The morning came too soon and Teagan did not feel ready for it when it did. She dressed and pulled her hair back in a clip without paying any mind to what she was doing. She had a light breakfast, but did not want to leave her quarters, so afterwards she just padded around it for a while, cleaning. She didn't usually go to the lab on Sundays, but wanting something to take her mind off her troubles; she headed there anyway.
Teagan did not notice any of the worried glances that came her way as she was still very much in her own little world. The odd glances she received from the weekend staff in the lab also did not penetrate her self protecting shell. She did acknowledge Lieutenant Arrkic, the Andorian shift leader, and spoke to him for several minutes before moving on to her own work.
Just over an hour later, she thought it was past time to check her messages. Walking into her office, she instructed the computer to pull up her first message. After a short chirp, the voice of her captain filled the room. He was saying that he wanted her to look over a speech he had prepared for some meeting he was to lead. He had done this once last week, so she was not surprised, but still it seemed odd considering last night.
"Computer, when was this message sent?"
"Stardate 68007.8," came the reply.
"Exact time?"
"Ship's time 1547 hours."
"Before dinner last night," she mumbled to herself. "Computer, transfer text portion of message to PADD, secure with my password."
"Acknowledged," The usual chirp of compliance followed the reply. Teagan detached the PADD and looked over the captain's speech.
"I don't know why he wants my opinion on this kind of stuff, I'm not a speech writer. Just part of his being high maintenance, I guess," she said to no one and left her office to check her staff and read the speech. Two hours later, she still was undecided as to whether she was still going to meet him for dinner or not. His speech was fine except for one tiny little thing she thought he should change. She sat staring at her monitor, trying to decide if she should call him or just send the suggestion to his ready room. She had never even been in his ready room.
Losing herself, she wondered what it looked like. Had he decorated it? Was he there now? He had given her clearance to ask the computer of his location five days ago after she had mentioned off hand that she had had to trick it into telling her where he was once. That had flattered her. He so often had a way of making her feel special, needed and cared for. No, this relationship was too dear to her to give up just yet.
"Computer, is the captain in his ready room?"
"Affirmative." Teagan sighed, opening her desktop monitor, and asked the computer to hail him. Her heart beat faster when his face appeared on the screen. His eyes looked strange, she noticed at once. He was worried she was calling to give him bad news. She could feel it. She could not keep him wondering. She smiled and greeted him.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Captain. I just wanted to give you my notes on the speech you sent for me to look over yesterday. I hope you're well." She never knew when someone would come in her office or his, so the formality over the ship's comm seemed the most appropriate thing to do.
He looked like he was searching her expression for something before he spoke. "I am well, Doctor, thank you. You are not disturbing me and I am pleased that you were able to read through my speech so promptly. You could have just sent it back, if that is what you would have preferred," he said carefully. She smiled, he was asking and she would indeed answer his unspoken question.
"No, sir. It is the duty of your officers to always do their utmost to support their captain and see that he has the answers that he requests of them. I would never wish to leave my captain in isolation when he had asked for my assistance," she told him. His eyes remained transfixed on her for a moment as he digested this and its meaning. Slowly he gave her a gentle smile.
"May I ask you a question, Doctor?"
"Of course, sir," she replied.
"How many messages did you receive this morning?" His question seemed a non-sequitur.
"I don't know, I just called up the first and it was from you. Why?"
"Please Doctor, look at your messages. I will wait," he told her. She looked very confused. What in the world could he be thinking of?
"Alright, if you say so, sir. Computer, please pull up all my unread messages." The monitor replaced the image of the captain with a text list of the names of whom she had received messages. The list had 103 entries. "Computer, return to the captain please." When his face came back up, he saw a stunned expression on her face.
"Why do I have 103 new messages from all different people, sir?" she asked, since he seemed to know.
"I received 86 new messages this morning. Did you read any of them?" She shook her head. "I believe you will find, as I did, that they are apologies. Some were from members of the crew that were not even present at the dance last evening. I believe your plea was heard by the whole ship, Miss Teagan."
She had no idea how to react to this. "What should we do now?" she asked him, still in a state of shock.
"That would depend on what your dinner plans are for this evening," he told her.
She gave him a sheepish grin. "The same as they have been for almost three weeks, sir."
He smiled, pleased. "Then perhaps we should allow the crew a chance to keep their collective noses out of your life and friendship with the captain...and have dinner in the lounge."
She gave him a look that told him she had not expected him to say that location. "Why the lounge? Shouldn't we eat in your quarters or even in mine, to show them that we want our privacy?"
He shook his head. "I do not believe so. As you have not had time to read any of the messages, which I assume will be at least similar to the ones I received, I should tell you that 68 percent expressed a concern that our friendship was destroyed as a result of the unfortunate events of last evening. For the sake of ship's moral, I think it important that we be seen together and behaving normally."
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. "Ship's morale?" she repeated. He nodded. "I see. If you think it's that important. After all I guess it would fall under the heading of supporting my captain and seeing that his crew did not lose confidence in him," she said with a very amused look in her eye.
He knew his was pushing it, but he nodded anyway. "Exactly. Shall I meet you outside the lounge at eighteen hundred hours?" he asked trying to sound casual.
She tilted her head to the side and shot him a questioning look. "Why outside of the lounge? Oh, I see...you want us to walk in together." He nodded again and she sighed. "It will be as you say, Captain," she said and signed off so he could not see her almost fall off her chair laughing.
He was priceless, she decided. And he had a way of pulling at her heart that made her feel like a slave to his will at times. Good thing he was not the kind of man who would take advantage of that fact if he knew about it, she thought to herself. On second thought maybe that would be...oh, god, I've been spending too much time with Lauralee...
The captain was just approaching the lounge when he detected the distinct scent of cinnamon emanating from somewhere behind him. He turned to see Teagan Shayza walked calmly down the corridor, towards him.
"Hi," she said smiling and he wished for the thousandth time that he could have done just as the voice had suggested last evening and kissed her. The impulse became harder to resist every time he saw her and Data feared that one day he would simply do as it commanded and press his lips to hers. That second would be wonderful, but the next one where she threw a glass of wine over his head and told him that she would never again be joining him for his evening meal was the reason Data was still able to resist this impossibly strong impulse.
"Good evening, Miss Teagan. I am happy to see you looking so well. Did you have the opportunity to read any of your messages?" the captain asked, his eyes full of a contented glow.
"You may not believe me, but I read every one. I think you're right and it is important for us to do this here tonight. Shall we?" she said and nodding, the captain offered her his arm. She grinned, came to his side and slipped her arm through his.
"I agree with your comments on my speech," he told her as the doors to the lounge opened and he led her through them.
She couldn't believe that he was talking about this now, since as soon as the doors were opened every eye in the place was fixed on them. Teagan held her breath as they made their way to the captain's table and let it out only when she was safely in her seat and he was in his, filling her line of vision.
"This is the quietest I have known this room to be when it is filled with people," he noted, leaning forward so that only she would hear him.
She finally smiled. "Let's really scare them and have a big fight right here," she suggested mischievously. He gave her a disapproving look. "Oh, I had to say it. They've been giving me hell for a long enough time. It would serve them right." He now looked disappointed in her. "Ok, I give. I'll behave, but for you, not them." He smiled again. Somehow, that made it all better.
Their server even seemed especially pleased to see them tonight. He took the order that Teagan gave for both of their meals as cheerfully as possible. She rolled her eyes at the man's back as he raced off.
"This is too tempting you know. It makes me want to pretend to tell you that I never want to see you again or go to the opposite extreme and jump into your lap and kiss you." His eyes got very wide at this so she held up her hands, blushing. "Relax, I'm not going to do either of those, but please tell me we can get out of here after a very quick dinner, Captain. The temptation to do something is just too strong for me to combat for very long."
The captain still looked stunned, and his eyes were still wide as he answered, "I see no reason why we cannot leave directly after our meal, and I believe that you still owe me a walk in the arboretum, Miss Teagan." His voice also betrayed his discomfort.
She grinned at him and released her breath again. Breathing normally had been incredibly difficult since entering this room. "You got yourself a deal, sir."
She was tempted to order real wine with the meal, but figured that it could cause her resolve to crumble and if it did, she would most likely lean towards the 'jumping into his lap' direction. He was not truly relaxed either, and somehow that made it easier for her.
Finally it was over and he rose to help her from her seat. Arm in arm they walked from the room with as much dignity as they could muster.
"Breathe, Miss Teagan. I believe Dr. Jewel will order you not to see me again if I have to bring you to sickbay due to oxygen deprivation."
She laughed and did as he told her, but looked him sincerely in the eye. "The only one who can order me not to continue my friendship with you, is you, Captain. Did you feed Stripes?"
He looked thrown off by her changing the subject. "No, I was delayed on the bridge," he admitted.
"Well, let's go feed her and then we can go to the arboretum. I think I need another glass of wine, and maybe real wine," she told him with a frustrated sigh.
"You will require a special code to be able to order the replicator to produce anything other that synthehol, Miss Teagan," he cautioned her.
She grinned and gave his arm a squeeze. "Fortunately I think I know someone who can provide just the right codes," she eyed him but he looked doubtful.
"Why do you wish to become intoxicated? And I am not sure I should allow you to do so, as you have recently recovered from a toxin entering your system that caused you to require being placed in a coma for-"
"You're no fun, Captain. I can see that I have got to work on your more playful side and bring it out more. Helping you with speeches, having dinner, keeping you from thinking you're on the wrong career path and providing you with someone who you can talk to is all well and fine, but as your friend I think we need to play more," she chided him.
"We play chess," he defended. Teagan laughed. Her eyes were finally aglow with the amused expression he was used to seeing on her face when he was teasing her and she looked close to doing something...silly. Data liked it when he could push her there.
"That's not exactly what I was going for," she told him rolling her eyes.
"You do not like playing chess with me?" he pretended to look hurt. She poked him in the side.
"Stop it, we are in public and people are going be shocked when I- you do this to me too often and I think you enjoy it." He had to grin. She shook her head at him, but grinned too. They arrived at his quarters and she collapsed on his couch sighing heavily as he went to feed his cat.
Teagan kicked her shoes off and stretched out on the couch. She stared at the ceiling, thinking. "Games that have you pitted against the ship's computer would be pointless, I imagine," she said, still trying to think of a more interesting game than chess.
"I like poker," the captain offered.
"That's a man's game," Teagan said, rejecting his suggestion.
"That is not an accurate statement," he retorted, bending to place the bowl of food on the floor. "Aboard the Enterprise, I played with many of the command crew of which two were female. At times, other females would sit in. Gender is not related to the game." Suddenly he stood over her and she was staring at his face instead of the ceiling.
"You're blocking my view," she said. He looked up at the spot of ceiling that she had been staring at. She giggled as he looked back down at her, confused.
"Your view of what?" he asked.
"The ceiling. Sit down and let me think," she said waving him away.
"Could you not think on the way arboretum? You did promise to attend me there. You still have not given full consideration to poker." She sat up and shook her head at him.
"I had something else in mind, something that involved less mind and more body...sorry, that came out bad. I mean something more physical...or active. Like mountain climbing, but fun." She stood now, slipping into her shoes, she grinned at him.
"I take it you would not find mountain climbing fun?" he reached out for her hand and gently pulled her to the door.
"No, falling and breaking every bone in my fragile human body does not excite me," she said, pulling her hand from his and slipping it through his arm almost absently.
"The holodeck safeguards would not allow that to happen and neither would I," he told her, all trace of humor gone from his features.
Even looking like this, his eyes enchanted her. She grinned reassuringly at him. "I know, Sunshine, I know. Still I would like something that would be more active."
"Football, baseball, soccer, basket ball? Did you just call me Sunshine?" he asked stopping in the middle of the corridor.
Teagan blushed slightly. "Yeah, I did. I can't help it, I like your eyes and your comment about wanting to change them the other day has had me thinking about...them. You were just teasing about that, weren't you, Captain?" He began to walk again, pulling her gently along.
"I have thought about it over the years. But if it would truly upset you so, I will refrain," he assured her.
"Good, now back to your suggestions. There are only two of us, so unless we invite others to play with us those suggestions would not work. Now that would be a good way to help you assimilate with your new crew, but you and I would be back to formal speech and actions, and we have been getting rather lax in that area when we are alone. And it's creeping out more each day, it seems."
He had no idea what she meant. "I do not understand? You did just call me by what could be considered a nickname, but I do not believe that I have behaved improperly," he said rather defensively.
"Oh? Then you did not notice that you were holding my hand as we left your quarters just now? I still wonder if walking arm in arm is such a good idea, and to tell you the truth I was shocked the first time you did it, but I do think holding hands is over that line, don't you, sir?" she question, her voice becoming a bit high pitched.
Teagan was correct. He had taken hold of her hand, but Data had wanted to touch her, not her blouse or uniform when she was wearing it, but her skin. That tightening feeling in his chest returned and got worse at the recollection of her mentioning a line before. He had mentioned a line too, but had been talking about her not calling him casually by name in public. Her line was obviously the one were if he could get her to cross it with him, he would have convinced her to allow a kiss. He wondered if he was developing an obsession with her. It seemed that in one way or another he was always thinking about her. Deciding where they would have dinner, as she rarely seemed to want to make that choice herself. Planning what they would do after dinner. Thinking about what he would talk with her about before and after dinner. Perhaps he should consult with the counselor and be sure that he was not obsessing.
"Captain? Are you listening to me?" she asked, pulling him out of his deeper thoughts. No, this was not possible, he was quite capable of doing and thinking about more than one thing at a time. He was more than capable of carrying on a conversation with her and thinking about the possibility that she was causing him to become mentally unbalanced...unless he already was...?
"Yes, I am listening. I suppose that holding hands is indeed over the line...in public. I will be certain that I have placed your hand on my arm when we are leaving behind...privacy. Tennis, golf, fencing?" He decided to take her back to the subject of a game. It was safer.
"Too much of an opportunity for you to hit me with a ball, too boring, too...wrong. Something fun, maybe a little childish. What kind of games do the kids in school play?" she said, thinking out loud.
"I did not attend school. I did go through Starfleet Academy, but I do not think I would enjoy those games," he said sounding like he was also thinking out loud.
She stopped walking and looked at him. "Bad memory? They pick on you?" she asked sympathetically.
He looked embarrassed, but nodded, "I was the intended victim of more than one practical joke," he admitted, reluctantly.
"How many?" she asked.
"I do not want to tell you," he said and pulled her along again.
"Oh, come on, Captain. More than five?" her eyes were twinkling.
"Yes," he said, giving her a warning look.
She ignored it. "More than twenty?"
He sighed. "Yes, I think we should go to the holodeck." Maybe he could distract her.
"Ok, more than forty?"
No such luck. "Your captain orders you to forget he told you that, Dr. Shayza," he said looking her intensely in the eye. He was not angry, but he really did not want to tell her. Her eyes went wide for a moment, but she recovered quickly and walked beside him in silence for a moment, just looking ahead.
"It will be as you say, Captain," she said softly, but then muttered under her breath. "More than forty, wow."
He decided at that moment, he had lost his edge with her. He was not sure when it had happened, exactly but it was definitely gone. She no longer thought of herself as a subordinate that he deemed worthy of allowing to be in his presence at times. She respected him, but she finally realized that he thought of her as an equal in their time together. He smiled to himself. This could be an important accomplishment. Perhaps he had not failed in his wish to create a more intimate relationship with her. But Data would have to pay very close attention to how he proceeded from this point forward. Still this could be fun at the same time...
Data led Teagan to the holodeck and programmed his selection while she watched. Once the computer had created the proper setting the doors opened and closed again once he and Teagan had entered.
Teagan walked deeper into the very odd looking forest, stepping slowly. The trees that surrounded her were covered in very odd leaves that were all shaped like cups and in colors that varied from light green to pale blue to lilac. The ground was covered in a moss like carpet of a rich twilight colour. It was breathtakingly beautiful. She moved to touch one of the leaves and noticed that an odd echoing filled the surrounding area. It came from behind her, from her left and right and from in front of her all at once. She turned to look at the captain to question him about this, but he was gone.
"Captain! Where are you?" Teagan's words reverberated throughout the room. The effect was not unpleasant, but would take some getting used to.
"You must find me. That is the game, Teagan." His voice called from behind her, in front of her and in her ear. No need to yell, it seemed.
"We're going to play hide and seek?" she asked the air.
"Or it could be called tag. The trees in this forest reflect sound in a way that will help you to win against me," he said.
"What do you mean, help me to win?" she asked, as though challenged.
"The special shape of the leaves on the trees here are such excellent conductors of sound that I will not be able to distinguish the direction of the sounds you make between that of an echo," came the answer.
"So it balances the playing field. And the cover of the foliage will further help to even things out," she said as she began to hunt slowly for him. "What rules are we playing with? Can you move once you hide?" she asked, jumping out from behind a bluish tree. He was not around the other side of it.
"No, or yes. I will let you decide," he said.
"Ok, I can move but you can't. Now stay right where you are and let me find you," she said grinning, she moved deeper into the thick forest.
"How is that fair?" he asked.
"Because I still bet you would recognize whether you have checked behind a particular tree or not and would systematically go through the room in a pattern until you found me. If I can move, it will throw you off," she explained. Wherever he was, she could picture him considering this. His familiar surprised 'humph' could be heard a second later.
"Agreed," he answered.
It took her seventeen minutes to find him, but they talked the entire time. His turn was a little different since she could move. Every movement that she made sounded around her, but so did his. It was hard to tell if she should bolt or stay where she was. In the end, she had her back to a tree and was edging away from where she thought he was and backed up right into his arm. He put his other arm out to block her planned escape and looked triumphantly down at her.
"You look very pleased with yourself, Sunshine," she said grinning. He leaned closer.
"I am," he told her. "You were right though, Teagan. This is more fun than chess," he admitted and she laughed. Putting her hand on his chest, she nodded.
"I told you. This is a perfect place for this, too. I'm glad I could help you to loosen up a bit. Actually with the stress of the last few days, I think we both needed to loosen up."
He nodded and put his hand over hers. He had just about convinced himself to kiss her, when it almost looked like she was falling again. He moved to grab her, but she slipped out of his arms...and was running.
"Catch me if you can," she called and disappeared behind a tree. Despite himself he laughed.
"It was your turn, Teagan," he called.
"Nope, you did not tag me so it's still your turn." Her laughter surrounded him. It took Data eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds, but this time he came up from behind her and grabbed her waist, spun her around and pinned her decisively between a tree and his body.
"You are hereby tagged," he told her. She had let out a yelp when he had grabbed her and was still breathing hard, but grinning.
"I admit defeat. For now," she said slowly looking up at him with her eyes full of mischief. He had her trapped, so she knew she was not going to be able to slip away this time, but at this moment, she really didn't want to move. He surrounded her. His arms encircled her to keep her from escaping. She felt like she might have been able to catch her breath if his closeness was not giving her another reason to become breathless. She decided it was the time to kick at that line again. Leaning in, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. She wanted much more, but it was a start, she decided.
He did not look upset, just surprised. "You kissed me," he said, confusion in his voice and face, but he did not move away or release her.
"Well, yes. After all, we're friends. I have kissed Jewely and even Lauralee when she was sick or heartbroken over some guy. You know I've kissed Ashton. Kissing is an expression of affection and I care very much for you. Besides, you hold my hand and have even hugged me before, so you're just as guilty of line hopping as I am." She shrugged, smiled and looked at him as though daring him to dispute her. She prayed he wouldn't.
"I care very much for you as well, Teagan," Data told her in a whisper. She looked back to his eyes just in time to see him close them and lean closer. He kissed her gently on her cheek and she felt her body grow warm. She closed her own eyes and he kissed her again, moving closer to her lips. When his lips touched hers, she thought she would melt into him. Her arms went around him and she pressed her body against his.
She was not sure if the kiss lasted seconds or an hour. It was only when she realized that she would need to breathe soon that she loosened her hold on him. Looking into his eyes once again, she had no idea what to say. What had provoked him into doing that? They had just been talking about his damn line, why would he now cross it? No, not cross. This was a broad jump over it! It felt as though time had stopped and everything she had been aching for was finally in her grasp. But the expression in his eyes caused her to freeze.
He had given her some of his background in the last three weeks. He had been without emotions for his first thirty-six years of life. For years, after he installed his emotion chip it had been as though he was going through a childhood. Learning to deal with and understand emotions at the age of thirty-six would be hard for anyone. He had had to do so while also dealing with his responsibility as second officer of the Enterprise. All in all, it had been almost impossible.
She knew that he had dated some without the chip, but had not been able to get him to divulge any information about his love life with it. She did have clues as to how he thought, though. He liked order, routine and consistency. He did things right or not at all. For example, when he helped her cook, he only did the tasks with which he was comfortable. He would chop, slice, clean or put things away. He knew where every item in her kitchen belonged and he would help fetch or return to order. But he would not stir, add ingredients or test for doneness. This rule did not always hold true, but if he could get away with it, he tried. Even this game could fall under this rule. He knew he would be able to find her easily. He had to give himself disadvantages in order for it to be fair.
Now, looking into the eyes she was coming to love, she saw uncertainty and hesitation. Did he regret what had just happened? Teagan knew that if pushed to, she would have to give him an out, or lose him altogether. She would have to think of one, but he would have to work for it...and she was going to make sure he wanted one at all.
"Are you aware of how over the line that was?" she said, her voice only catching with nervousness once. He looked very ill at ease as well. Did he regret it? Had he done it on impulse but had lost his head?
"You said that we are friends and care for one another. If a kiss is appropriate for you, how is it not for me?" Data defended, ignoring the point.
Her eyes went wide with disbelief. Did he truly believe that she would buy that? "You kissed me three times. One and two were innocuous. Number three you are going to have to explain," she said wondering if she should sound challenging, hopeful or just confused. Was it truly only friendship that he was trying to express with that kiss?
His eyebrows were just about to climb up his forehead. "I do not understand your reaction. I kissed you in the same place that Mr. Uker kissed you. He did not kiss you on the cheek, but you did not question kiss one or two," he told her.
Teagan was momentarily stunned into silence. She had set herself up for this without even realizing it. She had just mentioned the kiss with Ashton. She would never tell Data, but that had not been the only time Ashton had kissed her on the lips. Still, this was different; she was not in love with Ashton and never had been. It hit her that the ball was back in her court. If she told him that she took exception to his kiss, the only reason she could give was the one she could not say.
"You have a point," she said, coming to terms with the fact that he had only meant it as an expression of friendship. She felt like the wind had just been let out of her sails. "But I don't think that it would be seen by the rest of the crew as just a simple expression of our friendship. It could be misinterpreted," she told him, choosing her words carefully.
He nodded, "I do not remember any of my former captain's kissing anyone in my presence. I agree that it could be misunderstood. I misunderstood the kiss I witnessed between you and Mr. Uker." He was looking away, thinking.
She swallowed a deep sigh and nodded instead. "Exactly," she said. She was very much aware that he was still holding her close. How ironic that while in his arms was where she had wanted to be, she now wanted him to let her go desperately. She felt like his touch was breaking her heart.
"We should only kiss if we are alone," was her captain's conclusion. Now Teagan was glad that he was still holding her. If he hadn't been, her buckling knees would have left her on the ground. She grabbed at his arms to steady herself and he tightened his grasp. "Are you alright, Teagan?" he asked, concerned.
"I think I have been standing in one place for too long. Can I sit, please?" she was forced to ask, as he still held her. Data released her body, but captured her hand in order to help her to the ground.
He crouched down in front of her. She was too pale, he decided. She was upset about the kiss, but he was not going to back down unless she insisted on it. He had wanted that kiss. Waited for that kiss. And she had responded to it. She had not pulled away or slapped his face or ran from him. She had stayed in his arms and returned his kiss. But she had also responded to Mr. Uker's kiss. Relationships were much easier to understand without emotional involvement. It looked so easy when one was on the outside looking in.
While she had made it clear that she felt there were certain lines that they should not cross, perhaps he could convince her to move it a little. "I also believe it should not be a frequent occurrence," Data said, making it clear that he was not finished with this topic.
"I'm not sure I follow you, sir," Teagan said, astounded they were still talking about this.
"It would seem to me that this form of expression would lose its meaning if overused. I could be mistaken, but for now, I believe that it would be best to proceed slowly. However, I wish to be sure that you are aware of how much value I place on my friendship with you. You have assisted in my assimilation with my crew. In effect, you have acted as a bridge enabling me to better understand them and for them to be able to understand me. I will never forget that, Teagan."
She looked embarrassed by his praise and looked at her feet for a moment. "Thank you. I guess even captains need help once in awhile," she said slowly.
"This one does. Have you rested sufficiently?" he asked. She nodded, but before she could stand, the captain came out of his crouch and spoke again. "Good, because there is one additional thing I would like you to remember," he said as he extended a hand to assist her in standing.
"What's that?" she asked brushing moss from her uniform.
He grinned and reached out to touch her lightly on the tip of her nose. "I tagged you and that makes you 'it'." Without another word, he turned quickly from her and disappeared back into the forest.
"Men, regardless of what they're made of, where all made with the intent to drive women crazy." She muttered this, but due to the sound reflection of the foliage the captain still heard her and grinned.