Realignment

Posted on Wed Aug 26th, 2026 @ 3:46am by Lieutenant Zachary Addams & Chief Petty Officer Alexis Aenera

2,184 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: Alexis' Quarters
Timeline: Day after Zach & Lexi & Zed & Gracie &

Zach walked down the hallway, out of uniform and dressed modestly. He had a bouquet in his arms and what he hoped was an apologetic look in his eyes. He stopped outside of Alexis' quarters and pressed the chime, praying her roommates weren't home.

It was about a minute later that the door slid open and Alexis stood in front of him, absolutely not in uniform, but in comfortable clothes that had been hastily thrown on. Her eyes bored into his, then down to the flowers in his arms where they widened slightly before she narrowed them again, then back up to his again. Clearly she was considering what to do or what to say.

She stood there for far longer than was normally polite, then sighed and turned to walk back in, "You may as well come in." She said over her shoulder.

A win is a win, no matter how small, he thought, following her in. As the doors closed behind him, he cleared his throat self-consciously. "I wanted to apologize for what happened the other night, and I wanted to explain."

Alexis gestured at the flowers as she walked to the replicator, "That much was perfectly clear." She punched in a few commands and a vase with some water in it appeared in front of her. She grabbed it as she turned back around and threw her chin towards the table in front of the couch, "You did your research, I presume? Or just a lucky guess?"

"Research," he said, placing the bouquet of hyacinth flowers in the vase. He'd specifically searched for flowers to represent sorrow and rebirth, a chance to rekindle their friendship and show her he was sorry, and he'd replicated them a dark-purple to match her eyes. No point in making a gesture if he wasn't going to lean into it, although he was getting dangerously low on replicator rations. "I didn't want you thinking I was half-assing this.'

She sat down in one of the single chairs and pulled her legs up underneath her as she took another long look at the flowers, "All right. So, are you even allowed to be here right now? I'm sure your little girly there had plenty to say about me after I left."

"Actually she had very little to say once we actually talked about you," he said. "Needless to say, you are definitely not on her Christmas card list, but she was rather upset by the fact that she agreed with you."

"She did what?" Alexis leaned to inspect his face, looking for any sign of falsehood and finding absolutely none, "What do you mean?"

"That you were satisfying a need of mine that she couldn't," he said, quietly. "That bothered her on an extremely personal level, but we talked it over."

The Roman leaned back and exhaled deeply, "Well, at least she has a bit of brains between her ears to be able to see the obvious. So, then... What now?"

Zach gave her a look but didn't press the matter...yet. "Now, you and I need to have a talk about the status quo, primarily if you want it to continue."

"That's not up to me, Zach, that's between you and her." Lexi raised her hands, "Which means I'm probably out of the picture, fuck." She shook her head, "Well, I can say it was good while it lasted."

Zach shook his head and held up a hand. "No, I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. She's agreeing to the status quo, with a few minor changes. Evidently she believes that you and I taking our 'energy' out on each other will keep me from straying to other women and leaving her. To be honest, I was a bit insulted that she's convinced I'll go the way of her high school boyfriends, but I understand where the fear is coming from, so that's for another time." He sighed and sat back, crossing his legs. "So I would like to know your thoughts on where we stand, and your feelings about what's gone on between us."

"As I've said before, I'm not in it for the emotional content." Alexis said, "I'm quite happy being the one on the side getting all of the fun parts of you while she handles the heavy emotional side of things. I've got no idea why she's playing you low and slow, Zach, something's wrong with that girl, but if you're good with her, I'm not going to criticize who you fall for." She lowered her feet to the floor, "I'll take what I can get."

Zach sighed and drummed his fingers on he knee. "All right," he said. "She's asked that you not spend the night, which we've rarely done so I don't see that being a problem. She's also in agreement with you that there's no emotional connection other than what we already feel for each other, and that I prioritize her and respect her feelings if she asks me to stop. Other than that, you can 'take what you get' as much as we wish."

"You mean we went through all that shit last night for NOTHING?" She emphasized the last word loudly, "Goddammit! I could just go strangle her right now!"

Zach was doing his best not to get upset but it was showing more and more on his face. "Actually, last night was rather important for her. It mattered a lot to me too." He stood up and smoothed his shirt, turning to the door. "Thank you for seeing me. I won't take any more of your time."

"Wait, wait!" Alexis scrambled to her own feet and touched his elbow, but nothing more, "Look, I'm frustrated from last night, I'm not used to getting interrupted right in the middle of things." Finally she put some pressure on the elbow to turn him around. "Zach, I don't know what's going on with Grace, I know I don't need to know, but maybe I should?"

Zach looked at her. "It's not something I'm free to tell," he said. "And to be honest, I don't think you're on her 'need to know' list right now, given how you two feel about each other. But for whatever my opinion is worth to you? I don't think it would be fatal to show her some kindness, not to mention show me some. I know I'm just a good time to you, but the least you can do is understand that I do have feelings about this."

"But she's just-" Alexis cut herself off before she said something that could very easily drive him away very quickly, "I don't understand..." She said instead, looking down at his hands that she reached for with her own, "I'm sorry that I was a bitch last night, and here, but I don't understand and if that means what we have is over, so be it. Why is she so important? Help me understand..."

Zach looked down, letting her take his hands. "Because she listens to my stories, and she understands the weight I carry. She knows my past, and she accepts me without judgement. She's taken time to get to know me and care about me on a deeper level. The fact that she can't fully express it physically yet isn't her fault. I just hadn't realized she misunderstood where she and I were in the process. I thought we were still feeling things out. She thought we were fully in a relationship, and she didn't know about you, so it was a shock to her."

He watched her a moment. "She isn't playing me low and slow," he said. "She's struggling with something and I'm being patient with her. There's a significant difference both in what that means about her motivations, and my emotional intelligence, and I'd ask that you assume I'm not a complete moron."

"Yeah, that makes more sense." Alexis admitted, squeezing his hands, "I'm sorry, I just... Fuck. I'm not good at talking about that sort of thing, for reasons you know already. Look. I'm sorry, really well and truly, and I'd be lucky to keep you in my life, and bed, not just as my senior officer."

"All right," he said, finally. "Your apology's accepted, but I think we need to talk about our own rules and issues." He led her back to her couch and sat them down. "Number one, you need to accept how I feel about you." As her head snapped up, he rolled his eyes. "Number two, enough with the reactions. Stop lecturing me every time I show you some affection, or make an offhand remark about you making me happy. I care about you; you are special to me. I've turned down Alyssa, Keeta, and both of them together because your feelings are more important to me. You need to accept that you are someone special in my life and stop punishing me for thinking so. Number three, I'd like you to be a better friend. You may not entirely understand what's building between Grace and I, but if you truly care a fig about me, you'll support me, and just understand that there are other things at play."

"Okay." Alexis said, shaking her head slowly, then opened her mouth to say something more, but closed it before she did.

"I have told you repeatedly I understand the score here, and I've been fine with it. Do we keep enjoying ourselves together, with mutual respect and friendship? Or is that not feasible anymore?"

"If it's still on the table, then yes." Lexi said, "I'm just..." She looked down and then up at him, "I'm trying not to- I can't just- You have to understand that-" She looked down again.

He held her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Talk to me, Lexi."

"I'll try." She said, "I'm trying to keep feelings for you at arm's length because if I fell for you, it couldn't work out between us and maybe this means you and Grace together is the best thing to happen and maybe we should end it here. Yes, I'm a 'former', but anyone I marry, if it ever happened, would have to be a Roman citizen or become one. It's some law buried in the constitution, but if I fell in love with you, I'd want to marry you, so my best option is to just.. Be aloof."

He nodded, gravely. "I see. It's my own fault, I suppose," he said, a twinkle back in his eye. "I should've known I was irresistible. It's a miracle you've lasted this long, really."

She punched him on the shoulder lightly, "No, because I've not fallen for you, so I'm still breaking your streak." It wasn't quite a lie.

He gave her a small smile. "If giving me a hard time is what you need to keep giving me a hard time, then so be it," he said. "Just keep being honest with me, and I'll do the same. I've never lied to you about how I feel, and I won't going forward. Besides, you wouldn't want someone like me as a Roman citizen. I'd be the worst centurion ever. I can't even hold a spear right."

"I will be as honest as I can be." Alexis couldn't help but smile at him, "And that's the sole reason I can't allow myself to fall in love with you, you'd be stabbing people left and right, your fellow citizens. Besides, you don't want to spend twenty years in Rome's service to become one. It's too much discipline." She brought his hands up to kiss them, "Maybe I should steal Grace from you? She's younger, and then I'd have a personal pilot for when I go back to conquer Rome?" She quirked a smile to let her know she was joking.

He smirked at her and gave a chuckle. "Good luck with that," he said. "You'd leave me here, defenseless against your roommates, while you and Grace go off and have fun without me? That's extremely unkind."

"That would be cruel and unusual punishment, wouldn't it?" Lexi mused, "Fine, fine, I suppose I'll have to put off my dictatorship plans for now."

"Thank you," he said. "For now you'll have to settle for conquering me for practice."

She stood immediately from the couch, dragging him with her, "And since we still have to go to work today, we don't have much time. Fortunately, they won't be back for hours and after last night, I don't think we'll need long, will we?"

Zach was shocked for a moment, but reminded himself this was what he was supposed to rely on her for. "I'd say not," he said, stumbling after her as she dragged him to her room.

"Good... And then, tonight you're all Grace's." She smiled as she spun around to let her legs hit the bed and pulled him onto her as the door closed behind them.

A post by:

Zachary Addams
Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

Alexis Aenera
Unlucky Loser
USS Tokyo

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