A/N: Thanks to 29Pieces, pallysd'Artagnan, and elbcw for the reviews!

"A Pair of Nerds"

2370

Raffi made her way across the outdoor picnic area toward where Cris was sitting under the shade of a tree, one knee drawn up to brace the book he was reading. He didn't look up at her approach, and with a smirk, she took the rubber squeeze ball she'd taken to carrying out of her pocket and bounced it off his head.

"Ow," he said, still without looking up.

"You should pay attention to your surroundings," Raffi said glibly as she plopped down beside him.

"I saw you coming."

"So you were ignoring me."

"I didn't expect you to throw something at me."

Raffi grinned. "Neither did I the first time."

Rios's mouth finally quirked and he shook his head in amusement.

Raffi peered over his shoulder at the book. "What are you reading?"

He angled the cover toward her. The Picard Maneuver.

"Why don't you just download it onto your PADD?"

"I like the feel of paper."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a nerd."

"Did you want something, chica?" he asked with put-upon impatience, placing a bookmark between the pages and setting the volume down.

"Yes," she said primly. "I came to tell you I got my scores. And I was this close to beating yours," she added, holding up her thumb and forefinger a breadth's apart.

He bit back a smile. "Are you going to make it your mission to beat every single one of my marks?"

"You hold the record in most categories for the current enrollment population," she rejoined. "Someone needs to make sure you don't get an ego."

"Remind me who's gotten the highest marks in the operations classes…"

Raffi spread her arms invitingly. "Hey, you're welcome to try to beat them."

Rios shook his head and picked up his book again, the two them falling into a companionable silence. Raffi snatched up her rubber ball from the ground and settled into a rhythmic workout of squeezing and flexing her hand muscles. It was good stress relief but also good for tendonitis.

"So here's the thing," she said.

"Yes?" Rios responded, once again not glancing up from his book.

"I'm out of credits."

He cast her a sidelong look. "Replicate too many pints of ice cream?"

"Coffee," she said indignantly. And okay, yeah, there was ice cream.

Rios smirked. "Want me to cook you dinner tonight?"

She hid a smile and shrugged nonchalantly. That had been what she'd been angling for. She'd been dubious at first when she first learned Rios sometimes cooked food instead of always ordering from the replicator. Truth be told, she didn't find the meals tasted any different; she did, however, enjoy a quiet evening in the kitchen studying to the backdrop of Latin music, the smell of sizzling spices, and the staccato rhythm of Rios dicing vegetables at the counter.

"If you're not busy," she said casually.

Rios just grinned and went back to reading his book.