They both ran into Lt. Lataro's quarters breathing heavily. The run to get there almost wore them out. Even Lataro's injuries didn't stop him. After awhile of catching their breath, Lataro tapped in his codes to open the door.
"After you," he said when the door slid open.
K'Lara smiled at him then went into his quarters, Lataro following after her. When the lights came on, she saw that his quarters were tidy. Everything was in its place. She turned to look at him.
"A neat freak. You would have thought," she said with a smile. "You should see my quarters."
"Is that a hint, Lieutenant?" Lataro asked with a grin of his own.
K'Lara said nothing as she went over to the couch and sat down. She looked at him expectantly.
"So are you going to cook or replicate that dinner?" she asked teasingly.
Lataro looked at her, "I could make you cook it, you know."
She laughed and almost toppled over. She yelped when Lataro grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. He then released her, both of them breathless.
"We were going to take a shower first. Remember?" Lataro whispered. He heard a low growl from K'Lara's throat and he smiled. She remembered.
"Race you," she said, a feral gleam in her eyes. She then got out of his hold and ran to the bedroom. She looked back toward the main room to see a surprised Lataro. She laughed and turned on the light in the bathroom. Lataro followed, trying to think of a way to get the little minx back.
After an hour of bathing each other, the two sat down on the couch to eat. Lataro surprised her with a wonderful dish of lasagna. It was a recipe of his own that he had programmed into the computer. She was surprised that he could cook. Even if it was replicated. She smiled and took a fork full of the pasta. Her smile grew wider as she chewed it. She swallowed it and spoke: "Wow. It's delicious."
Lataro smiled as he took a fork full of his pasta. After a bit, he answered, "Glad you liked it. And thanks for coming to my rescue back there. I don't know how long I would have been in there."
"Probably until your next duty assignment," K'Lara answered. They looked at each other and nodded. He probably would have been in there that long.
"When I think I didn't do a good job at something I go to meditate. The Vulcan that taught me how to control my anger said that mediation was a good way to relax and put things into perspective. It helped me most of the time."
Lataro smiled, "What about the other times?"
"I'd go beat the crap out of the something," K'Lara answered, putting another fork full into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and continued. "I usually went into the holosuites like you did and run the most violent program I could find. I would also turn the safeties off. I'd spend up to a couple hours in there, just beating something up. I did that a lot at the Academy."
"Bad grades?"
K'Lara laughed, "No. Bad teachers." The two laughed, but K'Lara continued seriously, "I had a violent temper that I was trying to control. Most of the times it worked. Others it didn't. Instead of letting it out against a person, I went to the holosuites. I think it was better than therapy. I came back to classes feeling much better."
Lataro smiled and sipped his wine. "Kind of like I was doing today, huh?"
K'Lara raised an eyebrow at him, "Against that?! I could have whipped that little creature you were fighting. No, the monsters I fought were a lot tougher. They were mostly my own inner demons. I just gave them form."
Lataro nodded. He knew well about inner demons. He decided it was time to change the subject. "Enough morbid talking," he said, picking up the dishes. "How about dessert?"
K'Lara smiled, "What do you have in mind?"
Lataro flashed her his best grin and ordered the desert. It appeared on the tray, and he took it. He went over to the couch and set it down. K'Lara's eyes widened.
"What is it?"
"Death by Chocolate à la Lataro," his smile couldn't get any bigger.
Before them was a large dish filled with all kinds of chocolate ice cream. There were even a few scoops that she couldn't even recognize. She looked at him and smiled. Her eyes them turned feral. "You did say à la Lataro," she whispered as she picked up a scoop of ice cream.
"K'Lara. What are you doing?" Lataro got to his feet, but he wasn't fast enough. She slammed the ice cream into his face, and she laughed.
Soon they were engaged in a food fight. Ice cream ended up everywhere, most of it on them. Suddenly, there was no ice cream left for them to throw. They looked at each other, covered in chocolate and broke out laughing.
"We need another shower!" Lataro said between laughter.
"Who said anything about a shower," K'Lara stared which caused Lataro to stop laughing. They looked at each other and they felt a sudden magnetism between them that they had to obey.
They closed the gap between them and embraced each other in a deep and passion filled kiss. Lataro picked K'Lara up and headed into his bedroom.