'Right, that's it, you need to get laid.'

Tilly slammed her fork down on the table and glared at Michael. Now the older woman had been reinstated to her former rank of commander, she no longer shared a room with the young Ensign, but the two remained close friends and still socialised as much as their schedules allowed. Today was not the first time recently, however, that Tilly had noticed Michael being distracted. The other woman looked at her in surprise, or as close to surprise as Michael would ever show in public.

'I'm sorry, what?'

'You haven't heard a word I'm saying all dinnertime. Your eyes are roaming all over the room and,' Tilly kicked Michael's leg under the table, 'You're twitching.'

Michael stilled her legs immediately. Tilly raised an eyebrow, and Michael sighed. 'I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me.'

'Like I said, you need to get laid. It's been what, how long now? A couple of months?'

'One hundred and twenty nine days.'

Tilly choked on her drink. 'Well, there you go. If you're counting the days, it's worse than I thought.'

'I am not counting the days, I just count the days.'

Tilly looked nonplussed. 'Right, well, thanks for clearing that one up.' When Michael opened her mouth, she waved her off. 'I know, I know. But still. We need to sort this out. Like, right now. So: who, on this ship, would you like to sleep with?'

Michael closed her mouth, and frowned. 'I don't think it's that simple, Tilly.'

'Why not? We're all grown ups here. You just pick someone you fancy, or that you think would be good in bed, and you ask them if they're interested.' She stopped, suddenly uncomfortably aware of Michael's eyes on her. 'Wha.. why are you looking at me like that?'

'Are you interested?' Michael asked bluntly, still pinning Tilly in her gaze. Tilly's eyes bugged out.

'Me?! Well, I mean, that's not what I meant, but, sure, if you want to, I mean, er, what?'

Michael half smiled. 'I'm not looking for a relationship. I also don't want to have sex with just anyone. If you think I need to 'get laid', then I'd rather do it with someone I know and trust. I trust you.'

Tilly looked at her. 'Seriously? Did you just ask me to sleep with you using Vulcan logic?' She shook her head, smiling. 'That is like the least romantic proposal I've ever had.'

'It's not supposed to be romantic, Tilly. You just said I need to have sex.'

'And you're certainly not going to get it from anyone else on this ship with that attitude!' She sighed, then looked Michael up and down. She couldn't deny it was an appealing offer; Michael was a very attractive woman and hey, Tilly was only human. 'Ok, I'll sleep with you. God knows it's been longer than a hundred and twenty nine days for me.'

Michael nodded. 'Thank you. Would tomorrow evening be convenient?' That did it; Tilly erupted into hysterical giggles, mixed with the occasional snort as she tried to avoid the curious stares of the people at the surrounding tables. Eventually they subsided, leaving her with just the occasional hiccup as she fanned at her red face.

'Sure, tomorrow's convenient.' The giggles threatened to overcome her again, and she pushed back her chair to stand before they could. 'I'm off to hyperventilate somewhere else now. I'll see you tomorrow, Michael.' And she left, still giggling.

When she woke the next morning, the previous evening's conversation came flooding back to her and she lay for a minute, looking at what used to be Michael's bunk in her now single room. She had just agreed to sleep with her best friend, on a starship in the middle of space, where they would still have to work together every day afterwards. Experience told her this was an unbelievably bad idea. But experience of Michael told her this was unlikely to be anything like any previous encounters she'd ever had. The thought stirred her a little even as it reassured her, and she got up to go about her day with a pleasant sense of anticipation in her stomach.

She saw very little of Michael that day, but managed to catch her on the way out of the mess hall as she returned from lunch. Michael was in the queue for the food synthesiser and she tapped her briefly on the shoulder as she passed.

'Hey! Still on for tonight?'

Michael nodded. 'Yes, if it's still,' there was a microscopic pause, the barest hint of a twitch at the corner of her mouth, and a glimmer in her eye, 'convenient?'

Tilly grinned. 'Sure. I'll come to you? What time do you want me?'

Michael considered. '20.00?'

'Great. See you later!' She grinned and waved as she left, feeling a tingling sensation at the thought that everyone around them had heard the conversation but had no idea what they were really discussing.

The rest of the afternoon flew by, and before Tilly knew it she was standing in her quarters, looking at her meagre supply of clothing and trying to decide whether to change out of her uniform or not.

'Oh fuck it!' she muttered, slamming the cupboard doors and zipping up her jacket again. 'It'll be coming off in no time anyway!'

After half an hour of time dragging, sitting on her bed trying to concentrate on a report and checking the chronometer every other minute, she conceded she might as well have changed just to give her something to do. As soon as she could, she left her quarters, walking the familiar route to Michael's with a very unfamiliar fluttering in her stomach. On arrival, she pressed the door chime and waited. Michael, she was relieved to see when it opened, was also still in uniform, and wearing what looked like a similar expression of relief that Tilly hadn't dressed up either.

'Hi,' she said in greeting, cursing her inability to sound even vaguely smooth, and stepped inside. Michael's quarters were nice, with one double bed instead of two singles, and a much larger living space than in Tilly's.

'Would you like a drink?' Michael offered, and Tilly hid her smile. The other woman was obviously even more out of her comfort zone than Tilly was.

'No thanks, I'm good. Come here.' Michael crossed the room to stand just out of Tilly's reach, and Tilly, feeling bold, took a step forward to meet her. 'Let's take this slow, ok?' She waited for Michael's nod before reaching out to cup her cheek and pulling her in for a kiss. Their mouths met gently, tentatively at first, then building with their confidence. Michael kissed like she did everything else; with a dedicated intensity that set Tilly's nerves on fire. The kiss progressed, their hands coming up to tangle in hair or fabric, and when they broke apart, both women were panting. 'Fuck, Michael,' Tilly breathed, taking in her plump lips, shining eyes and flushed cheeks.

'I thought we were taking this slow,' Michael quipped, but the slight tremble in her voice belayed her confident words and told Tilly the other woman was just as affected as her. Tilly grinned and pulled her back in, sliding her hands up under Michael's jacket and untucking her undershirt in search of skin. Michael gasped when she found it, reaching up through the kiss to tug the zipper of Tilly's jacket down and push it off her shoulders. Tilly wriggled out of it, coming back to return the favour and had the zip of Michael's halfway down her front when the door chimed. Both women froze.

'Are you, uh, expecting anyone?' Tilly asked, wincing immediately at the stupidity of the question; Michael was obviously just as surprised as she was.

Michael shook her head. 'No.' They waited a moment, and the door chimed again. 'I'd better see who it is,' she said, reluctantly stepping away from Tilly and moving to cross the room. She pressed the button and the door slid open to reveal Admiral Cornwell. 'Admiral,' Michael greeted in surprise. 'I wasn't aware you were on board.'

Cornwell offered a smile. 'My apologies. I didn't know I was going to be, but something came up. I thought I'd drop in to say hello, but now I see I've interrupted something.' She nodded to Tilly. 'Ensign.' Her eyes lingered on their flushed faces and partial uniforms, and Tilly responded with a nervous smile that came out more like a grimace.

'No, it's ok,' Michael replied, half turning to Tilly with an unreadable look in her eyes. Tilly thought she knew where this was going and braced herself for being kicked unceremoniously into the corridor with the unenviable choice of a cold shower or her own fingers for company. Instead, Michael moved back a step and turned back to Cornwell. 'Please, come in. Why don't you join us?'