As Smug As a Bug
Posted on Mon Feb 2nd, 2026 @ 3:54am by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Tessa di'Orion
Mission:
Lower Decks
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Morning after April 25th
Henry had been awake for almost half an hour when he felt Tessa stir next to him. He'd had a lot on his mind, but he hadn't wanted to try and move, lest he disturb her. The feeling of her against him as she slept felt too good to interrupt. He looked down as he heard her yawn and watched her blue eyes appear as she blinked, waking up slowly. He smiled and moved down a bit, kissing her softly. "Good morning, Angel," he said, quietly.
Tessa gave a happy little sound as his lips met hers, the kiss soft and short, but still full of meaning and love, “Good morning,” She whispered back, having slept soundly and quite well, “You look happy today.”
"You're still here, I'm still holding you. Why shouldn't I be happy?" he said, smiling. "And most importantly, I'm happy that you look happy as well."
She kissed him on the tip of the nose before she wiggled in closer, “It’s a pity we need to get ready to go to work, isn’t it? Otherwise a few more hours here would be just glorious.”
Henry grinned, unable to disagree. "True," he said. "but if we play hookey, Doctor Kellerman would know immediately why we're both absent." He kissed her again, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "But I'm glad I made a good impression," he said, blushing a bit and grinning shyly.
“You did, not that I had anyone to compare to, only the stories of others.” She giggled, “But they were enough to tell me that you’re pretty good at this.”
He looked at her funny then laughed and blushed harder. "Um, thank you. Although, Tessa, full disclosure...you weren't the only one experiencing something for the first time last night."
“I don’t believe you.” Tessa said automatically, then stopped, “Really? I thought that all Federationers were um…well, generally experienced from a younger age, I guess?”
"Some of us," Henry said. "Some of us very much so. I never..." He blushed. "There haven't been a lot opportunities. The only other person I was close enough to..." He blushed harder, the bad memory putting a momentary frown on his face, but he pushed it aside and shook his head. "Tessa, what matters to me, is that I experienced it with someone worth waiting for." He kissed her again and smiled again, genuinely happy.
They arrived together, hand in hand, but something seemed different than previous days. Certainly the two days off that Tessa had just had meant she was well rested, but she just carried herself differently. It wasn't the uniform she wore, that was basically identical to the ones she'd been wearing to sickbay the entire time. Perhaps it was how she walked? The smug look on her face was definitely different than how she usually looked and the fact that she was snugged up next to Henry as they walked.
They exchanged a few words at the entrance, then shared a brief kiss and a lingering of their hands on the other, but then they went their separate ways and that smile, that satisfied smile that transcended all other emotions she exhibited was back on her face as she walked, not skipped or bounced, over to where Kally was, "Good morning Lady Kellerman; how are you this lovely morning?"
Kally had a mug of coffee in her hand and it paused by her lips as she looked Tessa over. Tessa's grin was too wide, her eyes too bright. Kally knew that look; it was usually on her own face. Her eyes got wide as she looked at Tessa's contented expression and glanced at Henry, who was trying to look like he wasn't glancing back at Tessa. Kally looked back at her and gave her a grin and wink, then turned and headed for her office.
Like a dutiful intern, because that was basically what she was, Tessa followed her into the office. “I went ahead and started to get ahead on the rest of Klingon anatomy, their limbic and digestive systems, I plan on musculoskeletal tonight if I have the opportunity.” She mentioned offhand as she let the door slide closed behind her, wondering if Kally were going to ask.
"Which you won't," Kally said with a knowing smile. "And that's all right. You're in no rush." She looked at her for a moment. "You do realize that any physical relationship between a Federation species and a non-Federation species has to be approved by the Chief Medical Officer to ensure no lasting health issues, correct?" She gave her a stern look. "Quite a bit of paperwork to fill out before you begin this."
“Oh, I will.” Tessa countered the proclamation that she’d be too distracted by Henry to study. She took that particular thing very seriously, “But no, being of a non-Federation species and without any of the formal training involved in such, I wasn't aware, and Henry didn’t say anything about it. But I don’t see anything that would be harmful? I don’t have spikes or anything anywhere that could cause injury to him or me. But,” she sighed, “I guess I need to start filling them out.”
Kally dropped the stern look and smiled. "Fortunately for you, your boyfriend is a rule stickler and began the forms a week ago, so everything's dated correctly. All we need is your signature and you're fine. I've already done enough scans of you both to know nothing adverse is going to be transmitted."
The Tialan scowled briefly at Kally, nothing so much as to be annoyed, but because she’d strung it out, then shook her head gently. “And if there had been anything I’d thought concerning during my own time learning about humans as a species or in regards to me, I’d have been the first to point them out as well.” Her smile was back though, “Still, that is concerning that there’s so much about Federation policy and procedures that I don’t know. Cass and I were given a briefing regarding emergency procedures, but most of it involved ‘follow the directions of Starfleet personnel at all times during an emergency’ and ‘here’s where to go if there is an emergency.”
"That's because you weren't a member of the crew, nor were you dating one," Kally said. "Now that you're on board to stay, we need to get you better acquainted with the system you're living in." She drummed her fingers on her desk. "I'll speak to some other members of the senior staff. We can begin some tutoring in other departments as well."
“Other departments?” Tessa’s eyes went wide, “But I’m not of Skull or Lind or Thrynn, not even Bey, really, despite what Cass has put me through. Everyone’s expected to know all of it?” She paused a moment, “But how did Henry know to fill the forms out? Okay, when, though, I mean, I didn’t know if he had the time.”
Kally smiled. "He brought me the forms the day after you told him you wanted children. Evidently you two are very much on the same page with that."
That warmed Tessa’s heart even more, that Henry would have acted that quickly even without her knowing about it. “He’s going to make a great father to our children you know, and they’re going to love their aunt Kally as well. Tialan children are usually well-behaved in any case, and you won’t have to worry about me missing work because of them, I promise! I’m here for the long term.”
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Kally said, smiling. "And as far as learning everything, you will be expected to learn some basics, yes. Even I had to pretend to take an engineering course at the academy." Her eyes glinted with wicked amusement.
"That sounds like there's a story there, but I've got a question for you..." Tessa blushed heavily, "How long is sex supposed to take? I mean, is it usually fast, or slow, or um..." She trailed off, clearly embarrassed about it.
Kally stifled a giggle. "Well, that depends on the couple," she said. "I, personally, consider it a marathon, not a sprint. I can attest that most of the people I've slept with feel the same way. Forgive me for prying but...was your time with Henry rushed? There are ways to....prolong the experience."
"Well, um.. Not really, the first time." Tessa said quietly, "Not that it was bad, it wasn't, but it didn't take that long, maybe three, four minutes? The second and third times were much better." Her face flushed again, "But what sort of ways are there to make it last longer? I could only imagine that it would feel better, too!"
"Well," Kally said, "there's what humans call 'foreplay.' You don't have to dive right into the main event. There are other ways of giving your partner pleasure using your hands and such."
"I tried that the other day, but it didn't turn out very well, you see..." Tessa cleared her throat and soldiered on, "I apparently have a *very* firm grip.
"Oh....oh poor Henry," Kally said, unable to keep from laughing. "Well, I'm sure by now he forgives you. I'd say, dedicate an evening to just trying some things out. Let him guide you and vice versa. I can give you some reading material with suggestions and instructions."
"If that would be possible, I just want to make sure he enjoys himself at least as much as I do." Tessa almost made mention that if there were some actual examples to see that it would also be very helpful, but she closed her mouth before taking a breath. "Perhaps if you could tell me about an example of some sort?"
"That's a conversation for after work," Kally said. "For now, we have a to-do list to attend to." She picked up another padd and waggled it in the air. "So, signature on the padd, and we will get started."
Tessa wrinkled her nose and pulled the padd and stylus on the table over towards her and scribbled a signature on it. "All right, there you go. Now, gimme the list! You know I'm always wanting to learn new things and that's just teasing!"
Kally grinned. "All part of the learning process," she said. "Now, let's go run some equipment diagnostics." She stood up and gestured for Tessa to follow as she walked out of her office.
