"… and then they PROMOTED HIM," Mariner yelled into the comm panel and Tendi gasped.

"Anyways, it was shitty. But at least Boims gets his own quarters for us to sneak off to," Mariner concluded, realizing that this was kind of a blessing.

"So, let's see…" Tendi grabbed her PADD, "we can go skiing."

"Too cold," Mariner replied.

"Hiking?"

"Bugs."

"Dinner and Dancing?"

"Do the boys even know how to dance?" Mariner snorted.

"Well, we're not allowed back at Historic Bozeman," Tendi sighed.

"What about desert racing?" Mariner suggested, smiling as she realized that the little off-road vehicles were only two seaters.

"That should be fine with the boys," Tendi agreed, doing a search on her PADD, "I can get reservations for 4 at 14:30 in Nevada."

"That's right up Boims and Ruthie's alley," Mariner laughed, "Send me the transporter coordinates and I will get them to Boims. I need to call him anyway."

Her stomach fluttered a bit as she waited for the comms to connect. She hadn't been in a great mood at the end of their night, and she felt guilty for passing her mood on to him.

"Hi," he said with a smile when their call connected.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," she smiled.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"I'm okay. I just needed to sleep on it. Besides, we're going to have an amazing time today with Rutherford and Tendi," she said with a smile.

"We're not stealing the Phoenix again, are we? I don't know that Captain Freeman will bail us out this time," he smirked.

"Oh, she definitely won't. I'm probably on her shit list this week," Mariner laughed.

"What time?"

"We have reservations for desert racing at 1430," she said, sending transporter coordinates to him.

"I'll see you there," he said.

"Wait, do you want to come over now? I can't cook, but I can replicate you breakfast," she laughed.

"Like I said, I'd eat rations as long as you were there," he said with a laugh even though he wasn't joking.

"Give me 15 minutes to get dressed," she said, looking down at her wrinkled RITOS t-shirt.

She raced her way through a sonic shower and spent more than 5 minutes trying to decide what to wear, throwing her hair into her usual ponytail. It was another rare opportunity to remind Boimler that she had a personality outside of Starfleet, so she was putting a lot of effort into her clothing choices.

When he rang the door chime, she was pulling on a pair of comfortable boots. "Come in," she shouted, the computer releasing the lock on the door.

Boimler crossed the threshold into the apartment living room with a smile.

"Ensign Mariner reporting for duty, sir. What are your orders?" Mariner stood, saluting him.

"You're going to make fun of me until the end of time, aren't you?" he said dryly, crossing his arms.

"Hey, I think you owe me a Thank You!" she replied, her hands on her hips, "Who knew that dating me would get you promoted?!"

"Dating me is probably going to get you promoted," he laughed, crossing the room to hug her, "I think your dad is going to hold me personally responsible if you get in trouble again."

"Well, at least this time we will get transferred to Starbase 80 together," she smiled.

"No way. We're resigning our commissions if that happens," he shook his head, "We can join the Nighbright Alliance."

"Or become Orion pirates," Mariner suggested.

"It's probably easier just to keep you out of trouble, honestly," he laughed, enveloping her in another hug.

"Thanks for defending me in front of my parents last night," she whispered, looking up at him.

"I've never seen you so upset," he said softly, "It was scary."

"Change the subject before I cry again," she instructed, extracting herself from his arms and leading him to the kitchen.

"Are you ready to begin phase one of Operation Samvana?" he asked her as she replicated their breakfast.

"I figure if we are super adorable and cute in front of them today, at least Tendi will start thinking about getting a boyfriend," Mariner reasoned, drumming her fingers on the countertop.

"So, I should be Bold Boimler today?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Well, that is one of my favorite versions of Boimler," she said with a smile, "Along with Chaotic Boimler from the job fair."

"Really? I'm usually screaming inside my head on any given day. That day just pushed me past my limit," he laughed, taking his plate from her as they walked to the table.

"Well, our first fight should be interesting, considering we both fly off the handle," Mariner observed.

"First fight? More like 100th," he pointed out, "The difference now is that making up will be so much better."

She raised her eyebrow and regarded him with a smirk, "Doodle and Dagger in Crisis Point 4?" Both of them laughed at her contemporary attempt at Tamarian.

Tendi transported over from the Starfleet Visiting Officers' quarters in San Francisco, arriving to the entrance of the racetrack at the exact same time as Rutherford, who had transported from his family's home.

"Tendi!" Rutherford said with his usual excitement.

"Rutherford! I missed you! What have you been up to?" She gave him a quick hug.

"Billups and I went to the Robot World Series yesterday! It was amazing!"

"Did you hear that Mariner and Boimler are dating now?!" Tendi blurted out in a hurry, looking around to be sure that they hadn't arrived already.

"What? No way!" Rutherford said, "Finally!"

"And the captain found out and gave Boims a promotion!" Tendi continued.

"Oh wow, I bet Boims is excited," Rutherford said, the rest of his sentence cut off by the sound of a materializing transporter beam.

"Hey Hey!" Mariner greeted them, pulling them into a group hug.

"Hey Lieutenant!" Rutherford high fived Boimler.

They walked together into the racetrack, taking a look around at the muddy and dusty structures as electric motors revved in the distance. They followed the signage to the driver sign in booth and then Tendi and Mariner headed off to the garage area to pick up their vehicles.

"Care to make a wager? My girlfriend vs. your girlfriend?" Boimler elbowed Rutherford as Tendi and Mariner checked in at the garage.

"Uhh," Rutherford laughed uncomfortably, "she's not—"

"Yes, I know. But you can't tell me you've never thought about it," Boimler said, trying to plant the seed of an idea as he and Mariner agreed they would do, "You're probably thought about it at least 5 times this week, haven't you?"

"Ummm, okay then," Rutherford agreed, laughing uncomfortably again, "Loser has to go against Mariner and Tendi in anbo-jitsu while the winner watches."

"Hmm, sounds fair," Boimler said, holding his hand out to shake on their agreement.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be doing boys versus girls?" Tendi whined as she and Mariner returned with the keys to their vehicles.

"No one should let me drive anything," Boimler laughed, elbowing Mariner.

"Sorry Tendi. Besides, you and Rutherford make a great team!" Mariner explained, taking off her boots to step into the racing fire suit they were required to wear. She turned to Boimler to help him finish zipping his racing suit, giving him a quick kiss.

"How disgusting," Tendi mumbled angrily as she walked off toward their 4 wheeled 2-seater with Rutherford.

"Aww, I think it's cute," Rutherford protested, "At least they aren't fighting. I hate it when they fight."

Tendi sighed. "It is cute."

"Are you jealous?" Rutherford asked, avoiding her eyes as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"No," Tendi said after a moment, knowing she was lying to her best friend.

"Well, put it out of your mind. Boims and I made a wager, and I really don't want to get my ass kicked by you and Mariner in anbo-jitsu," Rutherford said, fastening his 5-point harness.

Tendi was fighting with her harness and grumbling what Rutherford assumed were Orion curse words. He reached over and untangled the right-hand strap, gently adjusting the harness to fit her properly and then snapping it closed.

"Thanks," she said, looking up at him for a moment, their eyes meeting.

"Come on guys!" Mariner yelled, ruining the moment with a honk of her vehicle's horn.

Tendi growled and Rutherford laughed as their own vehicle's electric motor came to life, whirring powerfully. She looked over at Mariner with a death stare, "Head-to-head, 5 laps!"

Mariner winked at Tendi and then pulled down her safety glasses with a smile. "If you beat her, I'll let you write the entire ending scene of Crisis Point 3," Boimler said over the whine of their vehicle.

"Throw in a back massage and it's a deal," Mariner said, following Tendi to the starting line of the oval track.

"You can have as many back massages as you like," he said.

Loud rock music blasted from the timing and scoring tower as several more vehicles lined up at the starting line. "Racers, prepare for 5 laps of racing. Flag drops in 30 seconds," the announcer boomed.

"Come on Beck, you got this," Boimler encouraged her, reaching over to squeeze her leg as she gripped the steering wheel with both hands.

"I like it when you call me that, Brad," she yelled to him over the sounds of the other racers revving up their motors. They shared a quick flirty glance as the countdown clock reached zero and the green flag dropped.

Mariner stomped on the accelerator and shot out in front of the group, causing Boimler to grab the safety handles instinctually. Mariner laughed maniacally as she threw the vehicle into a slide around the first turn, able to get a look at Tendi, who was fighting her way through the crowd of vehicles to take the 3rd position.

The announcer for timing and scoring narrated the race for the spectators in the stand as the drivers fought through 4 of the 5 laps, Mariner continuing to dominate the race as Tendi was neck and neck with the second-place driver.

When the white flag dropped for the last lap, Tendi decided she was going to give it her all and turn the race into a contact sport. Sliding through the first turn, she traded some paint with the second-place driver, causing him to hesitate just long enough for Tendi to slide past him. She laughed victoriously and hit the accelerator to catch up with Mariner, who had secured a sizable lead.

"Here comes Tendi!" Boimler yelled to Mariner, watching the track in his rear-view mirror.

"Hold on tight!" Mariner replied, pressing the accelerator to the floor and gritting her teeth through the second turn, gripping the steering wheel.

Mariner felt a jolt as Tendi slammed her front bumper into Mariner's rear bumper as they rounded the third turn and into the fourth. "GO GO GO!" Mariner yelled to her vehicle as they hit the final straightaway, drag racing Tendi to the finish.

"A photo finish!" the announcer crowed, Mariner and Boimler looking at each other in disbelief.

"How did she catch us?!" Boimler yelled as they took a final lap to slow down.

"I bet Rutherford did something to that motor," Mariner laughed.

Pulling into the pit area, Tendi and Rutherford high-fived and laughed, certain that they had won. Their laughter was short lived as the announcer called out that Car 5, Mariner's vehicle, had won.

"Aww, man!" Rutherford groaned as Mariner and Boimler pulled up beside them.

"Can't even win when you cheat!" Mariner laughed, raising an eyebrow at Tendi.

"You can't prove that!" Tendi retorted, trying very hard not to laugh as she shared a sly look with Rutherford.

They parked their vehicles in the pit area and climbed out, Mariner looking over to see Rutherford help Tendi unbuckle her harness and climb out of the driver's seat. Mariner met Boimler's eyes and they both smiled, secretly sharing a high five.

"That was super fun even though we lost the bet," Rutherford said, unzipping his race suit.

"I'll go easy on you, Ruthie," Mariner promised as they laughed.

"We should meet up later and have dinner at my sister's restaurant," Boimler suggested, not wanting the fun time with his friends to end, "Drinks, dinner, dancing."

Tendi and Mariner snorted.

"What's wrong with that?" Rutherford asked, slightly oblivious as always.

"We didn't think you guys would want to go dancing," Tendi explained innocently.

"It's a live band, and they play mostly jazz versions of modern songs," Boimler explained, trying to brush some of the dust off his race suit before unzipping it.

"I'm going to need a shower and a nap first," Tendi yawned.

"I'll send the coordinates to your PADDs when I get home," Boimler said, hoping Tendi and Rutherford would take the hint to leave.

They all waved goodbye, Boimler putting his arm around Mariner to pull her closer. When Tendi and Rutherford were finally gone, he turned to her with a smile, "Okay, you were right, I think we've got something we can work with here with Tendi and Ruthie."

"Let's see if we can get them to dance together tonight," Mariner agreed, yawning.

"You need a raktijino," Boimler laughed, gently brushing a few wispy hairs out of her eyes. Both of them were covered in mud and dirt.

"But when do I get my back massage?" she smirked.

"Maybe tonight if you're lucky," he whispered in her ear suggestively.