"Working Out Every Muscle"; or "Welcome to the Sweet Spot Club"

Posted on Thu May 21st, 2026 @ 8:28pm by Captain Calypso Skyie & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sakura Tanikawa & Petty Officer 2nd Class Bradley Sharpe

Mission: Lower Decks
Timeline: A few days before Orgrann arrival

When people on a starship became romantically involved, one of the challenges for them to overcome is that their duty shifts do not necessarily always align. It was crucial for beings committed to each other to take advantage of whatever opportunities their schedules give them, whether for romance or for more domestic pursuits. The important thing was that they spend time together.

After a week of badly aligned schedules, Bradley Sharpe and Sakura Tanikawa had a pair of competing priorities: health/fitness and togetherness. Rather than let those compete, they decided to combine them. At that late hour, they were able to find an unoccupied gym room to get in an hour of exercise.

They were almost through their time on the treadmill when the door opened and admitted a third. They were surprised to see it was the Captain.

"Good evening, ma'am," Sakura said, waving and smiling as she ran in place.

“Good evening you two!” Cally said cheerfully as she entered the room, surprised that someone else was actually here at this time of night. Normally her impromptu workout sessions were solo, especially when she didn’t have company to pass the time with. The two treadmills in the room being taken up, she tossed her towel onto the handles of one of the stationary bicycles and mounted it to activate the programming, “I hope you don’t mind sharing the gym with The Old Lady tonight? I was a bit restless and was hoping to sweat off the extra energy.”

“You’re always welcome to join us Captain!” Sakura said cheerfully. “We had weird shifts all week and this is the first time we’ve been able to spend an evening doing anything. Neither of us really want to be working out, but Kally says it’s important and we can keep each other motivated!”

“I’m not sure the Captain wants to hear all this, Sakura,” Bradley said, a bit nervously.

“Nonsense! She loves to hear about her crew!” Sakura said with a grin. She checked the treadmill timer. Just a couple more minutes and they’d be ready for the weights.

"I really do, Bradley, believe it or not!" Cally started to bring herself slowly up to speed, that was one of the secrets to the bike, work your way up to what you want to sustain, "And it's good to see two young people in a healthy relationship, not just getting the exercise, but finding time for each other even when it's just easier to snatch a few minutes here and there. And Kally's right about staying motivated, fortunately I've always had this sort of thing as a habit, not just because I want to kick a particular engineers ass on the tennis court... Eventually."

“Well, I’d offer to play you,” Sakura said, “but I’ve never picked up a racket, and while Bradley is pretty good, Jenna kicked his ass too.”

“Hey!”

“Do I tell a lie?” she asked.

“I guess not,” Bradley answered with a grumble. “I’d like to say I held my own, but no she dominated me.”

“I didn’t think you were into that sort of thing.”

Bradley’s eyes went wide and he let out a nervous laugh. “C’mon babe, let’s go to the weights for a bit. I’ll spot you.”

"I didn't think that Jenna was int that sort of thing." Cally chuckled as she slowly worked her way up to speed, "I'll have to take you to the court myself, see how good you actually are, maybe even find a way that the two of us can gang up and keep her occupied enough to actually finish her off on the court."

The Captain sighed and leaned back as her legs kept moving along, "So I've heard that congratulations are in order for the two of you, isn't that right? If so, I suppose I've lost out on an opportunity!"

Sakura lay on a bench and lifted while Bradley kept an eye on her. "If the congratulations are because we're together, then thank you, Captain," he said.

"But I doubt it's a lost opportunity," Sakura said during her last lift. Her arms strained as she pushed the bar up one last time, Bradley guiding it back to its rack.

"Yeah I'm not sure what you meant by that," Bradley added.

Sakura sat up, got off the bench, and whispered something into her boyfriend's ear. He looked sheepish as he took her spot on the bench. Lying down under the weight bar did nothing to hide a bulge that had not been so prominent moments earlier.

Calypso chuckled at his look as she began to slow down, a bit concerned about Sakura spotting him, but more intrigued with how this conversation was going, "I get this feeling that you're a rather adventurous couple?"

"We try to be," Bradley admitted. Sakura watching out for him was helping him get a bit more comfortable talking about such things. "Babe, mind adjusting the weight for me please?"

"We added our names to the Sweet Spot tally last week," Sakura said with a grin as she digitally set the weight on the bar to Bradley's challenge level. "Oh, Captain, do you mind spotting him please? I can do it, but he's been pushing himself and it might be better if you did it."

"Certainly I can." Calypso grinned as she dismounted the bike and stretched widely before stepping over to the bench press area over by Bradley's head and making her own test lift of the new setting on the bar, "So, I have to ask: What is the 'Sweet Spot'? I don't think I've actually heard of it."

"Oh it's a really cool part of the ship!" Bradley said as he lifted, closing his eyes to focus. Sakura couldn't help but smile. Calypso had asked a question about a niche topic that her boyfriend loved and she'd let him go into detail. "It's a spot on most ships about halfway between the gravity generator and the main deflector. Gravity can get weird there. On the Chimera it's on deck twelve, in a Jeffries tube near junction 12-C-Gamma. All it is though is a kind of tight space where gravity brings you to the ceiling."

"And it's a ritual to fuck in it," Sakura added. "Not just here; on my last assignment too. There's a panel where people put their names after they've done the deed. Honestly Captain we were surprised not to see your name there."

Bradley opened his eyes as he was finishing his lifts, watching the Captain's chest as she spotted him.

Cally kept her hands ready to dart in as she made sure he wasn't about to overdo it with his reps, slightly leaning over him. "I didn't even know that the place existed, much yet use it!" She almost objected, "Besides, I don't often go crawling through the Jeffries tubes, not anymore at least, some people seem to think that it's not becoming of the Captain to do that."

Sakura giggled. “Sounds like you just need an invitation.”

Bradley lifted the bar back toward the hooks to get it back down. Confident with the Captain over him, he was able to get it in place without any problems. “Thank you,” he said, staring up at her.

"My pleasure." The look Cally gave them both was measured, "Of course, now that I do have two helpful young people here, would one of you mind spotting me?" She gave an expectant smile as she reset the weight level on the bar a bit lower, "But the better question I have is 'Who would have the moxie to invite me to The Sweet Spot?' I can't just mention it idly, unless it's to Kally, would be a bit too leading."

“I can,” Bradley said. “Um, spot you I mean.” He got off the bench and took his place at the head of the bench while Cally got into position.

“You know, I’m not sure Kally knows about it,” Sakura said as she did some lunges while holding dumbbells. “I didn’t see her name on the hall of fame, and I expected to.”

"Really?" Cally settled her hands on the bar and lifted it out, beginning her set of reps, "We may have to rectify that error then, unless either of you wanted to volunteer." She smiled up at Bradley with a wink, "I assume there isn't a signup sheet or anything for the use of the Tube?"

“No signup sheet,” Sakura said. “Just a good practice of waiting your turn if you hear other people enjoying each other.”

“And cleaning up,” Bradley added.

“That too,” Sakura agreed, giggling enough that she had to set her weights down. “The messy gravity does some interesting things with fluids. Something Fulvia taught me all too well when she brought me a few months ago.”

“You, ah, never told me that,” Bradley said, unsure where to look anymore and tenting quite uncomfortably.

Cally, looking up, noticed the sudden predicament of Bradley's and lost focus on what she was doing and the bar slipped in her hand. Bradley instantly reacted and grabbed the bar long enough for Cally to get her hand reset, "Thanks for that." She cleared her throat as she took the weight of the bar again, "Cleaning up, important. And that must have been fun with the two of you, Fulvia does look like she'd be a bit of fun, but never had the opportunity."

"Oh she is," Sakura said.

When Cally was done with the bar, Bradley helped her put the bar back and then stepped away to wipe his hands. As he did that, Sakura wiped the handles of her weights and put them away and joined her boyfriend. She got onto her tippytoes and whispered into his ear, giggling here and there as she spoke in a low voice to him. His replies were equally hushed, between which he occasionally glanced back at Cally.

Cally was wiping down the bar, the seat and the bike she’d been using as she deliberately ignored the whispering and glances, definitely not cheating with using any senses, but there was a tingling in the back of her head, knowing she was the subject of the conversation.

Sakura gave Bradley a playful slap on the butt and he went off to the sonic shower area, while she smiled at the other woman in the gym.

"Captain," she said in a sing-song voice. "My boyfriend is a bit shy to ask, so he's off in the shower getting a head start. As it were. But we were wondering if you would do us the honour of letting us show you the super-special gravity Sweet Spot?" Before Cally could answer, Sakura continued. "We want to get rid of the Gym Sweat and maybe rev the engine a little first, so join us in the shower if your answer is yes. If not, then no worries, enjoy the rest of your workout." She bounced a little on her feet and scurried off to the shower are, stripping down, and joining Bradley in the sonic waves.

Actively promiscuous as she was, Cally had rules about who she slept with. Known couples and marrieds were out of the question, barring both parties being willing and knowing. She wasn’t out to be a homewrecker, only out to have fun in the galaxy before the Reaper came calling. This was clearly an open invitation from both Bradley and Sakura and Cally smiled as she first headed to the gym door and ensured it was locked for the time being, then towards the sonic showers.

What was there greeting her as she left her workout clothes in a trail along the way were the two younger people already making out with each other within the sonic waves. She caught the eye of Sakura as she entered and silently padded up behind Bradley, leaning in to plant a kiss on the left side of his neck towards the rear and running her hands down his sides and to his hips, squeezing his butt gently before running one hand around him completely. Revving up, indeed.

Bradley moaned at the added warmth and touch of the new person behind him, whose hand was doing wonders. Sakura meanwhile moved to his side to kiss Cally with the same passion she’d kissed Bradley.

One thing that Cally was not was a submissive and she changed which hand was on Bradley as she reached up Sakura's body and pushed her very gently back against the wall, never breaking their kiss while leading Bradley along like a puppy on a short leash.

The sight of Cally pushing Sakura against the wall permanently etched itself into Bradley’s brain, prompting the usually shy scientist to quietly growl. Sakura responded by smiling into the kiss and then slowly falling away, kissing her way down the Captain’s body until she was on her knees and able to touch and kiss both partners, and leaving space for Bradley to lock lips with his Captain.

This time, Calypso allowed herself to be pushed back against the wall by Bradley and just went with the flow. There could absolutely be much fun to be had.

***** About an hour later *****

Cleanup in an area with effectively zero gravity was never the most fun, so Cally believed, but she knew that she'd be back here at some point in the near future. She beamed at Sakura and Bradley, "You two were absolutely right... And this was a blast!"

Sakura grinned as she was lying on the ceiling, on the towel that Bradley had replicated, which handily had caught much of the mess. "Glad to have you!"

I'll say, Bradley thought as he worked to gather clothes that were floating about. "I'm, ah, glad Sakura suggested it," he said.

Calypso leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, one hand running down Sakura's leg very lightly, "As am I... And you two know, if you ever have thoughts of this again?"

"I can safely say that we'll have thoughts of this again," Sakura said with a giggle. "Do you want to do the honours?"

She nodded to Bradley, who opened up a panel next to them. On the underside was a list of initials, usually in pairs—a handful of times in threes—carved in with a micro-precision laser torch that was magnetically attached to it. The second from the bottom read ST+BS. Eight spots above it was FB+ST. The most recent one was FB+TV. "Heh. I guess Fulvia and T'Vel had fun the other night," Bradley said. He held the panel and offered Cally the carving torch.

“I’d LOVE to.” Cally accepted the carving torch and very carefully carved the letters CS+ST+BS as the next in the column and examined her handiwork, “You know, I should bring both Kally and Katie here together, otherwise everyone would be confused by who ‘KK’ will be.” She smiled wickedly at the couple.

Bradley nodded approvingly and put the panel and torch back. "Welcome to the Sweet Spot Club, Captain."


END

Captain Calypso Skyie
CO and Self-Appointed ‘Morale’ Officer

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bradley Sharpe
Chemist

Petty Officer 2nd Class Sakura Tanikawa
Comms System Specialist