Signal Fire (1/7)

[cloudydaise]

Signal Fire
Scotty/Gaila
PG-13
Warning: Don't let the first chapter fool you. This is going to be much angstier than its predecessors.


Gaila looked around her quarters in frustration. It was so bare these days. She could never find anything anymore. Without realizing it, over the past several months she'd been relocating her belongings to Scotty's place. It made sense, really... she was there almost every night anyway.

Life would be so much easier if they just lived together. With a sigh, she dialed him up on the viewscreen. "Scotty, what are you doing?"

"Online barokie. What are you doing?"

"Looking for my shit. I've left like everything I own over there, so put on some pants because I'm coming over."

"You've left wha - "

Gaila hung up.



Scotty pulled some pants on. She'd left what here? Everything I own. That didn't make sense. All Scotty saw around his quarters were his own things. Well, except for that lamp. And that pillow was hers. And she kept some clothes in the closet, but that was perfectly reasonable... and that was all, really.

No... no, it wasn't, because as he slowly turned on the spot, surveying the room with growing panic, he saw that the room was filled with her things. Gaila had left things all over the place. There was even a strange little puppy statue sitting on his desk. What the hell was that? Why the hell did she need that in here?

There was only one possible explanation for all of this: Gaila was secretly trying to move in with him.

Scotty thought he might start hyperventilating.



When Gaila arrived at his quarters, Scotty was mid-nervous breakdown. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing here!" he said, brandishing an ugly statue at her. "Because I do! I see right through you, Gaila!"

She brushed past him. "What are you talking about?" She went to the dresser.

"The pillows, and the lamps, and the, the, the weird... statues! And all the things in the bathroom? Well! It's obvious, isn't it! You're trying to move in here! Hold on," he said, finally noticing that she was rummaging around in one of his dresser drawers. "What are you doing? That's my stuff."

"Oh really?" Gaila held up a red lacy thong. "This is yours?"

"Oh..." Scotty blushed.

"That statue isn't mine, by the way. Sulu gave you that for your birthday last month."

"Oh." Scotty remembered being drunk at that party. He tossed the statue onto the bed. "Don't change the subject! How did your stuff get into my drawer?"

"This is my drawer, dearest. I asked for it, and you gave it to me."

"What? What? When did you ask me for it?"

"Kind of a while ago..."

"Oh really! Was I awake when you asked?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly?! So that means I was not fully aware of the request, and therefore you took advantage of me while in a less than fully conscious state!"

"You've never complained about that before..."

"Gaila! This is serious!"

"All right," she said, turning to him with a hand on her hip. "Would you have said no if you'd been totally awake?"

Scotty thought about this. "No," he said eventually.

"Well, there we go. I don't know what you're so upset about." She continued her search.

"It's the principle of the thing!" Scotty protested. "The next time you ask me something when I'm half asleep, can you leave me a note letting me know about it? Please?"

"Fine. Oooh, here they are." Gaila extracted a pair of short blue pajama bottoms from the drawer. She quickly slipped into them, distracting Scotty momentarily. "I think I'm going to stay here tonight." She yawned and went into the bathroom. "If that's okay with you, of course," she called back to him.

Scotty sat down heavily in his desk chair. "Yes, that's fine," he said.

After a few moments, Gaila emerged from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. "You know, I was thinking. I'm here all the time, right?"

"Yes."

"And so much of my stuff is here already, right?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Would it really be so bad if we lived together?"

"Gaila..."

"Scotty, come on. We practically do now. Nothing would even change."

"I just... don't think it's a good idea. I mean, we've only been together for..." He frowned.

"More than a year," said Gaila.

"What? Really?"

She rolled her eyes and went back into the bathroom.

Scotty followed her. "But don't you like having a place to get away from me? We work together all day. If we lived together too, we'd have to see each other all the time."

Gaila spit out her toothpaste. "Do you like having somewhere to get away from me?"

Scotty blanched. "I, um..."

"Scotty... I know you get bored without me."

He blinked, and his mouth hung open while he tried to think of a response to that. He closed his mouth when he realized she was right. "All the same..."

Gaila was about to retort when Scotty's communicator sounded in the other room. He met her eyes in the mirror for a moment before leaving to answer it.

It was the captain, cheery as ever. "Mr. Scott, would you mind gracing the bridge with your presence? We've got a little bit of a situation... nothing too serious, but your insight would be appreciated."

"Aye, sir. I'm on my way."

Gaila was leaning against the frame of the bathroom door as Scotty finished pulling his uniform on, her face scrubbed clean of makeup, her hair brushed out and slightly frizzy because of it. "I guess we'll finish this conversation later," she said.

"I suppose so," he said, trying to sound less grateful than he felt.

"Well, go on then," she said, smiling a little. "You know how impatient Sir Captain gets."

Scotty smiled too, then, impulsively, he went to her and kissed her full on the mouth. It was quick but passionate, and they were both breathless afterwards.

"Hmm..." said Gaila, after he had pulled away and was headed for the door. "Hurry back!"

"You can count on it," he called back, and the door slid shut behind him.


chapter two