that stupid again. We did that over a couplea drinks of... Somethin', Ah don't know, but yeah, Ah'm now Lieutenant jag gee Grace MacKenzie."

Zed lit up with a grin. "That's fantastic!" he said. He leaned over and grabbed her, pulling her to him and kissing her. When he finally let her go, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry," he said. "That dress put me in a kissing mood. But really, that is fantastic; you deserve it."

Grace didn't lean back after the kiss, all thoughts of dinner long gone as she smiled brightly up into his eyes, "It was meant to. Actually, it was meant to put you in more than just a kissin' mood, but only after gettin' you all filled up with good southern cookin'." She leaned into him, closing the distance for another kiss, a longer one, "Ah never thought Ah'd get this far, survive this long, but Ah guess Ah'm just excited."

Zed leaned in as well, debating about throwing dinner aside completely as he kissed her again, keeping his hand on the small of her back, resisting the strong urge to move it lower. He kept her against him and continued to kiss her until she finally pulled back slightly and they came up for air. "You should be excited," he said, finally. "A couple more crazy stunts and you'll outrank me." He gave her a wink.

"Ah think Ah'll be happy as a jay gee for a good long time." Grace admitted, "What Ah did almost got me killed and Ah'm not keen to repeat that sort of thing. Not when Ah've finally got you where right where Ah want you." She was steeling her nerve for this and edged closer to him if it were possible, "And Ah'm really wantin' to celebrate proper-like with you about this." She reached for his hand and placed it on her bare knee carefully, "Real proper-like."

Zed rubbed her knee affectionately and gently moved it to the side of her thigh. "I promise to be a proper gentleman throughout," he said, kissing her softly. "Assuming you want me to," he teased before kissing her cheek, then moving to her neck, his hand gently rubbing her thigh, moving under her tshirt towards the side of her hip.

Her breathing increased as her heart began to race while she exposed her neck to him even more, though her body began to tense. Grace closed her eyes as his kisses moved down her jawline and to her neck. His hand was finally on her hip, fingers gripping it gently and moving her until she was fully up against him with her arm around him to steady her.

Zed felt her heartbeat under his lips, her breathing by his ear, the soft skin of her bare hip on his hand...and her muscles as she tensed under him. He immediately paused his hand's movement, keeping it rested on her hip and moved up to kiss her ear. "Why don't we pause and enjoy dinner?" he whispered diplomatically. "There's no rush."

She hesitated and then swung her leg up over him to plant herself in his lap. resting her weight on him, "Dinner can wait." She said to him, lowering herself to his level, "Ah... Wanna try this before Ah..." She swallowed "Lose my nerve to do it." She kissed him hard, placing her hands on his shoulders to hold him in place.

"All right," he said, trying to sound calm about it. He kissed her back, his hands gently squeezing her thighs before he put his arms around her and let his hands go down her back to her rear, cupping it gently as he kissed her.

She ground her hips into him in a very inexpert way as she maintained liplock. Her arms were around him, trying to press into him as much as she could. She knew she was locking up but kept going, trying to push through it.

Zed squeezed her rear gently, letting her move at her own pace. He wanted to rip the tshirt off of her, but held himself back, determined to make this as pleasant for her as he could. He could feel her stiffen and finally, albeit reluctantly, moved his hands up and wrapped them around her, holding her tight. "Breathe, Gracie," he said. "It's okay; just breathe and stay with me."

Her chin dropped to his shoulder and she shuddered without releasing him, but neither did she continue on as she had been. Her lips pressed against his shoulder as she tried not to cry, but the tears came nonetheless. "God dammit." She muttered into his shoulder, "Damn it, damn it, damn it.."

"None of that," Zed said, quietly. "Focus on the positives."

"Positive would be me and you finally gettin' laid together." She grumbled, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, "But let's see if you can figure something out?"

"Well, for one, I just had a fantastic time," he said, grinning at her. "I got to give that adorable butt of yours a squeeze, and it was heaven. You have, once again, proven you're a fantastic kisser, and you're still in my arms." He gave her a squeeze and another kiss. "Why don't we eat something and let our emotions settle, and get more used to physical touch, and when we're done, I have some thoughts on where we can go from here, if you trust me. Okay?"

She leaned back in his lap and reached up to wipe the tears away with a hand as she gave a laugh at his comment, "Ah'm glad you like my ass." She giggled again, "But Ah trust you, completely, Zed, more than anyone else in this galaxy, universe even. Maybe Ah should just let you run the whole Grace show?"

"Well, how about we start small. I'll suggest three things, and you trust me to let them happen. Number one." He beckoned her back to him.

Grace nodded and leaned back over to him.

He kissed her softly and gently, keeping his hands on her back. When they finally pulled apart again, he smiled. "That was fantastic. Now, number two, we eat dinner, you stay within arm's reach, I'll keep a hand on your knee, and we talk about some things that make us happy, like your promotion."

"Ah think we can do that pretty well, but what will number three be?" She asked as she finally got off his lap, the relief she felt making her feel guilty as she did so.

Zed put a hand on her knee and squeezed it gently, then rubbed her thigh a bit before resting it back on her knee. "When I think of it, I'll let you know," he said, chuckling. "I'm making this up as I go along after all."

"So." She swallowed hard as she looked at the dinner set out in front of him, "This definitely smells better than what Ah did. Eventually Ah'll get that right as well, then you can be proud of me for that too."

"Honestly?" he said, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "I can't cook well either. The kitchen came with the room." He kissed her cheek and sat up, handing her a plate and utensils. "I guess we'll have to learn together."

A post by:

Zachary Addams
Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

and

Grace MacKenzie
Fighter Pilot
USS Tokyo

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