Part 16: Dahlia

"... and by the time she got back, the whole engine was back together again! Like it had never been taken out!"

Dahlia howled with laughter, slapping the table. "We were like, 'Where you been, Chiya?' The expression on her face was golden."

"Oh man. That poor kid." Dahlia wiped her eyes and finished her drink, adding another bottle to the group on the table. "Bolt straightener? That's borderline cruelty. No wonder she's a drunk."

"Ah. We tease her because we love her. She knows that."

The carpenter shook her head for a moment, letting out a sigh. "You know, I think tonight was exactly what I needed. A get together with friends. Good drinks, and better stories."

"You never have that with your crew?"

"No, I do. But it's always the same people. Me, Chloe and Freya. Sometimes Makai, Murakami, or Andrea, or… Rosie… We've heard each other's stories, know each other's families, and our get-togethers are usually the same. Meet at my place, or sometimes go fishing, play cards or video games, get drunk, everybody goes home. Go to work, repeat. It gets old, but we've been doing it forever. It's become a tradition."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help spice up your night." Reira said with a playful wink. While taking a sip of her drink, she caught a glimpse of the clock. "Holy shit, it's already after midnight?"

Dahlia looked up. "Wow... That's late."

"And you drank too much." Nakajima shrugged, swaying about in her seat. "I guess you're stuck here tonight."

"I'm fine with that. Haven't been to a sleepover in a while."

"We'll figure out an arrangement later. For now…" The tanker stood up. "You like American music, right?"

"I do. Why?"

"Because I have an idea. I have a new favorite song that I think you might like. When I first heard it, I didn't understand a word of it, but I was able to work out the lyrics."

Nakajima clumsily walked towards her computer, waking it up and scrolling through her saved music. "The whole album is awesome. I think you'll like it."

(Eagle Birds - The Black Keys)

As the song started, Reira nodded her head to the beat and paced back to Dahlia.

"C'mere." She held out her hand.

"Ehh… what?"

"Come on. Dance with me." Despite lacking a partner, the girl started swaying her hips and quietly singing along, albeit with an intoxicated delay.

"I don't dance, Nack."

"Oh, come on! What? Ya scared?"

Dahlia narrowed her eyes at her friend, standing up with a wobble. She braced herself against her chair.

"I'm a foreman. I'm not… scared of anything."

Nakajima grinned devilishly and took the carpenter's hand, taking the lead in their impromptu dance. Dahlia found herself simply watching, a smile creeping up as she saw how happy Reira was. As the carpenter spun the mechanic around, she started listening to the lyrics, which she could just make out over Reira's laughter and off key singing.

Feel you simmer down

In the pan

Feed me dinner right out

From your hand

Nakajima pulled Dahlia's hand forward and cupped her own chin with it as she sang along, before pushing away and spinning herself around.

All night long I

Had you on my mind

Flying high

Reira slid across the wood floor on her socked feet, her arms out like wings.

Don't nobody wanna be lonely

Everybody ought to be loved sometime

In another slide, Nakajima crashed into Dahlia, the carpenter barely keeping them upright.

She loves me right

Hands on her shoulders, the Leopon commander gazed up into her friend's eyes. In that moment, both girls found something that they had been looking for, and hoping to find respectively. Nakajima's eyes darted down to Dahlia's lips, then back up a few times. A grin crept up, and, as the song's guitar solo picked up, she stood up on her tiptoes and planted a firm kiss on her unexpecting lips.

Dahlia was taken by complete surprise, and pulled her hands away from Reira's hips. The mechanic pulled back for a moment, finding a shocked carpenter. Nakajima scanned her face for a moment. Panic rising up, she started to form an apology, before Dahlia pulled her back in to return the kiss. Reira wrapped her arms around the taller girl's neck as their lips danced. As the song lyrics started again, the two separated, and they eyed each other with nervous smiles and chuckles.

"Where did that come from?" Dahlia asked after a moment, her cheeks hot and pink.

"Heh… I'd call it instinct." Nakajima replied with a grin, which quickly vanished. "Ahh… What do we do now?"

"You started it." The carpenter said. "I'm just following your lead."

Reira bit her lip and wiggled her hips between Dahlia's hands. "Well in that case, you ever been with a girl before?"

The carpenter shook her head and started to pull away. "Nack… you're drunk."

"We both are~. Ehee..."

"Well, you're much drunker than I am."

"And given your kissing skill, *hic* I'd wager you're in just as good a mood as me~."

Dahlia did have to admit to that. It had been some time since she had been intimate with anyone, and Nakajima had managed to catch her eye recently. That didn't include how adorable she was at the moment, or how beautiful she looked in something other than her coveralls. The tight black jeans and loose fitting Operating Engineers hoodie didn't help with Dahlia's efforts to resist.

For the carpenter, it seemed as if Nakajima had been planning this, possibly since Dahlia had told her about the end of her first and so far only relationship. Coupled with Nack's own lack of a love interest, that theory became more plausible, yet also slightly depressing.

Then again, all of this could have been brought on by how drunk the two girls were. The last thing the carpenter wanted was a night like this to be looked back on with regret.

Blinking for a moment, Dahlia shrugged.

"Ah… what's the worst that could happen?"

Reira pulled herself closer to the taller girl, their noses less than an inch apart. "You end up in a loving relationship with the best mechanic on the whole damn ship." She said, her voice barely over a whisper.

"And… best?"

"Ehh…" The mechanic hesitated. "We both wake up sad and alone on New Years?"

"I'll take that chance." The carpenter grinned and let herself be pulled down again, before Reira began leading the pair to her bedroom.

A/N: Sooo... in case anyone doesn't know, Dahlia is my self insert

The next few chapters involving her aren't an admittance of anything, just for the record

As much as I personally like Leopon team, I simp for Shinobu and Piyotan. It's a toss up

So yeah