Hangovers Hurt

Posted on Thu Sep 3rd, 2026 @ 2:31am by Lieutenant JG Grace MacKenzie 'Sabre' & Lieutenant Zachary Addams

1,013 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Kintsugi
Location: Zach's Quarters (Starbase)

"Stop the hammers, please..." Grace groaned as she tried to squeeze her eyes shut as hard as she could, her head pounding in a rhythm that was probably used by an ancient Indian tribe as a call to war against the white invaders. She took the pillow her head was on and pulled it over her head while her body curled up under the blanket that had been put over her the previous night.

Zed looked up from the book he'd been reading and stood up, walking quickly out of the room. He came back a moment later with a tall glass of something yellowish. He sat down on the bed and stroked her hair. "Hey," he said, quietly. "I have something that will help."

She groaned again when she moved the pillow and turned over to face him, "Is it cyanide?" She reached out blindly and felt the glass, hiking herself up into more of a sitting position before taking a small drink of it, "Oh my god, this is disgustin'."

"That's what makes it medicine," Zed said softly. "Bottoms up."

Grace pried her eyes open and glared at him through slitted eyes, but took another, longer drink of it, emptying the glass halfway. "What happened?" She asked before forcing herself to drink the rest of it and handing him the glass at before she covered her mouth and try not to bring it back up. "Ah.. Ah remember comin' here last night, but most of it's just a blur."

Zed sighed and put the glass down on the nightstand. "You showed up, and you were impressively drunk," he said. "You wrestled me for your clothes, and I'm not sure which of us won, but after a lot of kissing and some fondling, I made sure you were safe and let you sleep in the bed while I kept an eye on you."

"Ah suppose that depends on who was tryin' to get them offa me." Grace shivered as she found it was chilly in the room, "Which Ah'm hopin' was me, because Ah don't like to lose at all." She smiled a him, "And... Did we?"

"I believe the Terran term is 'second base'," he said, gently. "And you got most of your clothes off by yourself, I had to assist you with the top after you got trapped in the arms. "He chuckled a bit at the image. He smiled at her and took her hand and kissed it. "But I didn't let us have sex. I...I didn't want to take advantage of you, no matter how willing you might have been. We pushed some boundaries, but I didn't want to cross any lines we couldn't come back from. I hope you understand."

"Damnit.." Grace looked away and squeezed her eyes shut again as sadness hit her and unwanted tears came out, "Damnit all to hell... Ah was hopin' that by bein' drunk and doin' it that if would help me for the future.. Ah don't blame you, Zed, you didn't know..." She reached up to wipe away her tears.

Zed sighed. "Oh, Gracie," he sighed. He moved onto the bed and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms. "For what it's worth, you were completely willing. If your goal was to drop your inhibitions, you succeeded. If I'd known that was your hope, maybe something would have happened but..." he shook his head. "Grace it really upset me last night. I don't want you taken advantage of. I don't want you to wake up and I have to inform you we had sex. I want you there for it." He shivered and held her tighter, trying not to lose control again.

She nodded as she leaned into his arms. Grace felt perfectly safe in those arms as she quietly wept, "Ah know, Ah knew and Ah still did it. You said you'll be patient and Ah know you will be, but Ah just don't wanna be patient. Ah want my life to return to normal, to not be scared of anythin' anymore."

"If you want, I'll tell you the thresholds we did cross," he said quietly.

"Ah'd love to know." She nodded, turning her face to his and twisting in his arms slightly so she could kiss him on the cheek.

"Well, for one, you're still naked," he said. "Can't say I mind that part," he added, kissing her cheek. "And you didn't mind my hands exploring a bit," he said, running a finger along the curve of her breast. "And you definitely were not having a fear of grabbing onto me...a few times."

"That's a good sign, and if Ah was as allurin' as Ah hope Ah was, even in my drunk state, Ah'm hopin' that Ah was happy with what Ah'd found?" Grace gave a giggle, "But clearly you got more dressed than you were before... Did you wanna..." She bit her lip, "Take some of them off at least and join me under the covers?"

He judged how she was feeling and removed his tshirt and shorts, voluntarily this time, trying not to blush as her eyes moved down, and slipped under the covers with her, but didn't pull her to him yet, letting her decide where she wanted to be. "So," he said after a moment, "this is progress."

She turned her back to him and slid herself until she was pressed up against him, his bare chest on her back, legs pressed against hers, even her rear end backed up fully against him. She raised an arm in clear invitation for him to slide his own in, “ya all right, Zed, Ah ain’t gonna bite, or freak out or nothin’. This is progress.” A part of him twitched and she froze briefly, but relaxed a second later again.

He reached around and cupped her breast gently and held her against him, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "It is," he agreed.

A post by:

Zachary Addams
Chief Engineer
USS Tokyo

and

Grace MacKenzie
Fighter Pilot
USS Tokyo

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