It was difficult for Data to begin to describe exactly how he felt about humans, he knew how they felt about one another and for the most part he extrapolated enough of their behaviour to copy and appear as close to the life forms as was possible. However, and this had always been his issue, he never really felt true to what he was doing. It was more that he was simply doing these things to fit in. There were few things he truly felt himself in, mainly in looking after Spot and scanning for other alien life forms aboard the bridge (especially when he could employ a fun little song which made his circuitry buzz with dopamine-like pleasure.)
In terms of replicating a human to human relationship however he felt woefully inadequate, as if he were performing a part in a play as opposed to truly following his "gut"
This type of thing never really came into his thought process, instead he liked to focus on the But here now… he'd been aboard the enterprise for so long and with the same people that he could swear that he was developing relationships in a way which was unprecedented. He felt as if his actions towards the crew were not only necessary, but pleasurable. He enjoyed being part of the team and helping them, making them laugh when he could and enriching their lives. And their inputs to him were equally as enjoyable, especially when they acknowledged him like another human being.
This had been slightly different all that time ago, in one of his first adventures. When Tasha Yar had been dressed in an awfully revealing blue two-piece.
She'd treated him like any other man, showering him with kisses and forcing her undoubtedly objectively attractive body on his, asking him to perform actions he'd only seen in Databases about the beginning of life.
Afterwards though she had looked him right in the eye and said "We'll never talk about this again" which was a hugely negative comment to make so there was obviously something he was doing wrong? Maybe exactly because he didn't feel truly attuned with what he was doing?
He turned to his friend and swallowed, a simulated lump in his throat due to nerves felt as real as for a human "Geordi" he finally said.
"Mhm?" The Engineer who was busy twiddling with a few of the nuts in a panel on the wall responded noncommittally.
"What is your opinion on sexuality and the way in which it fits into relationships between peoples?" It took a moment, but then question filled the room like a noxious gas, causing a dreadfully fearful silence. Until Geordi let out a strange bark of a laugh and began to rub his neck as if to hide the shade of red he was turning.
Although to the android it seemed a little illogical to continue to rub and therefore irritate an area of skin which was already inflamed.
"Uh... Well... Wow Data what a question.." The engineer said, still clutching his neck and blushing under his visor (having entirely forgotten his maintinance work) "Uh... It's nice I guess. It's fun sometimes and makes people feel good about themselves-"
"Is it necessary to form a deep and profound human relationship? Do you need to consummate a relationship via a sexual act in order to be truly fulfilled as a couple?"
"I don't know about that. I suppose it really depends on the person, or people. Troi and Riker, they share thoughts. There's something far more intimate about that isn't there? Rather than sharing just their bodies they're able to share their minds. Although I wouldn't want to ask about their sex lives. Since... you know, it's personal"
Data made his usual high pitched hm of contemplation, and then said "Understood. " before spurting into another question with verve.
"How would one know if a partner would like to partake in a sexual ritual in order to strengthen the relationship?"
"Well, usually they'd kinda... make it obvious, with their body language and what they say to you-wait-a-second where are these questions coming from?"
To an outsider who didn't know of Data's android persuasion it would appear that the figure blushed, not simply on the cheeks but all over. One might assume he was made a strange rosacea colour instead of pale almost translucent. He looked at his feet then up at his friend and made a feeble attempt at cooling himself down before finally answering,
"Nothing Geordi. I was merely trying to master another element of Human Behaviour, or rather to understand it. I've seen it around me for see it around me and I seem to be rather awkward around it so… I wanted to be able to be better at it"
"You know Data. I'll tell you something. Love and Sex aren't the same thing. You don't need to be in Love to have sex with someone."
Like Tasha. The android added in his head That was the effect of the chemical atmosphere.
"I'll tell you something else for nothing too. Love? Real love isn't something you can ever understand or be better at. It's something you feel, and it doesn't make sense, in fact it's the most illogical thing in the whole universe."
A head tilt and slight frown from the Android were all he got in response
"I'll try to find a way to explain… uhh… how about if I tell you it's kinda like a piece of alien technology. If you try to understand it you start over thinking it and you wanna break it apart to see how it really works. But because you knew nothing about it in the first place you can't put it together again once you're done. "
"Okay. But what if I don't even feel it? What if I don't feel love?"
"What about Spot? You care deeply about him right? That's what makes you look after him and feed him every day. That's love too, only a different kind. It's probably sexual attraction you don't feel and that's just fine. I mean, Doctor Soong probably never considered that in making you."
"But I can perform the actions. I'm outfitted with various different functions, if he did not think I would need to use them why would he install them?"
"Don't worry. There were people back on earth that never had sex. They had all the functions, and were expected to be interested too. They just didn't want to. For a while, a long while they were ridiculed. People made fun and all of that, because they didn't understand.
But just like everything else we learned and grew. Till it didn't matter anymore."