Surprise, surprise! So I've actually decided to keep this story on here, why? Because it's just a project I'm doing for fun with no intent to publish or rewrite. I hope you enjoy ;)

"Zehra you got—aha—" Thea cackled, falling into another fit of laughter.

Reaching up, Zehra touched her face, coming away with lipstick where it shouldn't have been. Warm enveloped her face like fire as she marched very quickly to the bathroom. What the stars was she thinking? Kissing Thea like that? Touching her like that?

She closed the bathroom door quickly, pressing her hands against the wall. This was a bad idea. It wasn't going to end well for either of them. A pale, lavender glow proceeded from the walls to reveal a large tub, shower, and sink with wide counter space. There were three boxes underneath the sink, just as there were boxes in every space of the house. Zehra walked over to the sink, viciously scrubbing at her face until she removed every bit of the lipstick on her face. Looking up, she noticed a faded note in the corner of the mirror.

When she got closer, she noticed the writing was small and delicate. Was it Thea's someone else's?

Written in small letters were: Smile, T, the brighter you smile, the brighter the world is, and the pain will be chased away.'It fell from its place, floating towards the ground.

"Starshit, I didn't even touch that scrap of paper," Zehra muttered, making sure to dry off her hands before she went to retrieve it.

She squatted down, and picked it up. A small photo fell out from behind it. Zehra froze. A woman dressed in extravagant silks held a small Thea over her head, mid spin. Pure joy radiated from the picture, but even that could not hide the telltale signs of the beginnings of a disease Zehra recognized. The veins being close to the surface, the skin unnaturally becoming more translucent. . . Had Thea's mother known since then and said nothing?

Carefully putting the photo back behind the paper, Zehra placed them on the mirror. She'd ask Janice later, she didn't want to ask Thea, not yet. This was a very personal experience that in reality, she had no business knowing about. Stars, if only she hadn't seen that photo. Putting on a good front, she left the bathroom to find Janice and Thea sitting on the bed with popcorn.

"What took you so long?" Thea asked, popping some in her mouth.

Starshit, why'd she have to look cute when doing that too?

Zehra cleared her throat. "Wasn't familiar with your restroom, that's all."

Which was as true as it was a lie.

Janice raised a brow, clearly seeing through it, but Thea didn't do anything to indicate suspicion.

Thea patted a spot on the opposite side of her. "Come sit down, we're going to watch something together. Unless you need to go."

"The dance is likely wrapping up by now, I had no other plans for the evening. A movie sounds lovely," Zehra said, walking over to the side of the bed and sitting next to Thea.

Janice jumped up, entering something into the glowing projection. "Now, this isn't my favorite movie, but I just had to show it to you. Remember that marathon of bad movies we did over a year ago, Thea? This is by that same director."

"Oh stars," Thea snorted. "We shouldn't make the Cap suffer that."

Suffer? Suffer what?

"I have a feeling Zehra is going to be around more, she may as well get used to the bad movies now. It's not the worst thing she's going to learn," Janice stated, a clear stab at something further.

Thea's smile faltered and she curled into herself more. "Y-yeah, I guess you're right."

Frowning, Zehra reached out, grabbing Thea's hand before she could think to stop herself. "You are not required to talk to me about anything you don't want to."

The deep pink that rose to Thea's cheeks made Zehra realize what she had done in front of Janice. She went to pull her hand away, but Thea closed her fingers around it. "No, it's okay. This is nice."

"I knew it!" Janice shouted, sliding on her knees on the floor to be in front of them. "So. . ." Her eyes glittered with mischief. "Did you do anything while I was gone? Give me the deets."

Zehra coughed. "I think we should just wat—"

"We kissed! The captain kissed me!" Thea cried as if she were blurting a secret following intense torment.

Janice gasped, a wide smile that caused her ears to raise crossed her face. "Really!" She squealed.

Zehra grimaced at the intensity of the noise. This did not constitute acting immaturely.

Getting to her feet, Janice squealed again. "You kissed!"

Thea nodded, her face glowing. "We kissed!"

"Zehra, I need to steal Thea for a friend moment, sorry," Janice stated with a somber nod. She grabbed Thea and pulled her away into the other room.

Face palming, Zehra was relieved only that the squealing would continue at a distance. If only she couldn't hear the very loud whispers from down the hall.

"Was it good? Is she a good kisser? Did she use tongue?" Janice asked in a flurry.

Oh stars, could they not? Zehra buried her face in her hands.

"She's an amazing kisser, like I—" Thea's voice dropped lower, thankfully unable to be heard.

"You're serious? Starshit, are all Captain's like that? I need to get myself a Captain," Janice murmured.

Now that Zehra hadn't heard what was said, she wished she had. What was Thea saying about her? It was obviously positive if Janice reacted like that. But, she sighed, at the same time she didn't want to know. Not right now. It was fine. This was fine. She was fine. Just in the home of a strange, but cute woman she very much liked even though they had only known each other a short while.

What would happen when the vacation ended? Zehra would have to leave, going stars knows where. For now, she'd allow this to play out as it wished to, but there would come a time, if things got serious, where they would need to talk about that. Not tonight. Tonight they would watch a movie together, hold hands, maybe kiss after Janice left. The thought of Thea's lips on hers again filled Zehra with an excitement she hadn't noticed she was missing. How long had it been since the last time she was with anyone? Probably training camp.

Her hand brushed briefly over the dog tag she wore beneath her shirt. Cassie had been one of the first to fall. That's what happened on the front lines. Zehra smiled at the memory, despite the pain it elicited. They had been kids, sneaking into the locker room during meal times, finding hidden corners to make out. Four times out of twenty they'd get caught and be forced to clean the restrooms or get put on cafeteria duty, but no one had the time to watch them, which just resulted in more time to play around. Clutching the dog tag in her hands, Zehra exhaled, unable to erase the image of Cassie's scattered body across the ground. She could still remember the feeling of the blood covering her arms as she held her girlfriends torso until she drew her last breath.

War was never pretty. No one truly won in the end, they simply fought for their lives while starshitted politicians placed land and resources above the sanctity of living beings. There was no honor in murder and massacre.

But this was not war. Thea was not in danger. Zehra was far from her starship. This would be different. There was no stress, no death looming over tomorrow, just a planet of civilians, and a few jerks the world could do without.

Janice and Thea skipped back to the bedroom. "Friend meeting adjourned, let's watch the movie."

Thea flopped back down next to Zehra, grabbing her hand gently. A dorky smile pulled across her face, tempting Zehra to close the distance and plant a kiss on her lips. Clearing her throat, she straightened, deciding it was best not to.

The movie started playing on the screen, Zehra could already tell from the setting that this was a low budget film. It started in someone's house.

"I told you, Garret," a woman with a very low cut dress said, pressing the man against a wall. "You can't be here in the daylight." She turned around, throwing her hand very dramatically to her forehead. "My husband will see."

"But he cannot stop this," Garret said, grabbing her hand and flinging himself on his knees. "He cannot stop this feeling."

Zehra blinked as things progressed from words to movements and uh—ew. "Janice—why is this movie so graphic?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention what kind of bad movies I like mocking?" Janice asked, taking another handful of popcorn.

"You just said bad movies, nothing more," Zehra stated, looking between Thea and Janice. "Is this—"

"An adult film? Yes, a very cheaply made adult film," Janice stated.

Zehra choked, attempting to block out the noises coming from the screen. "Why?"

Janice shrugged. "Some people are on a budget so—"

"No, why are we watching this?" Zehra interrupted.

"Because it's funny," Janice said, cackling as something awkward happened between Garret and Garnet. "See, it's comedy gold."

This was going to be a long movie night.