This craziness was born from a conversation with other authors, you know who you are, so blame them for it. Just a little drabble to say hi while I urge my lazy muse to get back on track. I am still writing and drawing Robotech stuff so I'm still around. You can find my stuff on animedeviant022 . tumblr . com or on Twitter under the same handle, animedeviant022. You can come and ask me anything in any of those platforms.

In the meantime, enjoy!

The popping bubbles from the bubble bath were the only sound to be heard in the stillness of the room. Lisa moved a leg slightly, unhurried, and luxuriated on the feel of the warm water caressing her skin. She let a huge contented sigh. After a week from hell, she felt like she deserved the self-indulgence. And while she didn't indulge too many times because of her hectic schedule, the opportunity of a day off the next day allowed her to give herself free reign to enjoy the moment.

Unfortunately, the moment was cut short when she heard the frantic knocking on her front door.

The sound made her jump, her heart starting a staccato rhythm that matched the frantic beating at her door. She incorporated herself hurriedly, years of scrambling for an attack making her jump to action right away.

'Is it an attack?' Lisa thought as she got out of her sudsy bath. So much for a relaxing bubble bath, she thought as she looked longingly at the tub.

Conscious of time, and the frantic knocking, she swiped a towel over her body, threw on a bathrobe and hurried to the door where the person outside banged it with more urgency.

Lisa looked through the peephole, expecting to talk to an MP but instead, she found a harried looking Rick Hunter. She was so surprised to see him, that she opened the door, standing behind it so that no one from outside could see her. This included Rick, who didn't get a good look until she closed the door.

"Lisa, I have to talk to you about…" He took a good look at her, from her damp hair in a bun to her flushed face, from the warmth of the bath, to her soapy feet. "Did you seriously just come out of a bath?"

"Well what did you think Hunter? With your crazy knocking I thought we were under attack!" She snapped, moving her arms around for emphasis and almost flashing Rick, who turned his eyes at the last minute.

He looked sheepish for a moment but then he considered her comment. "Wait a second. You thought this was an attack? Were you just gonna open the door like that to whomever came to get you?" he asked accusingly, a dark feeling swirling in his belly at the thought of a random guy seeing Lisa in her half naked state.

Lisa gaped at him, "Of course not, Hunter, I was prepared to talk to them over the comm here." She pointed at the intercom that communicated with the one outside.

"You know, this would not have happened if you had set up the comm to link to your phone." he teased her, since this was not the first time they had had this conversation although in very different circumstances.

"I keep forgetting to do so. Let me go back and rinse off. So much for my relaxing night." she grumped as she left the room.

Raising his voice to be heard into the other room, he asked jokingly, "Do you want some help with that?" He smiled wickedly, hoping to get a rise off her infamous temper.

"Very funny Captain." Lisa quipped back.

Rick laughed, having achieved his goal but as he heard the water start, images of Lisa in her bubble bath rose unbidden to his mind and he had to admit the joke didn't feel that funny anymore, especially when he could picture himself scrubbing those long pale legs of hers very well…

Rick's eyes opened wide and his face burned with a fierce blush. He stood in the middle of Lisa's living room, petrified at the lascivious thoughts running through his mind in vivid detail.

Where had those images come from? It wasn't like he ever saw his Captain in that frame of mind! Well if he was honest, he had checked her out once in a while, like once daily at least, but they were friends, just friends, even if they liked to flirt with each other. After all, that was friendly teasing right? That didn't mean he had some deep dark desire for his CO! That would be ludicrous!

Rick didn't realize how much time he spent trying to talk himself in circles about the images that kept on popping in his head until the object of his distraught mind stepped out of her room, leaving a faint trail of fragrant soap. Rick had to stop himself from leaning forward to follow the delicate smell.

"So tell me Captain Hunter, what was the big emergency?"

"Huh?" Rick answered eloquently, observing the still damp skin, as he wondered if it was as soft as it looked.

"I said, Why are you here anyway?" She asked suspiciously as he had yet to tell her why he was there. "Do I have to talk in small words today Hunter?"

Now Rick was embarrassed, "Well, I just wanted to talk to you about something that came up on the reports. Wanted to give you a heads up before you got in." He shrugged casually, making her groan.

"Did you really have to make it sound like it was an impending attack?"

"You weren't opening the door…" he mumbled apologetically.

"I was busy!"

"Sorry," he shrugged, making her groan.

"Well, go on, what was it?" she gestured at him.

Rick hesitated, the whole thing seemed so irrelevant after the thoughts that were crowding his head. After all, he's had quite the revelation today, and the only thing that he wanted to do was to act on it. He looked at his capable Captain, her eyebrow raised in question, her kissable lips pursed and he made a typical rash decision, "How about I take you to dinner and tell you all about it?"

Lisa seemed taken aback by his offer. Even he seemed to be surprised at his own boldness.

"Is it that bad that you need to butter me up with dinner?" Lisa asked suspiciously but Rick had to drag his mind kicking and screaming out of the gutter it had fallen into with that comment.

"No." he blurted out, hoping his face was not giving away his thoughts. Although based on Lisa's suspicious gaze, he was not doing a good job. He cleared his throat and attempted again. "What I meant to say is that I would like to take you to dinner, as a date, and I was using the excuse of the report to entice you to go." He gave her a sheepish smile. "Did it work?" he asked lamely.

Lisa just blinked up at him, her brain processing the comment as she watched the fidgety young man in front of her.

"Is this a joke?"

"No, I swear… Just forget I said it." Rick waved it off, his boldness shriveling up at the look of incredulity that she had given him. Maybe she would never see him in that light. She was after all older than him and with a higher position than him… Rick was overcome with embarrassment and his fight or flight response was triggering him to just run the hell out of there and potentially avoid her for the next couple of weeks, maybe even months…

As he turned away from her, he felt a delicate hand grab his forearm, stopping his retreat. He looked back at her, a question in his eyes. His nervousness melted away as soon as he saw the warm smile in her lips.

"Yes Hunter, if you put it that way, you CAN take me out to dinner. It's the least you can do after interrupting my relaxing bath." Her face was serious but her tone was playful, further putting him at ease.

Rick gave her a rueful smile, "I hope I can make it up to you. How about I pick you up in an hour?"

"How about I meet you at your house in half an hour instead?" Rick's eyebrows rose at her suggestion but he knew that it was the most practical since his house was closest to town. He liked how Lisa would meet him halfway. "Just make sure you have a plan for where we are going." she said playfully as she directed him to the door.

"Yeah, sure thing…" Rick said, his brain half wondering how this whole situation had turned so suddenly but not caring a bit since it felt so right.

At the door, Lisa gently led him out but before he could turn away, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, very, very close to his lips but still too far to his liking. "See you later, Rick."

"Yeah, later…" he said in a daze. After giving her a little wave, he left, his head still trying to puzzle out how a simple interrupted bath had triggered a chain reaction that had led him to realize his hidden desire towards his CO and dear friend. With a happy whistle and a spring of his step, he hurried home, eager to see what other realizations the night would bring.